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Mobile, AlabamaMobile (IPA: [mo?'bi?l]) (pronunciation) is a city located in Mobile County, Alabama, US, along the northwest shore of Mobile Bay. The population of the city was 197,833 according to the 2006 estimate.[1] It is the principal city of the Mobile metropolitan statistical area (MSA), which had a population of approximately 429,622 and a population of 588,246 in the combined statistical area in 2006. Mobile is the third most populous city in the State of Alabama and the principal city of the second most populous metropolitan area of the state. [2] The city's name is derived from the presence of the Mobile (Mauvile or Maubila) Indians in the area at the time of founding. [3] The city is the county seat of Mobile County. Mobile is the original home of Mardi Gras, a tradition that started in 1703, and is the second largest celebration in the United States.[4] Mobile is the only saltwater port in Alabama. Beginning as the first capital of French colonial Louisiana in 1702, during the past 300 years, Mobile has officially flown six flags, including France, Britain, Spain, the Republic of Alabama (1861), the Confederacy, and the United States.
HistoryThe original French settlement of "Fort Louis de la Mobile", was first established in 1702, at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River, as the first capital of the French colony of Louisiana. Following a series of floods, the town was relocated downriver to its present location near the head of Mobile Bay in 1711, with another wooden Fort Louis.[5] The capital of the Louisiana Territory was moved to Biloxi in 1720 and to New Orleans in 1723,[5] and Mobile was relegated to the role of frontier town and trading post. In 1723, construction of a new brick fort with a stone foundation began, and was renamed as Fort Condé in honor of King Louis XIV’s brother.[5] In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the French and Indian War. The treaty ceded Mobile to Great Britain and under British rule the colony flourished. The British renamed the city Fort Charlotte, after the English Queen, and re-energized the port. Major exports included timber, naval stores, indigo, hides, rice, pecans and cattle. The immediate British enforcement of race codes threw the denizens of the French-derived culture into chaos. The French Creole world was noted for its laissez-faire attitude to racial matters and the stringent English codes chased some of Mobile's Creole residents westward into Louisiana. 
 The Spanish captured the port town in 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. The Spanish held Mobile until 1813 when, it was captured by the American General Wilkinson. By then it was the second largest seaport on the Gulf Coast. The Cotton Boom of the early 19th century brought an explosion of commerce to what had been a sleepy frontier town. By the 1850s, Mobile was one of the 4 busiest ports in the US. The wealth created by this trade brought the city to a cultural high point. Mobile became known throughout the country and the world. In another note of differentiation between the somewhat cosmopolitan port and the hinterlands of predominantly Protestant Alabama, Mobile was declared a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in this same period. What would become known as McGill-Toolen High School was also established during this time. In 1830, Bishop Michael Portier founded Spring Hill College, one of the oldest Catholic schools in the country. Control of the college was assumed by the Jesuit Order in 1847. In 1860, Clotilde, the last known ship to arrive in the Americas with a cargo of slaves, was abandoned by its captain near Mobile. A number of the slaves escaped and formed their own community on the banks of the Mobile River, which became known as Africatown. The inhabitants of this community retained their African customs and language well into the 20th century. Mobile grew substantially in the period leading up to the American Civil War, when the Confederates heavily fortified it. Union naval forces established a blockade under the command of Admiral David Farragut. The Confederates countered by constructing blockade-runners: fast, shallow-draft, low-slung ships that could either out-run or evade the blockaders, maintaining a trickle of trade in and out of Mobile. Also, the Hunley, the first submarine to sink an enemy vessel in combat, was built and tested in Mobile. In August, 1864 Farragut's ships fought their way past the two forts (Gaines and Morgan) guarding the mouth of Mobile Bay and defeated a small force of wooden Confederate gunboats and the ironclad CSS Tennessee, in the famous Battle of Mobile Bay. It is here that Farragut is alleged to have uttered his famous "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" quote. The city of Mobile later surrendered to the Union army in order to avoid destruction. Ironically, on May 25, 1865, weeks after Jefferson Davis had dissolved the Confederacy, an ammunition depot explosion -- called the great Mobile magazine explosion -- killed some 300 people and destroyed a significant portion of the city. After the war, the harbor was substantially improved and deepened, and shipbuilding became a notable industry. However, the city languished as a result of Reconstruction and the general economic decline of the South. 
