The corner of Fairhope Avenue and Section Street is the heart of downtown. It has been referred to as "Clock Corner" since the installation of the Fairhope Clock in the 1980s, but it will soon have an official name.

The corner is set to get a makeover, and Mayor Sherry Sullivan and other key city officials felt it was time to give the historically important corner a name.

A search through the Fairhope Single Tax Corporation's online archive yielded historic photos as well as information on the corner. It was the location of the first commercial buildings and businesses beginning in 1895, and it was also the location of the original town well.

Sullivan presented Fairhope City Council with her name suggestion July 24, and the council was on board.

"The name of the clock corner is going to be Gaston Plaza," Sullivan told Gulf Coast Media July 28. "That is paying tribute to the Gaston family and the Gaston Ford Motor Company that was there for a long time."

Ernest B. (E.B.) Gaston was one of the founders of Fairhope, and his son, James E. (J.E.) Gaston Sr., owned the Gaston Ford Motor Company, which occupied the corner of Fairhope Avenue and Section Street. It began as Gaston's Auto Livery in 1914, and he was selling Fords at the location as Gaston's Garage in 1916. He became an authorized Ford dealer in 1923 and built the showroom, with its curved front wall that still stands as retail space, in 1924.

Gatson was one of 28 single-taxers from Iowa who bought land in the area with pooled resources and leased it to settlers for 99-year, renewable leases. In the 1930s, the Colony deeded parks, the Fairhope Pier, sidewalks, community streets, alleys and the bayfront to the city on the stipulation the space was reserved for parks, greenspace and community space. The Fairhope Single Tax Corporation still owns about 4,500 acres in and out of the city, which is about 20% of Fairhope.

Sullivan said naming the corner Gaston Plaza "pays tribute to the fact E.B. Gaston was one of our founders, and the Single Tax was so instrumental in preserving that corner for future generations."

Work is set to begin on the plaza in August.