Located on it original site, the Cram-Lakin Cottage dates from the mid 1850s. Daniel Cram, a civil engineer and superintendent of the Montgomery and West Point Railroad, built the house about the time of his 1857 marriage to the granddaughter of town founder John Scott. Recognized as the designer of the Montgomery Theatre, Cram may have drawn the plans for both his own home and that of his neighbor, Thomas deWolfe now also located at Old Alabama Town. Josephus Lakin, the second owner, came to Montgomery from St. Louis after the Civil War and established a photographic gallery on Market Street. Through the years he gained distinction, winning awards and honors from his work.
Almost identical to the deWolfe-Cooper Cottage (309 North Hull) except for the porch, the house has four rooms arranged around a T-shaped center hall whose back area creates a fifth room. The bracketing and ventilator covers are the same on both houses as are the doors, windows and surrounds.
Around the turn of the century, owners radically altered the house, changing the front porch and adding a pyramidal roof with a front dormer, a popular techniques of the day. In the early 1960s, the house served as a plumbing business which helped the building survive when most surrounding structures suffered the fate of decline and demolition.
Landmarks Foundation acquired the house in late 1990s. The Lakin House is leased as commercial property.