Gayfer's was a regional department store chain in the southern United States . Based in Mobile, Alabama , the chain of stores operated from 1879 until 1998 when it was taken over by Dillard's .
77-501: C.J. Gayfer migrated to Mobile, Alabama , from Southwold , England , sometime after the Civil War . He opened a retail department store, Gayfer's, in downtown Mobile in 1879. At the time of his death in 1915, Gayfer's employed 150 people and averaged over $ 500,000 (~$ 10.9 million in 2023) in annual sales. Gayfer became well known for his philanthropy and was one of the earliest proponents of employee health care benefits. During
154-543: A barrier island on the western side. The Mobile River and Tensaw River empty into the northern end of the bay, making it an estuary . Several smaller rivers also empty into the bay: Dog River , Deer River, and Fowl River on the western side of the bay, and Fish River on the eastern side. Mobile Bay is the fourth-largest estuary in the United States with a discharge of 62,000 cubic feet (1,800 m ) of water per second. Annually, and often several times during
231-560: 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
308-459: 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,
385-500: 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
462-519: 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
539-569: 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
616-576: 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
693-428: 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
770-679: 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
847-445: A massive storm surge into Mobile Bay; it measured 16 feet (4.9 m) high at Bayou La Batre (Alabama), with higher waves on top, and 12 feet (3.7 m) high at Mobile, at the far northern end of the 31-mile-long Mobile Bay. Thousands of boats, piers, and beach houses were damaged by waves exceeding 22 feet (6.7 m) high, and the battleship USS Alabama was pushed off her moorings, leaving her listing to port (tilted to
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#1732779875361924-468: 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
1001-733: A spectrum of cultures. Mobile's official cultural ambassadors are the Azalea Trail Maids , meant to embody the ideals of Southern hospitality . Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( / m oʊ ˈ b iː l / moh- BEEL ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico , lying within the state of Alabama in the United States . Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island ,
1078-519: 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
1155-508: 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
1232-404: 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
1309-486: 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
1386-459: 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
1463-523: 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
1540-569: 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
1617-627: 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
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#17327798753611694-578: 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
1771-636: The 1950s, the Mercantile Stores chain acquired Gayfer's, which then worked aggressively on the expansion of the chain. The first branch store was opened at Town & Country Plaza in Pensacola , Florida , in 1956. This successful move was followed four years later with the opening of the Springdale Plaza store in Mobile, Alabama, becoming the company's flagship store. The Downtown Mobile store closed in 1985. Gayfer's expanded into
1848-609: 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
1925-749: 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
2002-459: The Gayfers flagship store anchoring Springdale Plaza and Mall in Mobile expanded to 285,000 square feet (26,500 m). In February 1992, parent Mercantile acquired Maison Blanche by converting their Orlando (Altamonte, Florida, Fashion Square), Daytona Beach (Volusia), and Jacksonville (Roosevelt, Regency, Orange Park, Avenues) stores under the Gayfers banner. This led to their becoming one
2079-621: 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
2156-671: 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
2233-699: 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
2310-591: 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
2387-578: The Western Gulf Coast in 1963, opening a store at Edgewater Plaza Shopping City (later Edgewater Mall ) in Biloxi , Mississippi . This store was expanded in 1974 and again in 1987; it was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (by this time it was Dillard's) and had to be rebuilt. In 1969 a store was opened in Tuscaloosa , Alabama . In 1970, the apostrophe in the company name
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2464-414: The area of Mobile Bay and beyond in 1540, finding the area inhabited by indigenous Mississippian culture people. During this expedition his forces destroyed the fortified town of Mauvila , also spelled Maubila, from which the name Mobile was later derived. It was a town of the paramount Chief Tuscaloosa , located in inland Alabama, well to the north of the current site of Mobile. The next large expedition
2541-460: 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
2618-591: 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
2695-520: The bay in the Battle of Mobile Bay . A number of Civil War-era shipwrecks remain in Mobile Bay, including American Diver , CSS Gaines , CSS Huntsville , USS Philippi , CSS Phoenix , USS Rodolph , USS Tecumseh , and CSS Tuscaloosa . Mobile's role as a seaport has continued to the present day, though the commodities have changed through time. Cotton was the chief commodity in
2772-548: The bay was named as Bahía del Espíritu Santo (Bay of the Holy Spirit). The area was explored in more detail in 1516 by Diego Miruelo and in 1519 by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda . In 1528, Pánfilo de Narváez travelled through what was likely the Mobile Bay area, encountering Native Americans who fled and burned their towns at the approach of the expedition. This response was a prelude to the journeys of Hernando de Soto, more than eleven years later. Hernando de Soto explored