The military buildup prior to and during World War II resulted in a massive increase in population. Shipyards were churning out vessels for the war effort and in 1938 the US Army bought the municipal airport (Bates Field was relocated about 10 miles west of the city and is now known as Mobile Regional Airport) and there developed the Brookley Army Air Field, later, Brookley Air Force Base. Brookley quickly became the area's largest employer. In the mid-1960s the Air Force Base was closed due to a Department of Defense "base realignment" and the airport returned to the city. Today, it is known as Mobile Downtown Airport. During the war, the phenomenal influx of workers created a huge housing shortage. Citizens rented out extra rooms and also converted porches, garages and even chicken coops into rentals. Several federal housing projects were quickly built to house the new maritime and Air Force workers. Several of these are still to be found, notably the community of Birdville. "Thomas James Place" was the proper name for Birdville which was built just outside of Brookley Air Force base to provide relief for the housing shortage. The development consisted of a series of interwoven curving concrete streets named after various birds, hence the nickname Birdville. By 1956, Mobile's square mileage had tripled to accommodate the growth. Brookley's closure in the mid-1960s sent economic tremors through the area which took many years to absorb. Also, in the post-war period, the pulp and paper industry became a major industry in Mobile. Scott Paper Company and International Paper combined to have one of the area's largest workforces. However, the demise of these industries within the last decade also hurt the local economy. On the other hand, during the last 15 years, the chemical, oil and gas, tourism, maritime and aerospace industries have expanded significantly and provided a much needed economic boost. In 1964, the University of South Alabama opened its doors and its tremendous impact on the community and economy was deeply felt in a variety of sectors. The university, the largest employer in the area,[citation needed] operates several hospitals and has a noted medical school. Mobile's seafood industry rose to a position of note for a while, with Mobile Bay oysters acclaimed far and wide, but this waned almost to the point of extinction in the last quarter of the 20th century. A few shrimpers still hang on in the South Mobile County fishing village of Bayou La Batre, immortalized in the book and film Forrest Gump, but their future appears uncertain. Four members of the Baseball Hall of Fame were born in Mobile: Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Satchel Paige and Ozzie Smith. A fifth Hall-of-Famer, Billy Williams, was born in the suburban community of Whistler. Notable yearly activities that take place in Mobile include the Senior Bowl, Mardi Gras (the oldest in the country), the GMAC Bowl, and the Azalea Trail Run. In addition, the Mobile BayBears baseball team play in the Double A Southern League. The eastern shore of Mobile Bay periodically experiences an unusual phenomenon called a Jubilee. A jubilee, which usually takes place in the wee hours of warm summer nights, describes a massive upsurge of sea life from the bottom of the bay. This phenomenon has also been observed in a similar bay in Japan and is believed to be caused by low oxygen levels in the water. This upsurge to the surface usually consists of crabs, shrimp, flounder and other sea delicacies. Needless to say, a jubilee, when first realized, is quickly spread by word of mouth along the coast, providing an impromptu fishing party in the middle of the night. Jubilee Parkway (the I-10 bridge across Mobile Bay) is named after this phenomenon. On 10 November 1993 the city formally twinned with the Japanese city of Ichihara, Chiba prefecture. Hurricane Frederic, which struck the area on September 12, 1979, caused severe damage in Mobile. Many residents were without power, water, telephone and basic necessities for weeks. Fortunately, only one death was recorded. The economic boom that followed Frederic, in addition to the economic growth of the 1980s, vastly improved Mobile's overall economic picture. Mobile and its suburbs suffered considerable damage when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. Although losing electric power for weeks, most of the city survived relatively intact compared to eastern New Orleans, coastal Louisiana, and coastal Mississippi, but the high winds and flooding destroyed homes in coastal areas and damaged some parts of the downtown area, and at least two people died in hurricane-related car accidents.
