Gaston Building
a.k.a. Single-Tax Office
336 Fairhope Ave., Fairhope, ALBy the early 1920s the rude frame buildings in Fairhope f s commercial sector began to be replaced with brick and masonry structures. One of the earliest .masonry buildings was erected in 1911 for the Masons on S. Section Street. By 1916 there was a two story brick drugstore on the corner of Fairhope Avenue and Section Street designed by Mobile architect George Rogers (1870-1945). The Fairhope Courier was located on the same block as the drugstore, only its quarters were in a one story frame building. The Courier was a vital element in the community, not only as a news source but as the primary printed forum for the Single-Tax experiment in Fairhope. During 1924 the frame office was demolished and replaced with a modern, two-story brick edifice constructed by M. Dyson & Company. E. B. Gaston, one of Fairhope's founders, owned the structure which became known as the Gaston Building. The Courier occupied the west half of the first floor while the east half was rented by electrical contractors. The Single-Tax Corporation rented .an upstairs room for its treasurer, who had formerly occupied a frame house on Section Street. The other upstairs rooms were rented by various small enterprises and even as apartments.
In 1938 the Single-Tax operation moved downstairs and for the next twenty-five years shared the space with the Courier. The Single-Tax Corporation purchased the building from Gaston and remodeled the downstairs in 1957. In 1963 the Courier transferred its operation into the old post office. As the upstairs had been largely vacated by the 1940s, this left the Single-Tax office as the sole occupant. They continue to operate out of the building today.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.