Over a period of time, many structures important to Prattville's history have been lost--some in the name of progress, some because of neglect and others because of vandalism. Among those are Daniel Pratt's home, mill village houses that Pratt furnished for his employees, and many other residences and buildings.
On September 10, 2002, some of the buildings Daniel Pratt built in the 1850s were completely destroyed by fire. These buildings had last housed Gurney Manufacturing, a textile business that manufactured cloth. The buildings had been unoccupied since 1997 when Gurney went out of business and a group of individuals interested in preserving the structures bought them. Fortunately, the historic buildings housing nearby Continental Gin Shop were unharmed.
Since the 1980s, there has been interest in preservation, refurbishing and revitalization of the historic district. Prattville is unique in the fact that during the time that other downtown areas were facing blight because of mass exoduses from the older areas to shopping malls and new residential subdivisions, Prattville has been able to maintain a viable business district surrounded by a residential area which contains a mix of age and economic groups in well-cared for dwellings.
Due in large part by the efforts of the Autauga County Heritage Association, the Daniel Pratt Historic District was accepted and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984.
