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81-577: Government Street Presbyterian Church in Mobile, Alabama is one of the oldest and least-altered Greek Revival church buildings in the United States . The architectural design is by James Gallier Sr. , James H. Dakin , and Charles Dakin. The trio also designed Barton Academy , four blocks down Government Street to the west. Government Street Presbyterian reflects the influences of Ithiel Town , Minard Lafever , and Andrew Jackson Downing . It

162-560: A mayor-council form of government, with seven members elected from single-member districts . This was approved by voters. As white conservatives increasingly entered the Republican Party in the late 20th century, African-American residents of the city have elected members of the Democratic Party as their candidates of choice. Since the change to single-member districts, more women and African Americans were elected to

243-459: A 30-year period. Mobile averages 120 days per year with at least 0.01 inches (0.3 mm) of rain. Precipitation is heavy year-round. On average, July and August are the wettest months, with frequent and often-heavy shower and thunderstorm activity. October stands out as a slightly drier month than all others. Snow is rare in Mobile, with its last snowfall occurring on December 8, 2017; before this,

324-500: A 48-hour truce , the generals enjoyed an al fresco luncheon of food, drink, and lively music. Canby offered Taylor the same terms agreed upon between Lee and Grant at Appomattox . Taylor accepted the terms and surrendered his command on May 4 at Citronelle, Alabama . Considered one of the Gulf Coast 's cultural centers, Mobile has several art museums, a symphony orchestra, professional opera, professional ballet company, and

405-519: A city of commerce with a primary focus on the cotton and slave trades. Many slaves were transported by ship in the coastwise slave trade from the Upper South. There were many businesses in the city related to the slave trade – people to make clothes, food, and supplies for the slave traders and their wards. The city's booming businesses attracted merchants from the North; by 1850 10% of its population

486-569: A copious number of T2 tankers for the War Department. Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation , a subsidiary of Waterman Steamship Corporation , focused on building freighters , Fletcher -class destroyers , and minesweepers . The rapid increase of population in the city produced crowded conditions, increasing social tensions in the competition for housing and good jobs. In May 1943, a race riot broke out between whites and blacks. ADDSCO management had long maintained segregated conditions at

567-422: A dwelling unit, balconies can also play a secondary role in building sustainability and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Balconies have been shown to provide an overhang effect that helps prevent interior overheating by reducing solar gain , and may also have benefits in terms of blocking noise and improving natural ventilation within units. Balconies can be made out of various materials; historically , stone

648-576: A group is called a krewe .) The city gained its name from the Mobile tribe that the French colonists encountered living in the area of Mobile Bay . Although it is debated by Alabama historians, they may have been descendants of the Native American tribe whose small fortress town, Mabila , was used to conceal several thousand native warriors before an attack in 1540 on the expedition of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto . About seven years after

729-491: A large concentration of historic architecture. Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Carnival or Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. Alabama's French Creole population celebrated this festival from the first decade of the 18th century. Beginning in 1830, Mobile was host to the first formally organized Carnival mystic society to celebrate with a parade in the United States. (In New Orleans, such

810-679: A majority for their candidates in the informally segregated city. In 1969, the Brookley Air Force Base was closed by the Department of Defense, dealing a severe blow to Mobile's economy. The closing resulted in a 10% unemployment rate in the city. This and other factors related to industrial restructuring ushered in a period of economic depression that lasted through the 1970s. The loss of jobs created numerous problems and resulted in loss of population as residents moved away for work. Mobile's city commission form of government

891-468: A path ending in Prichard. Initial damage estimates for insured and uninsured ranged from $ 140 to $ 150 million. Mobile's French and Spanish colonial history has given it a culture distinguished by French, Spanish, Creole , African and Catholic heritage, in addition to later British and American influences. It is distinguished from all other cities in the state of Alabama. The annual Carnival celebration

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972-520: A small loggia . A modern Juliet balcony often involves a metal barrier placed in front of a high window that can be opened. In the UK, the technical name for one of these was officially changed in August 2020 to a Juliet guarding . Juliet balconies are named after William Shakespeare 's Juliet who, in traditional staging of the play Romeo and Juliet , is courted by Romeo while she is on her balcony—although

