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95-539: 265 militia, including: The Fort Mims massacre took place on August 30, 1813, at a fortified homestead site 35-40 miles north of Mobile, Alabama , during the Creek War . A large force of Creek Indians belonging to the Red Sticks faction, under the command of Peter McQueen and William Weatherford , stormed the fort and defeated the militia garrison. The Red Sticks conducted the massacre, killing almost all

190-560: 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

285-459: 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,

380-500: 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

475-691: A centralized Creek national government and were accepting of European culture (such as subsistence farming ). After the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh visited the Creeks in 1811, the Red Sticks embraced the call to oppose American settlers and their culture. The United States entered the Creek War in hopes of preventing the Red Sticks from becoming allied with the United Kingdom. The American military

570-519: 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

665-569: 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

760-576: 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

855-657: A house one mile from the fort and killed three Red Stick warriors. After this encounter, settlers in the area feared retaliatory Red Stick attacks. In October 1814, General Andrew Jackson made Fort Pierce his headquarters prior to the Battle of Pensacola . After the Battle of Pensacola, Jackson again made Fort Pierce his headquarters and ordered troops from Fort Montgomery , East Tennessee militia, Mississippi Territory volunteers, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and friendly Creeks (accompanied by Samuel Moniac, father of David Moniac ), to search

950-491: 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

1045-679: 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

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1140-627: A mounted force of 6 companies, 150 white militia riflemen, and 30 Tensaw under Captain Dixon Bailey to intercept them. James Caller (Call/Cole) ambushed the Red Sticks in the Battle of Burnt Corn in July 1813 as the Creek were having their mid-day meal. While the United States forces were looting the pack trains, the warriors returned and drove off the Americans. The United States was now at war with

1235-468: 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

1330-569: A simultaneous attack on Fort Pierce along with their attack on Fort Mims. While planning the attacks on Fort Mims and Pierce, William Weatherford was provided information from runaway slaves from Fort Pierce about the Tensaw River forts and their defenses. While en route to Fort Mims, the Red Stick war party was seen by a number of American settlers and slaves. Most of these reported sightings were by occupants of Fort Pierce, which caused

1425-484: A spectrum of cultures. Mobile's official cultural ambassadors are the Azalea Trail Maids , meant to embody the ideals of Southern hospitality . Fort Pierce (Alabama) The War of 1812 was fought between the United States (along with various allied Native American tribes), and the United Kingdom, Spain (eventually involved), and various Native American tribes. Although the war initially took place in

1520-519: 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

1615-606: A systematic slaughter of domestic livestock, most of which belonged to men who had gained power by adopting aspects of European culture. Not understanding internal issues among the Creek, frontier whites were alarmed about rising tensions and began 'forting up' and moving into various posts and blockhouses such as Fort Mims, while the states sent military reinforcements to the frontier. American spies learned that Peter McQueen 's party of Red Sticks were in Pensacola , Spanish Florida , to acquire food assistance, supplies, and arms from

1710-457: 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

1805-745: Is cited in Margaret Mitchell 's epic novel Gone with the Wind (1936). In the book, a minor character, Grandma Fontaine, shares her memories of seeing her entire family murdered in the Creek uprising following the massacre as a lesson to the protagonist, Scarlett. She says that a woman should never experience the worst that can happen to her, for then she can never experience fear again. 31°10′52″N 87°50′17″W  /  31.181°N 87.838°W  / 31.181; -87.838 Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( / m oʊ ˈ b iː l / moh- BEEL , French: [mɔbil] )

1900-404: 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

1995-486: 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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2090-546: The Fort Mims massacre . On the morning of the attack, Beasley had received word that Fort Pierce was in imminent danger from Red Stick warriors. Beasley planned to dispatch eight to ten mounted men under Captain Hatton Middleton to determine the strength of the reported Red Stick force. It was falsely assumed Fort Pierce would be attacked prior to Fort Mims because Fort Pierce had lighter defenses. Instead, Fort Mims

