Editing Thomasville, Alabama (section)

==History==
Thomasville was founded in 1888 and incorporated on November 24 of that year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thethomasvilletimes.com/news/2013-11-27/Front_Page/Thomasville_incorporated_on_Nov_24_1888.html |title=Thomasville incorporated on Nov. 24, 1888 &#124; www.thethomasvilletimes.com &#124; Thomasville Times |access-date=January 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707004342/http://www.thethomasvilletimes.com/news/2013-11-27/Front_Page/Thomasville_incorporated_on_Nov_24_1888.html |archive-date=July 7, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  The former community of [[Choctaw Corner, Alabama|Choctaw Corner]], dating back to the [[antebellum South|antebellum]] period, was a settlement west of what would become Thomasville, but when the merchants there learned that a railroad was going to bypass their town to the east, they decided to move their stores to be near the railroad.<ref name="powpub">{{cite web|title=Thomasville, Alabama|work=POW! Publishing|url=http://www.powpublishing.com/thomasville.html|access-date=January 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215200325/http://www.powpublishing.com/thomasville.html|archive-date=February 15, 2005|url-status=dead}}</ref> The former community is now inside the city limits.  The tracks between [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] and [[Selma, Alabama|Selma]] were completed the same year that Thomasville began.  First referred to as "Choctaw", the town was named after railroad [[financier]] and former [[Union army|Union]] [[American Civil War|Civil War]] general, [[Samuel Russell Thomas]], after he donated $500 for the construction of Thomasville's first school.<ref name="about"/> The town had expanded by the end of the 19th century with numerous stores, several hotels and boarding houses, and a depot station.<ref name="about"/>  In 1899, what is now downtown was destroyed by a fire that burned several blocks of the wood frame buildings. Thomasville quickly rebuilt, this time in brick, and was once again flourishing by the start of [[World War I]].<ref name="powpub"/>

Over the next century, Thomasville continued to grow and expand. Over the years, many businesses came and others left. These included [[Textile manufacturing|garment factories]], [[sawmill]]s, and [[cotton gin]]s.<ref name="about"/> The railroad discontinued its use of the town's depot by the 1950s, but that time also saw the opening of Thomasville's [[AN/FPS-35|FPS-35]] radar base, part of the [[Air Defense Command]]'s [[Semi Automatic Ground Environment]] (SAGE)  system, bringing in servicemen and their families.<ref name="about"/>  The prototype for the FPS-35 radar was developed at the [[Thomasville Air Force Station|Thomasville Aircraft Control and Warning Station]].<ref name="FPS35">{{cite web|title=AN/FPS-35|work=Radomes.org|url=http://www.radomes.org/museum/equip/fps-35.html|access-date=January 8, 2008}}</ref>  The 1950s also saw the planting of roses along [[U.S. Route 43|Highway 43]], the main highway through Thomasville, earning it the nickname of The City of Roses.  The 1960s and 1970s saw the opening of numerous [[paper mill]]s in the area, an industry that continues to be important to the economy of Thomasville today.  This time also saw businesses begin to relocate from downtown to the main highway.  The [[Thomasville Historic District]] was designated in 1999 by the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ruralswalabama.org/towns/thomasville/ |title=Thomasville Archives - RuralSWAlabama |website=RuralSWAlabama |access-date=April 24, 2018}}</ref>