View source

'''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, Alabama|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 (1763)|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