2185-509: 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

2280-523: 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

2375-569: 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

2470-532: The Southeastern United States frontier. Settlers both demanded government action and fled the area. In the weeks following the battle, several thousand persons, about half the population of the Tensaw and Tombigbee districts, fled their settlements for Mobile. Its small population of 500 struggled to deal with them. The Red Stick victory was one of the greatest achieved by Native Americans. But

2565-627: 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

2660-578: 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

2755-609: 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

2850-534: The Creek Nation. In August 1813, Peter McQueen and Red Eagle (Weatherford) were the Red Stick chiefs who led the attack on Fort Mims. Nearly 1,000 warriors from thirteen Creek towns of the Alabama, the Tallapoosa, and lower Abeka bands gathered at the mouth of Flat Creek on the lower Alabama River . The mixed-blood whites, who were called Creek, of Tensaw , who had relocated from Upper Creek Towns with

2945-749: 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

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3040-621: 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

3135-466: The Indians were distinctly heard at this post until after four o'clock in the afternoon when the firing ceased. It was impossible to render them any assistance from my small force." After their losses in the attack on Fort Mims, the Red Sticks abandoned their plan to attack Fort Pierce. A few hours after the attack on Fort Mims, four men from Fort Pierce traveled to Fort Mims to observe the aftermath of

3230-671: 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

3325-699: 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

3420-537: The Red Sticks would begin retaliatory attacks on settlers in the area north of Mobile . Claiborne sent soldiers from the Mount Vernon Cantonment to supplement the militias in Fort Glass , Fort Mims, Fort Easley , and eventually, Fort Pierce. By August 1813, the fort was garrisoned by settlers from the surrounding region and was additionally strengthened by Mississippi Territory Volunteers from

3515-700: The Red Sticks' cause. After several battles, Major General Andrew Jackson commanded these state militias. Together with Cherokee allies, he defeated the Red Sticks Creek faction at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , ending the Creek War. Today, the Fort Mims site is maintained by the Alabama Historical Commission . It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1972. The Fort Mims massacre

3610-531: The Spanish. The newly arrived Spanish governor, Mateo González Manrique , authorized giving the Creek 45 barrels of corn and flour, blankets, ribbons, scissors, razors, a few steers, and 1000 pounds of gunpowder and an equivalent supply of lead musket balls and bird shot. When reports of the Creek pack train reached Colonel Caller, he and Major Daniel Beasley of the Mississippi Volunteers led

3705-493: The Tensaw Native Americans led by Dixon Bailey would have to be killed to avenge their treachery at Burnt Corn. The Creek launched a second attack at 3 pm. The remaining defenders fell back into a building called the 'bastion'. The Red Sticks set fire to the 'bastion', which spread out to the rest of the stockade. The warriors forced their way into the inner enclosure and killed most of the militia defenders,

3800-591: 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

3895-539: The Upper Towns opposed both land cessions to settlers and the Lower Towns' assimilation into European-American culture. These natives were soon called "Red Sticks" because they had raised the "red stick of war," a favored weapon and symbolic Creek war declaration. Civil war among the Creek erupted in the summer of 1813. The Red Sticks attacked headmen associated with accommodation. In the Upper Towns, they began

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3990-650: The approval of the Creek National Council, joined European-American settlers in taking refuge within the stockade of Fort Mims. There were about 517 people, including some 265 armed militiamen in the fort. Fort Mims was located about 35 to 45 miles (50–70 km) directly north of Mobile on the eastern side of the Alabama River . On August 21, 1813, a Choctaw warrior arrived at Fort Easley with news that more than 400 Red Stick warriors planned to attack Fort Easley, then Fort Madison . This news

4085-557: The area of Natchez under the command of Lieutenant Andrew Montgomery. In addition to the militia and volunteers, local settlers, slaves, and allied Creeks took refuge in Fort Pierce, bringing the total occupants of the fort to around 200 persons. After the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, Red Sticks planned to attack Fort Mims, as some métis who assisted in the American attack had taken refuge inside. The Red Sticks initially planned

