Mobile, Alabama is my hometown and I am so in love with the rich history and beauty of this city. A little history of Mobile, the Old Mobile Site was the location of the French settlement La Mobile in the French colony of New France in North America, from 1702 until 1712. The site was located in Le Moyne, Alabama, on the Mobile River in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. The settlement served as the capital of French Louisiana from 1702 until 1711, until the Mobile River flooded Old Mobile, then the capital was relocated to present-day Mobile, Alabama.
USS Alabama
228 Battleship Parkway, Spanish Fort, AL 36527
USS Alabama was a South Dakota-class battleship. The South Dakota class was a group of four fast battleships built by the United States Navy. The class comprised four ships: South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama. Alabama, BB-60, was commissioned in 1942 and served in World War II in the Atlantic and Pacific and had a crew of 2,500 courageous Americans. This 45,000 ton BB-60 lead the American Fleet into Tokyo Bay on September 5, 1945. Nine Battle Stars for meritorious service were awarded the Alabama during her three year tenure.
The Fort of Colonial Mobile, Fort Conde
150 S Royal St, Mobile, AL 36602 251-802-3092
In 1723, construction of the brick fort with a stone foundation began, named Fort Conde in honor of Louis Henri de Bourbon, duc de Bourbon and prince de Conde. The Fort guarded Mobile and its citizens from 1723-1820. The fort had been built by the French to defend against British or Spanish attack on the strategic location of Mobile and its Bay as a port to the Gulf of Mexico, on the easternmost part of the French Louisiana colony. The strategic importance of Mobile and Fort Conde was significant: the fort protected access into the strategic region between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic colonies along the Alabama River and Tombigbee River. The exhibit show of people who colonized early Mobile, artifacts of Native Americans and Europeans who played important roles in the evolution of Mobile during a time that was filled with conquests, plundering, piracy, and war.
Mardi Gras
Begins 2 weeks prior to Ash Wednesday
Mardi Gras in Mobile is the oldest annual Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. This was fifteen years before New Orleans was founded, although today their celebrations are much more widely known for parades, floats and throws. Mardi Gras in Mobile has now evolved into a mainstream multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures in Mobile, becoming school holidays for the final Monday and Tuesday. Mobile has traditions of exclusive societies, with formal masked balls and elegant costumes, public parades where members of societies ride on floats or horseback, toss gifts or throws to the crowd. Throws include necklaces of plastic beads, doubloon coins, decorated plastic cups, candy, and yummy wrapped cakes known as Moonpies.
Joe Cain Day
Sunday prior to Fat Tuesday
Joe Cain is credited with initiating the modern Mardi Gras parades in Mobile after the Civil War. He was a member of the Tea Drinkers Society, a social club known as a mystic society, that paraded on New Year's Eve prior to the Civil War. The outbreak of the Civil War ended these celebrations and in April 1865, and Cain fought in the war, serving as a private in the Confederate Army until 1864. After his service ended, he lived in New Orleans, where he participated in Mardi Gras festivities. In 1866, Cain returned to Mobile and decided to revive the spirit of Mobile's Mardi Gras festivities during the more traditional pre-Lenten period observed in New Orleans. Cain and six original members of Tea Drinkers Society rode through Mobile's streets in a decorated charcoal wagon. The members of the troupe dressed in exaggerated Indian attire, and Cain led the impromptu parade dressed as a fictional Chickasaw chieftain, Slackabamarinico. Along their route, Cain declared an end to Mobile's suffering and signaled the return of the city's parading activities, while throwing vegetables to the crowd. His actions succeeded in moving Mobile's celebration to the traditional Fat Tuesday. Cain's resurrection of Mobile's Mardi Gras was widely admired, and he remained a favorite at local festivities for the rest of his life. Cain died on April 17, 1904, and was buried in Bayou La Batre but in 1966, city officials moved Joe Cain and his wife to the Church Street Graveyard, Mobile's oldest cemetery. His granite tombstone, incised with the image of a jester, reads: "Here Lies Old Joe Cain, the Heart and Soul of Mardi Gras in Mobile." Cain's reburial drew such a large crowd that it became an annual event celebrating Joe Cain, held the Sunday before Fat Tuesday. They instituted the Joe Cain Day Parade which is led by a person dressed as Chief Slackabamarinico. The route concludes in the Church Street Graveyard, and the revelers dance atop Cain's grave and veiled women dressed in mourning, known as Cain's Merry Widows, cry aloud for his loss to the world. Joe Cain Day remains one of the most popular events of Mobile's Mardi Gras.