2849-540: The bay, on the Fort Morgan peninsula, while the town of Fort Morgan is located directly south of the bay. The Middle Bay Lighthouse has been located in the center of the bay since 1885. The head of the bay is crossed by two major thoroughfares, Interstate 10 , known as the Jubilee Parkway , and US 90 / US 98 , known as the Battleship Parkway . These two bridges serve as the primary connections between
2926-525: 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
3003-549: 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
3080-460: 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
3157-475: 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
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3234-654: 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
3311-451: 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
3388-486: The downtown business district, have been flooded repeatedly in hurricanes. However, much of the city is at an elevation exceeding 200 feet (61 m) above sea level, which is unusually high for the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. On September 13, 1979, Hurricane Frederic entered the bay with winds reaching 145 miles per hour (233 km/h), destroying the bridge to Dauphin Island. On August 28–29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina pushed
3465-695: 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
3542-565: The largest department store chains in the Southern United States as well as the largest stretching from Miami to Atlanta to Houston . In 1998, Mercantile Stores was purchased by Dillard's, Inc., and the stores that were not closed or sold to other retailers were converted to Dillard's, which ceased expanding through acquisitions after this happened. Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( / m oʊ ˈ b iː l / moh- BEEL , French: [mɔbil] )
3619-605: 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
3696-442: 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
3773-536: The left). Downtown Mobile was flooded several feet, and the south-end towns of Bayou La Batre and Bon Secour were severely damaged. Dozens of vessels of various sizes were left stranded inland. The city of Mobile is situated at the head of the bay on the western shore. On the Eastern Shore of the bay are found several small communities, including Spanish Fort , Daphne , Fairhope , Point Clear , and Bon Secour . The town of Gulf Shores lies just outside
3850-399: 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
3927-574: 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
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#17327798753614004-399: 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
4081-471: The nineteenth century. During the Second World War , Mobile's shipbuilding industry expanded, and the city's population surged as both black and white migrants moved there for work. Growth has been rapid since then. The city has endured several devastating hurricanes in its history, the most recent being Hurricane Frederic in 1979 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Areas of low elevation, including
4158-546: The original settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile was relocated in 1711 to the head of Mobile Bay. During the American Civil War Mobile Bay was used as a major port for blockade runners bringing in badly needed supplies for the Confederacy. On August 5, 1864, Admiral David Farragut led a Union flotilla through Confederate defenses and sealed off one of the last major Southern ports of
4235-532: 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
4312-413: The shipping channel, sometimes in excess of 75 feet (23 m) deep, but the average depth of the bay is 10 feet (3 m). Long occupied by cultures of indigenous peoples, this area was still under the chiefs of Mississippian culture at the time of Hernando de Soto 's exploration. The recorded history of Mobile Bay begins about 1500, when Spanish explorers were sailing into the area. On early maps,
4389-585: 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
4466-407: The summer months, the fish and crustaceans will swarm the shallow coastline and shore of the bay. This event, appropriately named a jubilee , draws a large crowd because of the abundance of fresh, easily caught seafood. Mobile Bay is 413 square miles (1,070 km ) in area. It is 31 miles (50 km) long by a maximum width of 24 miles (39 km). The deepest areas of the bay are located within
4543-549: 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
4620-603: 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
4697-537: 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
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#17327798753614774-473: 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
4851-404: 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
4928-591: 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
5005-401: 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,
5082-428: 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
5159-478: 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,
5236-654: 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
5313-472: 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,
5390-530: 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
5467-594: Was dropped. This was clearly a banner year for the company, as it opened stores in Montgomery, Alabama (through the purchase of Montgomery-based Montgomery Fair); Jackson Mall in Jackson, Mississippi , and started construction of a second store in Pensacola, Florida, at Cordova Mall . For the next twenty years, new stores were opened or remodeled, and by 1981 there were 18 stores bearing the Gayfers name. In 1989,
5544-735: 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
5621-558: 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
5698-504: 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
5775-593: 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
5852-412: Was that of Tristán de Luna y Arellano , in his unsuccessful attempt to establish a permanent colony for Spain nearby at Pensacola in 1559. Although Spain's presence in the area had been sporadic, in 1702 French colonists created a deep-sea port at Dauphin Island and founded French Louisiana 's capital at Mobile , a few miles north of Mobile Bay on the Mobile River . Following a series of floods,
5929-559: 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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