Geography
TopographyMobile is located at 30°40'46" North, 88°6'12" West (30.679523, -88.103280).GR1 According to the US Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 412.9 km² (159.4 mi²). 305.4 km² (117.9 mi²) of it is land and 107.6 km² (41.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 26.05% water.
ClimateMobile, as a central Gulf Coast city has a subtropical climate, which consists of mild, wet winters and hot, wet summers. Mobile is also very vulnerable to storm surge from hurricanes, which the area frequently experiences. Historically, it has the highest annual rainfall of any urban area in the United States.
HurricanesMobile suffered its worst natural disaster on September 12, 1979 when Category 3 hurricane Hurricane Frederic slammed into the heart of the city. The storm caused tremendous damage to nearby Dauphin Island and Gulf Shores. The city took over 5 years to fully recover from the devastating hurricane. On September 16, 2004, Mobile received a glancing blow from Category 3 Hurricane Ivan which made landfall in Gulf Shores. Mobile was caught in Ivan's western eye and the destruction was eerily similar to 1979's Frederic. In August of 2005, Mobile received another glancing blow from Hurricane Katrina. A storm surge exceeding 12 feet devastated eastern parts of Mobile. The surge was the highest recorded in Mobile in over 85 years. Mobile has also suffered damage from hurricanes: Camille, Elena, Georges, Erin, Opal, Florence, Cindy and Danny.
DemographicsMobile is the center of Alabama's second-largest metropolitan area, which consists all of Mobile county. Metropolitan Mobile (MSA) had a population of approximately 429,622 as of 2006 census estimates. Mobile is a part of the Mobile - Daphne - Fairhope Combined statistical area (CSA) which had a population of 588,246 according to 2006 estimates. The population of the Mobile - Fairhope - Bay Minette Combined statistical area includes the counties and populations of Mobile (Mobile) and Baldwin (Fairhope and Bay Minette). Mobile County saw substantial population growth of nearly 24,000 people after Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi in September 2005. As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there are 210,915 people, 78,480 households, and 60,000 families residing in the city. The population density is 651.4/km² (1,687.1/mi²). There are 86,187 housing units at an average density of 282.2/km² (731.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 50.40% White, 46.29% Black or African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.52% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. 1.42% of the population are Latino. There are 85,000 households out of which 30.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% are married couples living together, 19.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% are non-families. 30.2% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.46 and the average family size is 3.09. In the city the population is spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.9 males. The median income for a household in the city is $31,445, and the median income for a family is $39,752. Males have a median income of $31,629 versus $22,051 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,072. 21.2% of the population and 17.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 31.4% of those under the age of 18 and 14.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Law and governmentThe elected government of Mobile consists of a Mayor and a seven member City Council, which in theory operate on a weak Mayor/strong Council format. Municipal Elections are held every 4 years, and are non-partisan. The last elections were held on September 13, 2005. Mayor City Council
Economy
Mobile's Alabama State Docks is currently undergoing the largest expansion in its history by expanding its container processing and storage facility and increasing container storage at the docks by over 1,000%. Mobile is also in the race to become home to the nations largest military contract in history, a $200+ Billion air force tanker project which would generate over 5,000 high paying jobs in Mobile, pushing the city to very front of the nations most prosperous cities. The rapidly growing auto industry in Alabama has resulted in over 2,000 new jobs created in Mobile. Mobile also has benefited greatly economically from the Hurricane Katrina disaster with thousands of evacuees relocating to Mobile. Since the Katrina disaster, Mobile has seen a housing boom of more than 2,200 new homes built in only the past 16 months, exceeding even the post World War II boom of the late 1940s. Mobile is also one of two finalist areas for the ThyssenKrupp Steel Processing Plant, which when built, will be the largest steel plant in North America employing nearly 3,000 people. Since 1852, the Battle House hotel has been a fixture of the Mobile landscape. Although the original hotel was destroyed in a fire in 1905, it was rebuilt and has remained a Mobile area landmark. It was the location of President Woodrow Wilson's famous speech in 1913 where he declared that the US would never again fight in a foreign war of aggression. In 1974, the hotel went vacant, as much of downtown was doing at the time. In 2001, the Mobile City Council approved a deal with the Retirement Systems of Alabama for a complete restoration of the historic hotel, as well as construction of the Battle House Tower, a 35-story, 745-foot (227 m) tall skyscraper that will not only be the tallest building in Alabama, but also one of the tallest buildings on the Gulf Coast. Only sixteen cities in the United States will have one or more buildings taller than Mobile's tallest building.[citation needed] The Battle House Project is the crowning achievement of the "String of Pearls" initiative undertaken by the administration of former Mayor Mike Dow (1989-2005), which saw the construction of the Arthur Outlaw Convention Center and the Cruise Ship Terminal, the approval of the soon to be constructed Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, and the complete rebirth of Dauphin Street, Mobile's historic commercial corridor. Other projects in the works include a number of high-rise condominium towers on Water Street in the heart of the downtown waterfront, as well as the construction of a historic Mardi Gras themed city park in downtown and a brand new state of the art federal courthouse. Large commercial ventures are in the works for the metropolitan area.