4180-460: 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

4275-591: 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

4370-525: 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

4465-549: 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

4560-522: 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

4655-475: 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

4750-654: 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

4845-451: 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

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4940-517: The first recorded schools in what is now Alabama . In 1813, the Peirce brothers constructed a protective stockade around their grist mill and sawmill on Pine Log Creek in response to news of Red Stick attacks on American settlers. This stockade was located about two miles southeast of Fort Mims , which was the protective stockade constructed around the home of Samuel Mims. After the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek , General Ferdinand Claiborne feared

5035-695: 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

5130-616: The governor of Mississippi Territory, requesting a surgeon's mate for Fort Pierce. Nixon also requested power to court-martial mutinous soldiers at the fort. After serving at Fort Pierce, Nixon was transferred to Fort Claiborne . The soldiers in Fort Pierce continued to have sporadic engagements with Red Stick warriors throughout 1814. In a May 1814 letter, Brigadier General Joseph Graham wrote to Benjamin Hawkins that Red Sticks were still approaching (and being fired upon from), Fort Pierce. In June 1814, settlers from Fort Pierce came upon

5225-605: 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

5320-442: 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

5415-399: 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

5510-586: The massacre also marked the transition from a civil war within the Creek (Muskogee) nation to a war between the United States and the Red Stick warriors of the Upper Creek. Because Federal troops were largely occupied with the northern front of the War of 1812 , Tennessee , Georgia , and the Mississippi Territory mobilized their militias to move against the Upper Creek towns that had supported

5605-460: The massacre. Montgomery then planned to abandon Fort Pierce and flee towards Mobile due to the perceived threat of another Red Stick attack. Montgomery initially decided to take the 40 men and 164 women and children to Mobile via the Alabama River , but remaining Red Stick warriors in the area prevented this route. Fort Pierce's occupants left its protective walls on August 30 and traveled by land to Mobile, arriving three days later. After Fort Pierce

5700-574: 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

5795-462: The military leadership of Fort Mims to feel that these sightings were falsely reported to ensure Fort Pierce would be supplied with additional military support. Fort Pierce was guarded by soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Montgomery, who had been sent to Fort Pierce from the main body of troops under the command of Major Daniel Beasley at Fort Mims. On August 30, 1813, an estimated 750 Red Stick warriors attacked Fort Mims in what became known as

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5890-575: The mixed-blood Creek, and white settlers. After a struggle of hours, the defense collapsed entirely. An estimated 500 militiamen, settlers, slaves and Creeks loyal to the Americans died or were captured. The Red Sticks took some 250 scalps. By 5 pm, the battle was over, and the stockade and buildings sacked and in flames. While the Creek spared the lives of most of the enslaved blacks, they took more than 100 of them captive. At least three women and ten children are known to have been taken captive. Some 36 people, nearly all men, escaped, including Bailey, who

5985-399: 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

6080-455: The northeastern part of the United States and southeastern Canada, conflicts soon reached into the southeastern United States and Spanish West Florida . The Creek War began in 1813 as a regional conflict of the War of 1812. The war initially pitted two rival factions of the Creek tribe against each other: the Red Sticks , who opposed a centralized Creek national government and opposed encroachment of American settlers, versus those who supported

6175-416: The post against any number of Indians", but historians believe the stockade was poorly defended. At the time of the attack, the east gate was partially blocked open by drifting sand. Beasley had posted no pickets or sentries, dismissing the reports the Creeks were near. The Red Sticks attacked during the mid-day meal, attempting to take the fort in a coup de main by charging the open gate en masse . At

6270-532: 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

6365-650: The remaining mixed Creek, white settlers, and militia at Fort Mims. Afterward, they took nearly 100 enslaved African Americans as captives. The small fort consisted of a blockhouse and stockade surrounding the house and outbuildings of settler Samuel Mims. At the time of the War of 1812 , tensions within the Creek Nation split into factions. Creek nativists known as the Red Sticks wanted to keep traditional ways and argued against more accommodation of white settlers. But other Creek, who tended to have had more trading and other relations with whites, favored adopting elements of European-American culture. The Red Stick faction from

6460-417: The same time, they took control of the gun loopholes and the outer enclosure. Under Captain Bailey, the militia and settlers held the inner enclosure, fighting on for a time; after about two hours there was a pause of about an hour. The Creek, with their initial impetus blunted inside the fort and casualties rising, held an impromptu council to debate whether to continue the fight. By 3 o'clock, they decided that