1053-427: A small patio garden or skyrise greenery . A French balcony is a false balcony, with doors that open to a railing with a view of the courtyard or the surrounding scenery below. Sometimes balconies are adapted for ceremonial purposes, e.g. that of St. Peter's Basilica at Rome , when the newly elected pope gives his blessing urbi et orbi after the conclave . Inside churches, balconies are sometimes provided for

1134-480: A spectrum of cultures. Mobile's official cultural ambassadors are the Azalea Trail Maids , meant to embody the ideals of Southern hospitality . Balcony The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden, closed balcony projecting from a wall. In contrast, a Juliet balcony does not protrude out of the building. It is usually part of an upper floor, with a balustrade only at the front, resembling

1215-519: A stop in Havana . Though most of the " Pélican girls" recovered, numerous colonists and neighboring Native Americans contracted the disease in turn and many died. This early period was also the occasion of the importation of the first African slaves , transported aboard a French supply ship from the French colony of Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean , where they had first been held. The population of

1296-586: A stucco finish, intended to have an ashlar appearance. The front elevation features one of the earliest surviving American examples of a distyle in antis portico. The side elevations feature bays with full-length windows, divided by pilasters . The structure is one story over a raised basement with granite foundations and steps, the granite having arrived from New England aboard the Comet on September 26, 1836. The front and rear gables are pedimented and were originally adorned with ante-fixae . The front gable had

1377-414: A two-step, battered octagonal steeple that was destroyed in 1852 and was never rebuilt. The interior is notable for the fact that the original Greek Revival design is fully intact with very little alteration. Three entrances lead from the portico into the sanctuary, the southern main doors open directly into the main vestibule, the eastern and western doors both open into side stairway vestibules that access

1458-632: A weekly lunch and lecture forum for the local community and an annual memorial lecture series. Church members serve downtown Mobile through such ministries as Coffee Club, which has served daily breakfast to the homeless for 22 years, Meals on Wheels , Adopt-A-School, and as a member church of the Interfaith Hospitality Network. During the summer, the church runs an urban mission camp at its Baytreat Lodge facility. Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( / m oʊ ˈ b iː l / moh- BEEL , French: [mɔbil] )

1539-508: Is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama , United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 census . After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobile's population increased to 204,689 residents, making it the fourth-most populous city in Alabama, after Montgomery , Birmingham , and Huntsville . Mobile is the principal municipality of

1620-404: Is perhaps the best example of its differences. Mobile is the birthplace of the celebration of Mardi Gras in the United States and has the oldest celebration, dating to the early 18th century during the French colonial period. Carnival in Mobile evolved over the course of 300 years from a beginning as a sedate French Catholic tradition into the mainstream multi-week celebration that today bridges

1701-486: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 , eventually ending legal segregation and regaining effective suffrage for African Americans. But whites in the state had more than one way to reduce African Americans' voting power. Maintaining the city commission form of government with at-large voting resulted in all positions being elected by the white majority, as African Americans could not command

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1782-509: The Gulf of Mexico provides a mild subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa ), with hot, humid summers and mild, rainy winters. The record low temperature was −1 °F (−18 °C), set on February 13, 1899, and the record high was 105 °F (41 °C), set on August 29, 2000. A 2007 study by WeatherBill, Inc. determined that Mobile is the wettest city in the contiguous 48 states, with 66.3 inches (1,680 mm) of average annual rainfall over

1863-471: The Mobile metropolitan area , a region of 430,197 residents composed of Mobile and Washington counties; it is the third-largest metropolitan area in the state after Birmingham and Huntsville. Alabama's only saltwater port, Mobile is located on the Mobile River at the head of Mobile Bay on the north-central Gulf Coast . The Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the economic health of

1944-569: The Progressive Era to Mobile. The economic structure developed with new industries, generating new jobs and attracting a significant increase in population. The population increased from around 40,000 in 1900 to 60,000 by 1920. During this time the city received $ 3 million in federal grants for harbor improvements to deepen the shipping channels. During and after World War I, manufacturing became increasingly vital to Mobile's economic health, with shipbuilding and steel production being two of

