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Dothan's Murals - TPR's In Focus - March 12, 2026 · In Focus with Carolyn Hutcheson

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  Support comes from Troy University's Trojan Cafe,
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  offering handcrafted Starbucks beverages and a wide assortment of meal and snack options,
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  located on Troy University's Montgomery campus, across from the Rosa Parks Library and Museum.
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  From Troy Public Radio, this is In Focus, and I'm Carolyn Hutcheson. The Alabama Mural Trail
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  celebrates the talent of artists who paint the story of their communities in outdoor settings.
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  Carrie Campbell, Public Relations Specialist with VisitDothan.com,
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  joins us to kick off our series about Alabama's Mural Trail.
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  Dothan's story is painted in more than 20 outdoor murals, most of which are within walking distance downtown.
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  Carrie Campbell, welcome to Troy Public Radio from Dothan. Thank you. How many murals does
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  Dothan actually have? Right now we have 22 and hope to continue to add more. What started all
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  the murals? Most towns don't have but a few. It started to gain momentum in the early 2000s
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  for a citywide initiative to beautify the downtown area, but also celebrate just stories that
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  happened in Dothan and people that were from the area that have made a difference, whether they be
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  celebrities or historical value. You know, Cara, Dothan is what I call a cultural and geographic
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  crossroads because you have visitors from Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. So, when people come to see
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  Dothan and they want the mural trail, what will they see? We highlight some stories that happened
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  back in the old days, historical stories, and then highlight things that the city of Dothan is known
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  for. Our newest mural that we just unveiled maybe six months ago was for the Future Masters
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  tournament that we have here, the golf tournament for youth golfers. The Future Masters has been
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  around for 76 years, so we decided a mural would be the best way to highlight its history. And
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  then we also have historical murals such as our steamboat eras and Chief Eufaula for the
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  Indian removals and also the peanut agricultural history as well. This history seems to reflect not
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  only Dothan, but southeast Alabama. Would you agree with that? Yes, for sure. Some of our murals,
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  you know, they will say where they took place. The Fort Scott one we have was on the Flint River, so
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  that's not necessarily here in Dothan, but it's in the Wiregrass area, and we highlight that as well.
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  And then, obviously, Chief Eufaula is more from the Eufaula area rather than Dothan, but we highlight
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  other areas as well. Well, back to Fort Scott, what kind of fort was it and what was its purpose?
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  It provided protection for the settlers that were coming here, and it also attracted
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  new settlers to move here because they would have protection, and it housed future presidents,
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  Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor. So, that mural has a tie-in to national political figures.
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  Now, you mentioned Chief Eufaula. Was he a Creek Indian chief? He was, yes, and he lobbied in the
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  Alabama State House before he led the Creeks to a reservation in Oklahoma during the Trail of Tears.
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  And the steamboat mural that you talked about, when was the actual steamboat era there?
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  The steamboat era was between 1824 and 1925. It served two different purposes.
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  The journey upriver would carry supplies for towns and plantations in the area, and then
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  downstream, it would carry produce, cotton, turpentine that were heading to factories in
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  the east and then on to Europe, but it also was like a tourism business because they would let
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  the general population make round-trip excursions to Apalachicola, and that would be like their
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  vacation. Kara, I know you have a Johnny McBrown mural, famous movie star. How about any women
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  depicted on these murals? We just have a beauty queen, and we have astronauts for Huntsville and
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  the NASA area up there, and some figures throughout like hospitality and agriculture,
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  and we don't really have specific people on there, I should say. I am curious about the
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  artists who painted the Dothan murals. What can you tell us about them? So, we have one that has
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  painted over half of them. Wes Harden, Bruce Rickett painted Chief Eufaula, and Cheryl Harden
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  painted the women in the wiregrass, and Eddie Leroy painted wildlife in the wiregrass, but
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  Wes Harden, he's our go-to guy. Kara, one of the favorite Dothan murals with the visitors seems
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  to be that wildlife mural. Can you tell us more about that one? So, we have multiple birds,
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  different bird species, quail, turkey, eagles, fish, and deer, and fox, mostly all the wildlife
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  that you would find here in the wiregrass area. And Dothan's famous peanut industry is depicted
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  in a mural as well. We consider that one the first one that kind of started everything.
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  It shows the progression of the peanut. It shows the fields, peanut fields, and then it goes into
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  George Washington Carver and his contributions to the peanut industry as the ways he used the peanut
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  in his science experiments, and then it goes into where we are today with the peanut festival that
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  we have every year with the fair and the parade and celebrating the harvest of peanuts. Kara,
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  as you well know, in southern cities, the downtown is the heart of the city, the community. Is it
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  possible to take a walking tour of all of these murals, and are they fairly close together?
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  They are all walkable. All but one is in our downtown area, so you can park in our Civic
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  Center parking lot or anywhere downtown and then be able to walk. It takes up about 10 blocks.
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  Also, throughout that, you have restaurants and coffee shops and retail areas that you can
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  pop in and out of as you're walking and checking out the murals. So, it's a great attraction that
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  doesn't cost anything, and you get some exercise and great photo opportunities if you are into
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  photography or anything like that. Well, finally, we need to remind the listeners about that
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  large mural that salutes the music industry of the Wiregrass. Right, yeah. It's actually a
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  three-part mural. It has local artists or artists that had a tie locally to the music industry. We've
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  got George Jones on there. He had a place in Enterprise, I believe, and Bobby Goldsboro
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  lived here in Dothan for a while, and it has Ray Charles on it. People throughout the Wiregrass
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  that had an impact in the music industry. Before we run out of time, can you tell us about
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  Dothan's newest mural? Our other newest one is downtown in our revitalized Porter Park area, and
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  it is on the flora and fauna of the Wiregrass. So, camellias and magnolias. It's a really beautiful
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  floral mural, and we hope to continue and add more. So, is there a website for further information for
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  the listeners? Yes, on visitdothan.com, we have a downloadable mural map that has a map of where
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  they are and then also a small description of what each mural depicts. Kara, thank you so much for
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  helping us kick off the Alabama Mural Trails series. What a tremendous way to enjoy the history,
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  the beauty, and the art of Dothan. Yes, thank you for having me. That was Kara Campbell with visitdothan.com.
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  Thanks for joining us for In Focus, which is a podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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  I'm Carolyn Hutcheson, and this is listener-supported Troy Public Radio.