MediaMobile is served by WPMI (NBC), WKRG (CBS), and WALA (FOX) television stations. The area is also served by WEAR (ABC) based in Pensacola, Florida. WJTC, also known as UTV 44, is an independent station serving Mobile and Pensacola. The Press-Register of Mobile is Alabama's oldest remaining newspaper, dating back to 1813;[6] the newspaper focuses coverage on two Alabama coastal counties, Mobile and Baldwin, and the port city of Mobile, but also serves communities across southwest Alabama and in nearby areas of Mississippi.[6] Mobile's alternative newspaper is the Lagniappe. The Mobile area is served by 12 FM radio stations, including independently owned AAA station WZEW (92/The ZEW) for listeners of delta blues alternative jam & mainstream, FM sports station WNSP (Sports Radio 105.5), country stations WKSJ (95KSJ) and WYOK (KICKS 104.1), adult contemporary WMXC (Lite Mix 99.9), classical music station WHIL, classic rock WRKH (96.1 The Rocket), and Top-40 WABB. Both WBLX and WDLT serve the area's African-American community. Notable AM radio stations include news/talk WPMI and gospel WGOK. WMXC and WZEW are streaming online. Mobile Influences
Many scenes in director Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind were filmed in Mobile: in the Bankhead Tunnel; in a large hangar at Mobile Downtown Airport (alien mothership arrival) and some exterior shots near the hangar; and in a West Mobile suburb (exteriors at the Neary residence). Nearby Bay Minette stood in for Moorcroft, Wyoming in the rail-station evacuation scene. Most of the Steven Segal movie Under Siege costaring Tommy Lee Jones were filmed on the USS Alabama which is on display to the public docked on Mobile Bay at Battleship Park. Mobile ranks third on the list of cities that have produced the most members of the Baseball Hall of Fame (Five: Hank Aaron, Billy Williams, Willie McCovey, Satchel Paige, and Ozzie Smith). New York City and Chicago are first and second, respectively. Among some Mobilians, there is a certain prestige associated with being a native. Those residents consider themselves blessed by the fact that they were "conceived under an Azalea Bush and raised in the shallow waters of Mobile Bay." The local pop band, The Ugli Stick, performs a song written by lead singer Eric Erdmann, called "The D.I.P. Song" which references his blue collar neighborhood in Mobile ("DIP" is Dauphin Island Parkway). Several people migrated from Mobile to an area in Arizona which was then named "Mobile". It was founded in the early 1900s as an area for African-Americans to live and some of its early residents were sharecroppers from Mobile, Alabama. Early portions of the novel "Red Sky at Morning" by Richard Bradford are set in Mobile. Mobile elected its first black mayor, Sam Jones, in 2005. The Red imported fire ants now infesting the southern United States first arrived in Mobile from Brazil. The Regional Football League had one football season before going bankrupt, its champion for the year was the Mobile-based Admirals, which was the only franchise in the league which did not default. Pronunciation: As pronounced by long-term residents, the second syllable of "Mobile" is emphasized "mo-BEEL" when ending a phrase ("American Mardi Gras began in Mobile"); however, within a phrase, both syllables get similar stress, as in "Mobile County." This is similar to emphasizing "York" in "New York, New York" versus "New York City" stressing City ("Hear how to properly pronounce Mobile"). TourismMobile is host to such national events as the Senior Bowl football game (January), the Senior Bowl 10K, which is the national 10K road race championship, the Azalea Trail Run 10K race (March) and the America's Junior Miss Pageant (July). [7]