2025-627: The Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Seven Years' War , which Britain won, defeating France. By this treaty, France ceded its territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain. This area was made a part of the expanded British West Florida colony. The British changed the name of Fort Condé to Fort Charlotte , after Queen Charlotte . The British were eager not to lose any useful inhabitants and promised religious tolerance to

2106-578: The 1763 Treaty of Paris. Their actions were condoned by the revolting American colonies, partially evidenced by the presence of Oliver Pollack, representative of the American Continental Congress. Due to strong trade ties, many residents of Mobile and West Florida remained loyal to the British Crown . The Spanish renamed the fort as Fortaleza Carlota, and held Mobile as a part of Spanish West Florida until 1813, when it

2187-609: The Cater Act in 1949, allowing cities and counties to set up industrial development boards (IDB) to issue municipal bonds as incentives to attract new industry into their local areas. The city of Mobile did not establish a Cater Act board until 1962. George E. McNally , Mobile's first Republican mayor since Reconstruction, was the driving force behind the founding of the IDB. The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, believing its members were better qualified to attract new businesses and industry to

2268-470: The European builder Rieger-Kloss of Krnov, Czech Republic to build a new instrument capable of leading congregational and chorale singing, and recital and performance of any literature written for organ. The result is a 62-rank instrument over six divisions: great, swell, positiv, grand choir, en chamade, and pedal. Controlled by a four-manual and pedal detached English console, the organ was designed to match

2349-749: The French colonists; ultimately 112 French colonists remained in Mobile. The first permanent Jewish settlers came to Mobile in 1763 as a result of the new British rule and religious tolerance. Jews had not been allowed to officially reside in colonial French Louisiana due to the Code Noir , a decree passed by France's King Louis XIV in 1685 that forbade the exercise of any religion other than Roman Catholicism, and ordered all Jews out of France's colonies. Most of these colonial-era Jews in Mobile were merchants and traders from Sephardic Jewish communities in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina ; they added to

2430-621: The Gulf Coast cities. A storm surge of 11.45 feet (3.49 m), topped by higher waves, damaged eastern sections of the city with extensive flooding in downtown, the Battleship Parkway , and the elevated Jubilee Parkway . In late December 2012, the city suffered two tornado hits. On December 25, 2012, at 4:54 pm, a large wedge tornado touched down in the city. The tornado rapidly intensified as it moved north-northeast at speeds of up to 50 mph (80 km/h). The path took

2511-671: The Midtown at the Loop neighborhood, Murphy High School , Trinity Episcopal Church , Springhill Avenue Temple , and Mobile Infirmary Hospital before moving into the neighboring city of Prichard. The tornado was classified as an EF2 tornado by the National Weather Service on December 26. The path taken through the city was just a short distance east of the path taken days earlier, on December 20, by an EF1 tornado which had touched down near Davidson High School and taken

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2592-699: The Mobile County School Board for being denied admission to Murphy High School . This was nearly a decade after the United States Supreme Court had ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. The federal district court ordered that the three students be admitted to Murphy for the 1964 school year, leading to the desegregation of Mobile County's school system. The civil rights movement gained congressional passage of

2673-591: The United States in 1813, with the annexation by President James Madison of West Florida from Spain. During the American Civil War , the city surrendered to Federal forces on April 12, 1865, after Union victories at two forts protecting the city. This, along with the news of Johnston 's surrender negotiations with Sherman , led General Richard Taylor to seek a meeting with his Union counterpart, Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby . The two generals met several miles north of Mobile on May 2. After agreeing to

2754-480: The altar is a pylon -like screen with an engaged Corinthian tetrasyle topped by ante-fixae, similar in design to the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates . The ceiling is coffered in a diagonal, diamond pattern. In the year 2000, the church underwent a major renovation of the facility. During this time, an organ committee was formed to consider replacing the failing 1903 Estey organ. The committee selected

2835-474: The architectural and aesthetic properties of the sanctuary. It is situated in the south gallery among three cabinets with the central cabinet containing the positiv division in the German-baroque voicing and style, with the diatonic 8' and 16' en chamade residing atop the case. The console is positioned center and forward the central case and is on a moveable platform. In 2018, the organ console technology

