This house was built by Thomas Dorsey, who was born August 13, 1834, in Ireland and died August 15, 1859. Dorsey owned and lived in this cottage which is typical of many which lined Montgomery’s thoroughfares in the 1850s. Its original site was the northeast corner of South Hull and Washington Streets, where Southern Poverty Law Center now stands.
The raised cottage has a hipped roof and inset colonnaded porch. On the interior, two rooms on each side flank the ubiquitous central hall which flairs at the rear creating a fifth room. In 1999, Landmarks Foundation moved the cottage and the two room saddle bag dependency structure, referred to as the “shanty,” to Old Alabama Town.