Mardi GrasMobile is not only recognized as celebrating the first-known American Mardi Gras celebration in 1703 (yes, even before New Orleans), but also as home to the "America's Family Mardi Gras" delighting both young and old from around town and across the nation. This elaborate celebration lasts for nearly two weeks and culminates on Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent. Mardi Gras must be experienced to be fully understood and Mobile is the perfect place. [8] SportsMobile is the home of Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The football stadium opened in 1948 with Alabama and Vanderbilt battling to a 14-14 tie. With a capacity of 40,646, Ladd-Peebles Stadium is the 4th largest stadium in the state. [9] Ladd-Peebles Stadium has been home to the Senior Bowl since 1951, featuring the best college seniors in NCAA football.[10] The GMAC Bowl has been played since 1999 featuring opponents from the Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.[11] Since 1988, Ladd-Peebles Stadium has hosted the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic. The top graduating high school seniors from their respective states compete each June. [12] For golfers, Magnolia Grove, part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, has some of the best courses to play. There are 36 holes, The Crossings and The Falls, of championship golf and an 18-hole short course, which was recently named the best par 3 course in America. Since 1999, the LPGA Tournament of Champions has been played annually at Magnolia Grove. The Crossings course is home of this Tournament. According to Golf Digest, Mobile is a top ten golf area that offers year-round golfing. Mobile is also home to the Azalea Trail Run, which races through historic midtown and downtown Mobile. This 10k run has been an annual event since 1978. The Azalea Trail Run is one of the premier 10k road races in the U.S., attracting runners from all over the world. Mobile is hometown to five baseball Hall of Fame members (Hank Aaron, Billy Williams, Willie McCovey, Satchel Paige, Ozzie Smith) and rates as the third city with the most players honored in Cooperstown, New York, home of the Hall of fame. Only New York City and Chicago lead Mobile in this distinction. [13] TransportationLocal airline passengers are served by three airports - Mobile Regional, Gulfport-Biloxi International and Pensacola Regional. Additionally, the Mobile Downtown Airport serves corporate, cargo and private cargo aircraft and is home to major aeronautical maintenance, overhaul and repair facilities. The city also has a remarkable highway network. Highways linking Mobile to the rest of the country include Interstate 10, Interstate 65, Interstate 165, US 31, US 43, US 45, US 90 and US 98. Mobile has three routes over the Mobile River and into neighboring Baldwin County, Alabama. Interstate 10 travels through the George Wallace Tunnel while the Bankhead Tunnel provides transit via US 98. The Cochrane-Africatown USA Bridge is the third route and carries traffic via US 90 and serves as the alternate truck and hazardous waste route for US 98. Mobile is also served by the Wave Transit Bus System. Also, Mobile has several taxi services which can be called or generally picked up in the downtown area. EducationPublic schools in Mobile are operated by the Mobile County Public School System. The State of Alabama operates the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science, which boards advanced Alabama high school students. There is also a large number of private institutions, most of them belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile. Mobile is home to the University of South Alabama, Bishop State Community College, Spring Hill College and the University of Mobile. The Mobile school system recently finished a $175 million new construction project in 2005, the largest such school construction project for any city in Alabama's history. In addition to the public school system, Mobile also has private college preparatory schools, including St. Paul's Episcopal School and UMS-Wright School. The Mobile Public Library system serves Mobile and consists of eight branches across Mobile County. AwardsIn 1995, Mobile received the All-America City Award. In 2005, Mobile was designated a Preserve America City.
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