2916-460: The area, considered the new IDB as a serious rival. After several years of political squabbling, the Chamber of Commerce emerged victorious. While McNally's IDB prompted the Chamber of Commerce to become more proactive in attracting new industry, the chamber effectively shut Mobile city government out of economic development decisions. In 1963, three African-American students brought a case against

2997-591: The area. Mobile is located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is 168 miles (270 km) by highway southwest of Montgomery , the state capital; 58 miles (93 km) west of Pensacola, Florida ; and 144 miles (232 km) northeast of New Orleans . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 180.07 square miles (466.4 km ), with 139.48 square miles (361.3 km ) of it being land, and 40.59 square miles (105.1 km ), or 22.5% of

3078-536: The church's building committee and financed much of the construction to come. The drawings and specifications had already been provided by Gallier and Dakin. Construction of the new brick edifice commenced on February 13, 1836. The masonry had been completed by March 1837, with one of the architects, Charles Dakin, being married within the sanctuary on March 22, 1837. In June that year the newspaper announced that pews were now being rented. The construction costs eventually totaled $ 60,000, with $ 40,000 of that having gone to

3159-452: The church. This time the architect was C. L. Hutchinson. He added two bays to the north at a cost of $ 20,000. The main sanctuary was renovated in 1950 with modern lighting and the addition of a glass vestibule just inside the main entrance. The interior was painted and the pews reupholstered in 1976. Although records do not indicate which architect was responsible for individual portions of the building, consensus among scholars usually credits

3240-525: The city streetcars. It legislated what had been informal practice, enforced by convention. Mobile's African-American population responded to this with a two-month boycott, but the law was not repealed. After this, Mobile's de facto segregation was increasingly replaced with legislated segregation as whites imposed Jim Crow laws to maintain supremacy . In 1911 the city adopted a commission form of government, which had three members elected by at-large voting. Considered to be progressive, as it would reduce

3321-549: The city suffered great loss when some three hundred people died as a result of an explosion at a federal ammunition depot on Beauregard Street. The explosion left a 30-foot (9 m) deep hole at the depot's location, and sank ships docked on the Mobile River; the resulting fires destroyed the northern portion of the city. Federal Reconstruction in Mobile began after the Civil War and effectively ended in 1874 when

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3402-460: The city, beginning with the settlement as an important trading center between the French colonists and Native Americans , down to its current role as the 12th-largest port in the United States . Mobile was founded in 1702 by the French as the first capital of Louisiana . During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony of France, then Great Britain , and lastly Spain . Mobile became a part of

3483-475: The colony fluctuated over the next few years, growing to 279 persons by 1708, yet shrinking to 178 persons two years later due to disease. These additional outbreaks of disease and a series of floods resulted in Bienville ordering in 1711 that the settlement be relocated several miles downriver to its present location at the confluence of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay . A new earth-and-palisade Fort Louis

3564-654: The commercial development of Mobile. In 1766 the total population was estimated to be 860, though the town's borders were smaller than during the French colonial period. During the American Revolutionary War , West Florida and Mobile became a refuge for loyalists fleeing the other colonies. While the British were dealing with their rebellious colonists along the Atlantic coast, the Spanish entered

3645-451: The council than under the at-large system. Beginning in the late 1980s, newly elected mayor Mike Dow and the city council began an effort termed the "String of Pearls Initiative" to make Mobile into a competitive city. The city initiated construction of numerous new facilities and projects, and the restoration of hundreds of historic downtown buildings and homes. City and county leaders also made efforts to attract new business ventures to

3726-461: The existing stone floor in the basement level in 1869. In 1893 the pulpit was altered and the doors were removed from the pews. In 1898 electric lighting was introduced, replacing the gas fixtures. In 1902 a building committee was formed to explore adding more space to the church for a Sunday School. Architects F. Lockwood and Walter Seymour were hired in June 1903 to design an addition. The new addition

3807-620: The exterior design to James Gallier and Charles Dakin, with the interior credited to the Dakin brothers. The influence of the Town and Davis school on Gallier and the Dakins is evident in the exterior design, with Government Street Presbyterian being extremely similar to Town and Davis' Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church, completed in 1832 in Brooklyn , New York . The exterior is brick with