6555-465: 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

6650-420: The surrounding land or home. The Treaty of Fort Jackson essentially brought the Creek War to a close, but various skirmishes and conflicts between Red Sticks and settlers continued, culminating in the Battle of Pensacola . In the early 1800s, John and William Peirce moved to the area of modern-day Tensaw from New England . William operated one of the first cotton gins in the area, and John founded one of

6745-425: 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

6840-656: 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

6935-537: 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

7030-473: 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

7125-568: The vicinity, but mounted scouts from the fort found no signs of the war party. Major Beasley had the second slave flogged for "raising a false alarm". A mounted scout delivered a second warning to Beasley on the morning of the assault, but he dismissed it and took no precautions, reportedly because of being drunk. Some of the reported sightings were by occupants of nearby Fort Pierce . The military leaders of Fort Mims thought those may have been false alarms to gain additional military support at Fort Pierce. Beasley had claimed that he could "maintain

7220-404: 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

7315-591: 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

7410-401: 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,

7505-458: Was abandoned Red Stick warriors burned the entire structure. On October 8, 1813, a detachment of the 7th Infantry Regiment from Fort Stoddert under the command of Captain Uriah Blue arrived at the former site of Fort Pierce. The soldiers built a new fort on a hill near Pine Log Creek and named it Fort Pierce, even though it was not in the exact location as the previous Fort Pierce. Blue

7600-428: 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

7695-405: Was attacked by the full force of Red Stick warriors and over 200 settlers, allied Creeks, and soldiers were killed. During the attack, Captain Dixon Bailey attempted to escape and obtain reinforcements from Fort Pierce, but he was prevented from doing so by other settlers in Fort Mims. The attack was heard as far away as Fort Pierce, where Lieutenant Montgomery reported that "the firing and yells of

7790-478: 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,

7885-654: 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

7980-411: Was commanded to search the surrounding area for any remaining Red Sticks, but erroneously reported there were none left. On November 10, Blue was commanded by General Thomas Flournoy to withdraw from Fort Pierce and rejoin his regiment (which was being moved to New Orleans ), leaving Fort Pierce abandoned. One month later, Lieutenant-Colonel George Henry Nixon requested a transfer to Fort Pierce and

8075-472: 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,

8170-530: 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

8265-735: 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

8360-558: 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

8455-504: 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

8550-607: Was granted his request by General Claiborne. Prior to commanding Fort Pierce, Nixon was in command of the Mount Vernon Cantonment. While stationed at Fort Pierce, Nixon commanded soldiers who scoured the area of the Perdido River for Red Sticks. After the Battle of Holy Ground on December 23, a group of mounted militia riflemen were sent to Fort Pierce to join their regiment who was already garrisoned there. By January 1814, Nixon wrote to David Holmes ,

8645-440: Was mortally wounded. Two women and one girl also escaped. When a relief column arrived from Fort Stoddard a few weeks later, it found 247 corpses of the defenders and 100 of the Creek attackers. After their victory, the Red Sticks "razed the surrounding plantations.... They slaughtered over 5,000 head of cattle, destroyed crops and houses, and murdered or stole slaves." The Red Sticks' victory at Fort Mims spread panic throughout

8740-403: Was relayed to General Ferdinand Claiborne at St. Stephens , who sent reinforcements to Fort Easley. Claiborne reportedly believed that Major Daniel Beasley, the commander of Fort Mims, could handle an attack, and that Fort Easley was in more immediate danger. On August 29, 1813, two enslaved African Americans tending cattle outside the Fort Mims stockade reported that "painted warriors" were in

8835-473: 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

8930-420: Was supported by local militias and allied Native Americans (including Creeks, Choctaws , and Chickasaws ), while the Red Sticks were supplied by the United Kingdom and Spain. In retaliation for American involvement, Red Sticks began attacking American settlers. In response, many of the settlers sought refuge in stockades. These stockades were often built around a settler's home and named for the settler who owned

9025-559: 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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