Mobile, Alabama
From Wikinfo
Mobile is a city located in Mobile County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 198,915. Its name derived from the presence of the Mobile (Mauvile or Maubila) Indians in the area at the time of founding. (See Mobilian.) The city is the county seat of Mobile County.
The city is served by Mobile Regional Airport.
History
The settlement was first established in 1702, at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River, as the capital of the French colony of Louisiana. It was relocated downriver to its present location near the head of Mobile Bay in 1711. Mobile was transferred to the British in 1763 as a result of the Treaty of Paris and was captured by the Spanish in 1780. The Spanish held Mobile until 1814 when it was captured by the American General Wilkinson; by then it was the second largest seaport on the Gulf Coast.
One incident of some historical interest occurred in 1860, when the Clotilde, the last known ship to arrive in the Americas with a cargo of slaves, was abandoned by its captain near Mobile. A number of the slaves escaped and formed their own community on the banks of the Mobile River, which became known as Africatown. The inhabitants of this community retained their African customs and language well into the 20th century.
Mobile grew substantially in the period leading up to the American Civil War when it was heavily fortified and held by the Confederates. Union naval forces established a blockade under the command of Admiral David Farragut. Farragut did not attack the city until August 1864. The ensuing Battle of Mobile Bay was a Union victory but the city held out for another nine months. During the later federal occupation of the city, in May, 1865, an ammunition depot explostion -- called the great Mobile magazine explosion -- killed some 300 people.
After the war the harbour was substantially improved and deepened, and ship-building became a notable industry.
Four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame were born in Mobile: Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Satchel Paige and Ozzie Smith.
Notable yearly activities that currently take place in Mobile include the Senior Bowl, Mardi Gras (the oldest in the country), and the Junior Miss Pageant.
Mobile and the Eastern Shore (across Mobile Bay) periodically experience a unique phenomenon called a Jubilee. A Jubilee, which usually takes place around 3-4am, describes a massive upsurge of sea life from the bottom of the bay. This upsurge to the surface usually consists of crabs, shrimp, oysters, and other sea delicacies. Needless to say, a Jubilee, when first realized, is quickly spread by word of mouth along the coast, providing an impromptu fishing party in the middle of the night.
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Mobile, Alabama" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile,_Alabama December 31, 2003