3888-695: The founding of the French Mobile settlement, the Mobile tribe, along with the Tohomé, gained permission from the colonists to settle near the fort. The European settlement of Mobile began with French colonists, who in 1702 constructed Fort Louis de la Louisiane , at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River , as the first capital of the French colony of La Louisiane . It was founded by French Canadian brothers Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville , to establish control over France's claims to La Louisiane . Bienville

3969-605: The last snowfall had been nearly four years earlier, on January 27, 2014. Mobile is occasionally affected by major tropical storms and hurricanes. The city suffered a major natural disaster on the night of September 12, 1979, when category-3 Hurricane Frederic passed over the heart of the city. The storm caused tremendous damage to Mobile and the surrounding area. Mobile had moderate damage from Hurricane Opal on October 4, 1995, and Hurricane Ivan on September 16, 2004. Mobile suffered millions of dollars in damage from Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, which damaged much of

4050-442: The late 1940s, the transition to the postwar economy was hard for the city, as thousands of jobs were lost at the shipyards with the decline in the defense industry. Eventually the city's social structure began to become more liberal. Replacing shipbuilding as a primary economic force, the paper and chemical industries began to expand. No longer needed for defense, most of the old military bases were converted to civilian uses. Following

4131-399: The local Democrats gained control of the city government. The last quarter of the 19th century was a time of economic depression and municipal insolvency for Mobile. One example can be provided by the value of Mobile's exports during this period of depression. The value of exports leaving the city fell from $ 9 million in 1878 to $ 3 million in 1882. The turn of the 20th century brought

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4212-411: The mason, Thomas James. In 1852 the steeple was struck by lightning and subsequently removed due to the structural damage. A committee was formed to determine if it was desirable to rebuild it, and the ladies of the church formed a "steeple society" to raise the funds for the construction. The committee later decided to recommend that the congregation not replace it. A cypress floor was installed over

4293-574: The massive influx of workers coming to work in the shipyards and at the Brookley Army Air Field . Between 1940 and 1943, more than 89,000 people moved into Mobile to work for war effort industries. Mobile was one of eighteen United States cities producing Liberty ships . Its Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company (ADDSCO) supported the war effort by producing ships faster than the Axis powers could sink them. ADDSCO also churned out

4374-399: The most important industries. During this time, social justice and race relations in Mobile worsened, however. The state passed a new constitution in 1901 that disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites ; and the white Democratic-dominated legislature passed other discriminatory legislation. In 1902, the city government passed Mobile's first racial segregation ordinance, segregating

4455-459: The play itself, as written, makes no mention of a balcony, but only of a window at which Juliet appears. Various types of balcony have been used in this famous scene; the "balcony of Juliet" at Villa Capuleti in Verona is not a Juliet balcony, as it protrudes from the wall of the villa (see photograph below). A unit with a regular balcony will have doors that open onto a small patio with railings,

4536-532: The power of ward bosses, this change resulted in the elite white majority strengthening its power, as only the majority could gain election of at-large candidates. In addition, poor whites and blacks had already been disenfranchised. Mobile was one of the last cities to retain this form of government, which prevented smaller groups from electing candidates of their choice. But Alabama's white yeomanry had historically favored single-member districts in order to elect candidates of their choice. The red imported fire ant

4617-451: The sanctuary and upper gallery . The sanctuary has two aisles and retains the original pews. The U-shaped gallery is supported by fluted Corinthian columns of a Tower of the Winds design. The gallery balcony features a Greek key molding topped with rosettes and appears, as does most of the interior, to be based on a design from Minard Lafever 's Beauties of Modern Architecture . Behind

4698-399: The scene makes no mention of a balcony, only of a window at which Juliet appears). Manufacturers' names for their balcony railing designs often refer to the origin of the design, e.g. Italian balcony, Spanish balcony, Mexican balcony, Ecuadorian balcony. They also refer to the shape and form of the pickets used for the balcony railings, e.g. knuckle balcony. Within the construction industry it

