About Cottondale Florida

Cottondale, located west of Marianna along Highway 90, is currently undergoing a resurgence. City officials in the town of just fewer than 1,000 residents have begun a visioning project and have started annexing new land, businesses and parks into the city.

Cottondale’s annual Christmas Parade and Festival is one tradition that has made a return from the old days. Town officials stopped holding the yearly celebration after people failed to show up, but when it was resurrected two years ago, residents and visitors alike flocked to the town. Last year, more than 700 people turned out to the event. Many city officials' spouses start planning the event in October. The area along Front Street, near the fire station, is blocked off for the Christmas tree lighting, children’s activities and carolers.

During the 1960s, Cottondale was a bustling small town complete with hardware stores, small grocery stores, and other “mom and pop” businesses dotting its main drag. Visitors and travelers parked their cars along Highway 231, which runs through the town going north and south. However, when the highway was widened, it transformed the little town.

“When that came in, it sort of dried it up and people lost a place to park and kept on going,” said the Cottondale’s city manager.

However, the town has always been conveniently located. It is close to the larger city, Dothan, Alabama, to the north and Gulf of Mexico beaches to the south, making it a convenient place to live.

“You’re in the middle of the crossroads, as they say,” the city manager said. “I’m looking for Cottondale to start coming back in the next few years.”

The town may have changed over the years, but it’s still small enough to have its residents consider the Christmas celebration the biggest event of the year.