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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in the city of Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama.
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Mobile is the county seat of Mobile County. It was established in 1702 by the French as the first capital of colonial La Louisiane (New France). During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony of France, then Britain, and lastly Spain. Mobile first became a part of the United States of America in 1813, with the annexation by President James Madison of West Florida from Spain. In 1861, Alabama joined the Confederate States of America, which surrendered in 1865.
Mobile, Alabama during the American Civil War, was an important port city on the Gulf of Mexico for the Confederate States of America. Mobile fell to the Union Army late in the war following successful attacks on the defenses of Mobile Bay by the Union Navy.
Historical Timeline
Prior to 19th Century
1500-1559 - Spanish Explorers sailed into Mobile Bay
1702 - Fort Louis de la Mobile founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville of Montreal. 1703 - Mardi Gras begins 1722 - French Louisiana capital relocated from Mobile to New Orleans 1723 - Fort Conde built 1763 - Mobile becomes part of British West Florida per Treaty of Paris (1763) 1780 - March: Battle of Fort Charlotte; Spanish in power 1783 - Mobile becomes part of Spanish West Florida per Treaty of Paris (1783).
19th Century
1810 - Mobile becomes part of the independent Republic of West Florida. 1813 - Spanish West Florida annexed to the United States-becomes part of the Mississippi Territory; Mobile Gazette newspaper begins publication 1814 - Town of Mobile incorporated 1817 - Mobile becomes part of the Alabama Territory 1819 - City of Mobile incorporated 1821 - Mobile Commercial Register begins publication 1827 - Fire destroyed most of the old city 1829 - Mobile Female Benevolent Society founded 1830 - Spring Hill College and City Hospital established. 1835 - Franklin Society Reading Room and Library founded 1839 - October 2: Fire 1840 - St. Francis Street Methodist Church founded 1844 - Shaarai Shomayim congregation formed 1850 - Mobile Evening News begins publication; Bienville Square (city park) established 1852 - Public schooling begins in Barton Academy building 1854 - Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce chartered 1855 - Publisher S.H. Goetzel in business 1857 - City Hall built 1860 - Clotilde, the last known slave ship in America arrives and is abandoned near Mobile 1861 - City becomes part of the Confederate States of America. 1864 - Wilmer Hall established; Battle of Mobile Bay 1865 - State colored convention held in city; Mobile Magazine Explosion kills 300 and destroys most of the city 1868 - Africatown established near Mobile 1869 - Mobile Bar Association and Mobile Law Library founded 1871 - Mobile Cotton Exchange established 1872 - Mobile Carnival Association established 1875 - The city is five million dollars in debt 1879 - The city's charter is revoked by the Alabama Legislature 1883 - Fidelia Club formed; Drago Band (musical group) active 1889 - Mobile County Courthouse built 1890 - Mobile Camera Club founded 1894 - Clara Schumann Club (music group) formed
20th century
1902 - Mobile Public Library established; the first segregation ordinance passed 1906 - The last note of debt was paid off 1907 - Union Depot built 1914 - Rotary Club of Mobile organized 1917 - Alabama Drydock & Shipbuilding Company established 1925 - Lincoln Theatre built 1927 - Saenger Theatre built 1929 - Mobile Press newspaper begins publication; Woman's Clubhouse Association founded 1930 - WALA radio begins broadcasting 1936 - American Association of University Women of Mobile organized 1937 - Foreign trade zone established; Aluminum Ore Company refining plant constructed 1938 - Brookley Army Air Field established 1953 - WALA-TV (television) begins broadcasting; Consular Corps of Mobile organized 1955 - WKRG-TV (television) begins broadcasting 1962 - Mobile Genealogical Society founded 1964 - Mobile British Women's Club active; University of South Alabama opened as an integrated college ; USS Alabama enters Mobile Bay 1966 - Neighborhood Organized Workers established 1969 - Brookley AFB closes 1974 - Azalea City News begins publication 1975 - Springhill Medical Center (then called Springhill Memorial Hospital) opens 1979 - Hurricane Frederic 1980 - U.S. Supreme Court decides Mobile v. Bolden redistricting-related lawsuit 1981 - The KKK lynched Michael McDonald 1983 - Mobile Municipal Archives founded 1985 - U.S. Naval Station Mobile opens 1989 - Alabama Drydock & Shipping Company closes 1993 - September 22: Big Bayou Canot train wreck. 1995 - City website online; Bayfest (Mobile) (music festival) begins. 1998 - Sammy’s v. City of Mobile strip club-related lawsuit decided
21st Century 2002 - Tricentennial of founding of Mobile 2004 - Hurricane Ivan 2005 - Sam Jones becomes first black to be elected mayor; Hurricane Katrina 2012 - Christmas tornado outbreak. 2015 - Bayfest is cancelled.