4779-585: The shipyards, although the Roosevelt administration had ordered defense contractors to integrate facilities. That year ADDSCO promoted 12 blacks to positions as welders, previously reserved for whites; and whites objected to the change by rioting on May 24. The mayor appealed to the governor to call in the National Guard to restore order, but it was weeks before officials allowed African Americans to return to work, keeping them away for their safety. In

4860-435: The singers, and in banqueting halls and the like for the musicians. In theatres, the balcony was formerly a stage box, but the name is now usually confined to the part of the auditorium above the dress circle and below the gallery. Balconies are part of the sculptural shape of the building allowing for irregular facades without the cost of irregular internal structures. In addition to functioning as an outdoor space for

4941-549: The tornado into Midtown , causing damage or destruction to at least 100 structures. The heaviest damage to houses was along Carlen Street, Rickarby Place, Dauphin Street, Old Shell Road , Margaret Street, Silverwood Street, and Springhill Avenue. The tornado caused significant damage to the Carmelite Monastery, Little Flower Catholic Church, commercial real estate along Airport Boulevard and Government Street in

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5022-603: The total, being covered by water. The elevation in Mobile ranges from 10 feet (3 m) on Water Street in downtown to 211 feet (64 m) at the Mobile Regional Airport. Mobile has a number of notable historic neighborhoods. These include Ashland Place , Campground , Church Street East , De Tonti Square , Leinkauf , Lower Dauphin Street , Midtown , Oakleigh Garden , Old Dauphin Way , Spring Hill , and Toulminville . Mobile's geographical location on

5103-537: The upland plantation areas, but many households had domestic slaves, and many other slaves worked on the waterfront and on riverboats. The last slaves to enter the United States from the African trade were brought to Mobile on the slave ship Clotilda . Among them was Cudjoe Lewis , who in the 1920s became the last survivor of the slave trade. By 1853, fifty Jewish families lived in Mobile, including Philip Phillips , an attorney from Charleston, South Carolina , who

5184-473: The vicinity of the Mobile River , and its main tributaries the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers . A plantation economy using slave labor developed in the region and as a consequence Mobile's population quickly grew. It came to be settled by attorneys, cotton factors , doctors, merchants and other professionals seeking to capitalize on trade with the upriver areas. From the 1830s onward, Mobile expanded into

5265-456: The war in 1779 as an ally of France. They took the opportunity to order Bernardo de Galvez , Governor of Louisiana, on an expedition east to retake West Florida. He captured Mobile during the Battle of Fort Charlotte in 1780, as part of this campaign. The Spanish wished to eliminate any British threat to their Louisiana colony west of the Mississippi River, which they had received from France in

5346-591: The war, in which many African Americans had served, veterans and their supporters stepped up activism to gain enforcement of their constitutional rights and social justice, especially in the Jim Crow South. During the 1950s the City of Mobile integrated its police force and Spring Hill College accepted students of all races. Unlike in the rest of the state, by the early 1960s the city buses and lunch counters voluntarily desegregated. The Alabama legislature passed

5427-401: The whole of Mobile County, including the city, consisted of 29,754 citizens, of which 1,195 were free people of color . Additionally, 1,785 slave owners in the county held 11,376 people in bondage, about one-quarter of the total county population of 41,130 people. During the American Civil War , Mobile was a Confederate city. The H. L. Hunley , the first submarine to sink an enemy ship,

5508-428: Was appointed as royal governor of French Louisiana in 1701. Mobile's Roman Catholic parish was established on July 20, 1703, by Jean-Baptiste de la Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier , Bishop of Quebec . The parish was the first French Catholic parish established on the Gulf Coast of the United States . In 1704, the ship Pélican delivered 23 Frenchwomen to the colony; passengers had contracted yellow fever at

5589-478: Was built in Mobile. One of the most famous naval engagements of the war was the Battle of Mobile Bay , resulting in the Union taking control of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864. On April 12, 1865, three days after Robert E. Lee 's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse , the city surrendered to the Union army to avoid destruction after Union victories at nearby Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley . On May 25, 1865,

