Editing Sulligent, Alabama (section)

== History ==
Sulligent was first called Elliott, in honor of the chief engineer of the Kansas City-Memphis-Birmingham Railroad, then renamed one month later with the portmanteau "Sulligent", in honor of Sullivan, the superintendent of the railroad, and Sargeant, the passenger agent of the railroad. The town was incorporated on February 12, 1897.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3387|title=Sulligent - Encyclopedia of Alabama|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|accessdate=August 1, 2018}}</ref> S. F. Pennington owned the first general store, and Dr. R. J. Redden owned the first drug store.

The production and processing of [[cotton]] was an important industry. The primary business in Sulligent in the mid-1890s was cotton, with over 2500 bales ginned each year and shipped via the railroad. At one time, Sulligent Cotton Oil Company was known as the largest cotton gin under one roof.

Sulligent is home to Lamar County's only structure listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], the [[James Greer Bankhead House|Greer Bankhead House]], which antedates the city by almost four decades.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>

In 2023, Mayor Scott Boman and the City Council elected to demolish the historical site of The Ogden House instead of restoring the structure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lamar Leader |url=https://2541.newstogo.us/mobile/editionviewer/?Edition=d7344d32-00b4-4694-a055-68cf0c0e8a86 |website=Lamar Leader |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref> The Ogden House was the first home built inside of the incorporated city of Sulligent. The house had stood since 1888 and had served as the home of William W. and Tallulah Henson Ogden. William W. Ogden was the owner of the Sulligent Cotton Oil Company, a planter, banker, mayor of Sulligent 1919-1921, and member of the Alabama House of Representatives 1931-1934. Leila Ogden, daughter of the builder, presented this house to the Town of Sulligent in 1975, where it acted as the public library until the late 1990s when the current public library was built.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Historical Marker Database |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=96471 |website=HMdb.org |access-date=October 20, 2023}}</ref>