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Cotton scene, Court Square, Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1904

Subjects
MarketsSquares & PlazasTrucks & Wagons
Card type
Lithograph
Date
c. 1902 (Early)
Front of Cotton scene, Court Square, Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1904, c. 1902 lithograph postcard
Front
Back of Cotton scene, Court Square, Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1904, c. 1902 lithograph postcard
Back

About this postcard

Hundreds of cotton bales are heaped across Court Square in Montgomery, Alabama, with mule- and horse-drawn wagons, drivers and bystanders crowding the open market space; a cast-iron fountain stands at the left and tall commercial blocks, including a mansard-roofed red-brick building, frame the square, with a telegraph pole rising in the center. Montgomery was one of the great inland cotton markets of the South, and Court Square served as the city's commercial heart where planters' wagonloads were weighed, graded and sold. The fountain seen here, installed in the 1880s, remains a landmark of the square.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

From Ralph Dec 6 1905 —

PublisherCarter & Gutay
126 COTTON SCENE, COURT SQUARE, MONTGOMERY, ALA. PUB. BY CARTER & GUTAY, FOR THE PRESS STORES. --- Post Card THIS SIDE FOR THE ADDRESS
PostmarkedBirmingham, AL, December 9, 1905, 12:00
Stamp
Addressed to
Miss Charlotte S. Barrett

Amesbury, Mass

Postcard record

Postmarked, Birmingham, AL
PublisherCarter & Gutay
Series126
ConditionGood
Place depictedCourt Square, Montgomery, AL
Place depictedMontgomery, AL
Stamp1c Benjamin Franklin, green, issued 1902
NotesUndivided-back era card with a white margin at right carrying the printed title and publisher line; handwritten inscription in the margin. Slight edge and corner wear. Postmark: AMESBURY DEC 9 3:30 PM / BIRMINGHAM ALA 12 PM '05. Undivided back ('THIS SIDE FOR THE ADDRESS'), white border, glossy litho. Front message dated Dec 6/04.

Cite this card

Cotton scene, Court Square, Montgomery, Alabama, circa 1904, postcard, c. 1902. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/cotton-scene-court-square-montgomery-alabama-circa-1904. Accessed October 24, 2026.