5670-654: Was challenged and finally overturned in 1982 in City of Mobile v. Bolden , which was remanded by the United States Supreme Court to the district court. Finding that the city had adopted a commission form of government in 1911 and at-large positions with discriminatory intent, the court proposed that the three members of the city commission should be elected from single-member districts , likely ending their division of executive functions among them. Mobile's state legislative delegation in 1985 finally enacted

5751-472: Was constructed at the new site during this time. By 1712, when Antoine Crozat was appointed to take over administration of the colony, its population had reached 400 persons. The capital of La Louisiane was moved in 1720 to Biloxi , leaving Mobile to serve as a regional military and trading center. In 1723 the construction of a new brick fort with a stone foundation began and it was renamed Fort Condé in honor of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon . In 1763,

5832-597: Was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992. The Government Street Presbyterian Church congregation was formally organized in 1831. It initially met in a frame building on Government Street. A lot at the corner of Government and Jackson Street was purchased for $ 10,000 in the spring of 1835. Local millionaire and church trustee, Henry Hitchcock , ran an ad in the Mobile Daily Register in December 1835 that advertised for builders. Hitchcock served on

5913-530: Was developed with wharves, terminal facilities, and fireproof brick warehouses. The exports of cotton grew in proportion to the amounts being produced in the Black Belt ; by 1840 Mobile was second only to New Orleans in cotton exports in the nation. With the economy so focused on one crop, Mobile's fortunes were always tied to those of cotton, and the city weathered many financial crises. Mobile slaveholders owned relatively few slaves compared to planters in

5994-735: Was elected to the Alabama State Legislature and then to the United States Congress. Many early Jewish families were descendants of Sephardic Jews who had been among the earliest colonial settlers in Charleston and Savannah. By 1860 Mobile's population within the city limits had reached 29,258 people; it was the 27th-largest city in the United States and 4th-largest in what would soon be the Confederate States of America . The free population in

6075-403: Was finished in 1905 and crossed the back of the existing structure, forming a T-shape. It matched the existing structure in detail and scale. The new construction cost around $ 12,000. The main sanctuary windows of clear glass were replaced with stained glass at this time. A hurricane in 1916 caused $ 2500 in unspecified damages, and it was decided at that time to further enlarge the rear portion of

6156-558: Was first introduced into the United States via the Port of Mobile. Sometime in the late 1930s they came ashore off cargo ships arriving from South America. The ants were carried in the soil used as ballast on those ships. They have spread throughout the South and Southwest. During World War II , the defense buildup in Mobile shipyards resulted in a considerable increase in the city's white middle-class and working-class population, largely due to

6237-504: Was from New York City , which was deeply involved in the cotton industry. Mobile was the slave-trading center of the state until the 1850s, when it was surpassed by Montgomery . The prosperity stimulated a building boom that was underway by the mid-1830s, with the building of some of the most elaborate structures the city had seen up to that point. This was cut short in part by the Panic of 1837 and yellow fever epidemics. The waterfront

6318-593: Was seized by United States General James Wilkinson during the War of 1812 . By the time Mobile was included in the Mississippi Territory in 1813, the population had dwindled to roughly 300 people. The city was included in the Alabama Territory in 1817, after Mississippi gained statehood. Alabama was granted statehood in 1819; Mobile's population had increased to 809 by that time. Mobile

6399-466: Was the most commonly used. With the rise of technology and the modern age, balconies are now able to be built out of other materials, including glass and stainless steel to provide a durable and modern look to a building. One of the most famous uses of a balcony is in traditional staging of the scene that has come to be known as the "balcony scene" in Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet (though

6480-635: Was updated and expanded to include harpsichord and carillon stops. The organ is made available to organists and students wishing to rehearse by contacting the church office. The official information may be found here . Government Street Presbyterian Church is part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) , in the Presbytery of South Alabama. It is a congregation of over 480 members. The church has worship services, Christian education, music and fine arts, and urban ministries. The church also hosts

6561-559: Was well situated for trade, as its location tied it to a river system that served as the principal navigational access for most of Alabama and a large part of Mississippi. River transportation was aided by the introduction of steamboats in the early decades of the 19th century. By 1822, the city's population had risen to 2,800. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain created shortages of cotton, driving up prices on world markets. Much land well suited to growing cotton lies in

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