Mobile Carnival Museum
355 Government St, Mobile, AL 36602 (251) 432-3324
The Mobile Carnival Museum is a history museum that chronicles over 300 years of Carnival and Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama. The museum is housed in the historic Bernstein-Bush mansion on Government Street in downtown Mobile. The museum houses Mardi Gras Queen’s gowns, trains, and jewels worn by the queens of Carnival, as well as jester costumes. The collections also include original Mardi Gras art and posters by various area artists, doubloons, tableau designs, and ball invitations. The mansion's former carriage house contains interactive exhibits, including one that allows visitors to "ride" and throw doubloons from a Carnival float.
Lower Dauphin Street Historic District
310 Dauphin St, Mobile, AL 36602
The Lower Dauphin Street Historic District is a historic district that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on 9 February 1979. The buildings range in age from the 1820's to the 20th century and include the Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Italianate, and Victorian architectural styles. Dauphin Street looks similar to New Orleans Bourbon Street and is known for the Bienville Square park, restaurants and bars.
Historic Oakleigh House
2910, 300 Oakleigh Pl, Mobile, AL 36604 (251) 432-1281
The Oakleigh House is a wonderful example of a pre-Civil War, southern home and is considered one of the rarest examples of Greek revival architecture in the United States. Built on 35 acres in 1833 by James W. Roper, Oakleigh, it is one of the largest T-shaped homes in the state of Alabama, designed for cross-ventilation to help mitigate the region’s notorious subtropical humidity. There is beautiful architecture and grounds, as well as a vast collection of decorative and fine art, one of the largest in the South.
Bragg-Mitchell Mansion
1906 Springhill Ave, Mobile, AL 36607 (251) 471-6364
The Bragg–Mitchell Mansion, is a historic, Greek Revival architecture house with massive double parlors, circular staircase and rooms built on a grand scale. It was built in 1855 by Judge John Bragg and is one of the most photographed buildings in the city . It is canopied by a grove of century-old oaks and furnished with fine antiques, crystal chandeliers, and offers a rare glimpse of life in the Old South.
Bellingrath Gardens and Home
12401 Bellingrath Gardens Rd, Theodore, AL 36582 251.973.2217
Bellingrath Gardens and Home is the 65-acre public garden and historic home of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath, located on the Fowl River near Mobile, Alabama. Walter Bellingrath was one of the first Coca-Cola bottlers in the Southeast, and with his wealth built the estate garden and home. He and his wife, Bessie, lived in the home which has since been converted into a museum. The gardens opened to the public in 1932. The site was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on September 14, 1977, and on the National Register of Historic Places on October 19, 1982. Throughout the year, Bellingrath Gardens and Home hosts an array of special events and programs to highlight the various seasons and the legacy of Mr. and Mrs. Bellingrath., including Festival of Flowers, Easter Egg Hunt, Boo at Bellingrath, and then there is the Magic Christmas in Lights is an event with over 3 million lights and 1,100 set pieces.
Dauphin Island Sea Lab
101 Bienville Blvd, Dauphin Island, AL 36528 (251) 861-2141
The Dauphin Island Sea Lab is Alabama's primary marine education and research center and is the home site of the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium and was founded by an act of the Alabama State Legislature in 1971. They offer the ArtSeaLab Festival in October. This is a collaboration between Art Does It, a nonprofit arts organization, and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to enhance the public’s understanding of the ecological challenges facing the northern Gulf of Mexico and its coastline through the dialogues of art, science, and folk life. This is also a great way to experience the beautiful beaches of Dauphin Island.
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