Flotte’s Notes on

Mobile Neighborhoods

An Unofficial Encyclopaedia of Mobile & Baldwin Counties

Promoting local history, culture, outdoors, businesses, attractions, food, people, and places

Please submit all comments, additions, and corrections to: admin@flotte2.com

 

 

 

Flotte’s Notes on Mobile are now being updated on Mod Mobilian: (www.modmobilian.com)

 

 

 


Mobile Neighborhoods

 

Church Street East/Government   Downtown     Dauphin Street         DeTonti Square        Other Loop            Oakeigh Garden      Leinkauf        Old Dauphin Way    Midtown         DIP/Dog River          Riviere Du Chien      Campground                        Toulminville              Crichton         Springhill       West Mobile              Causeway

 

 

Historic Preservation

·         The Historic Mobile Preservation Society was founded in 1935.  HMPS's mission includes curating the Oakleigh Historic Complex

·         In 1962 the Historic Districts Ordinance was passed by the Mobile City Commission creating the Mobile Historic Development Commission

o   The DeTonti Square and Church Street East districts were created in 1962, followed by Oakleigh Garden District in 1969.

o   The Architectural Review Board regulates buildings in the historic districts.

§  In 2008, The Mobile City Council reorganized the board by removing the six at-large members who recommended by the Mobile Historic Development Commission, replaced with eight new positions - one representative from the historic commission and seven from each of the city's seven historic districts. The reorganization came after a handful of high-profile complaints about its rulings. – PR 4/30/08

·         The Mobile Revolving Fund has bought dilapidated properties for renovation

·         There are eight historical districts in Mobile: Church Street East, DeTonti Square, Oakleigh Garden District, Old Dauphin Way, Leinkauf, Ashland Place and Midtown.

o   All districts are on the Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places, providing federal funding and protection.

o   Property owners (except in the Midtown and Campground districts) must get permission from the city's Architectural Review Board for construction or changes, including garages, sheds, fences, driveways, and exterior painting.

 

Maps

3-D Downtown Map

Downtown Business Improvement District Map

Walk About City

Land Use Map

Mobile County Revenue Commissioner (Tax Assessor)

Downtown Attraction Map

Areas of Minority Concentration, 2000 Census

Low Income Areas

 

 

City of Mobile Historic Districts Map

 

 

 

Downtown/ Business District

·         Laid out in the 18th and 19th centuries, downtown lots were meant for relatively small buildings. Today, it's not uncommon to have one block cut into 10 or more small parcels. But most developers today need at least half a block to create a large development.

·         About 1,500 people live inside the Hank Aaron Loop, including residents of the Church Street East and De Tonti Square neighborhoods (2006).

·         The "String of Pearls" initiative undertaken by the administration of former Mayor Mike Dow – PR 6/25/06

o   Downtown had bottomed into an ugly trough in the 1980s, with one of the final blows coming with the closings of department stores Gayfers and Zoghby's in 1985 and 1986, respectively.

o    Lawyer Jack Miller headed the volunteer Downtown Redevelopment Commission and coined the phrase String of Pearls.

o   Mayor Mike Dow, Jack Miller, current cruise terminal chief Al St. Clair and others began plotting to change that after Dow was elected in 1989. The first step was for Dow to "make peace," as St. Clair put it, with the plans for a waterfront convention center. Dow had opposed those plans during his campaign, and the issue helped him to turn out incumbent Mayor Arthur Outlaw, for whom the convention center is named.

o   In 1990, city officials hired a Maryland planner named Bert Winterbottom, now deceased, to come up with a plan. That plan was unveiled with much fanfare before a crowd of 1,500 at the Mobile Civic Center Theater in early 1992. At the time, the plan pegged the price of overhauling downtown at $100 million.

o   From 1992 to 1995, $176.8 million was spent on downtown projects, including $152 million in local, state and federal funds, according to a city report. That includes $125 million just for the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center and Government Plaza. Miller said he thinks $1 billion has been invested downtown since the redevelopment effort kicked off. Big projects have totaled more than $570 million, according to Press-Register files.

o   The String of Pearls includes:

·         The Battle House Project

·         Mobile Landing: Arthur Outlaw Convention Center, the Cruise Ship Terminal, the Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico, a ferry service across Mobile Bay, and condominium and retail areas.

·         The rebirth of Dauphin Street.

·         The Arthur Outlaw Convention Center was completed in 1993

·         Following the building of the Cruise Ship Terminal, Carnival Cruise Lines’ Holiday began sailing from Mobile in 2004. The 1452-passenger ship, that makes four- and five-day trips to Cozumel and the Western Caribbean, brings more than 120,000 tourists to the city per year and has a potential $20 million annual impact on Mobile. – PR 8/19/08

o   In August 2008, Carnival announced that it would be replacing the Holiday with the 2,056-passenger Fantasy in November 2009.

o   When the terminal was built in 2004, the city and RSA were set to share any profits the terminal made, but the city would cover all losses. In 2008, the city sold $18.6 million in bonds to buy out the RSA's debt and take complete ownership of the terminal. The city's debt payments on that are about $1.2 million a year for the next three years and then $1.8 million annually until 2030.

·         The Downtown Mobile Alliance is a non-profit organization established in 2006 as a partnership between the Downtown Mobile District Management Corporation and Main Street Mobile, Inc.

o   Zimmerman/Volk Associates wrote a housing study for the Downtown Mobile Alliance in 2006 stating that residents moving to downtown Mobile would fill more than 250 housing units a year for at least five years if developers could build them, with a potential market of 1,960 households each year – PR 7/22/07

o   The state granted the Downtown Mobile Alliance $44.4 million in tax-exempt Gulf Opportunity Zone Act bonds – PR 7/25/2007

·         Main Street Mobile is a private philanthropic organization whose focus is the entire area within the Hank Aaron Loop.

·         The Mobile Business Improvement District (BID) grew out of a study commissioned by Main Street Mobile, Inc. in 2002. In 2005, a majority of the property owners and the City Council approved the formation of the BID.

o   The Downtown Mobile District Management Corporation (DMDMC) is the property owner-funded management organization that coordinates services within the 75-block Business Improvement District (BID). The BID provides district-wide security, beautification initiatives, concierge patrols, intensive litter collection and economic development programs. Currently, more than 1,000 BIDs exist in the United States.

o   The BID is supported by an assessment on property within the 75-block district. Assessment levels are based on a sliding scale, depending on value as determined by the County Revenue Commissioner. Owner-occupied, single-family property is exempt and property owned by a 501(c)(3) designated nonprofit organization are eligible for a 50 percent reduction. Average annual assessments are $1234.35.

·         The acres of surface parking lots downtown are one target for development. Consultants who have studied Mobile say that the parking lots are bad for efforts to create a lively downtown. Parking lots, though they help support nearby activities, don't generate much activity themselves.

o   John and Winifred McMillan own more than 15 parcels downtown, most of them parking lots marked with distinctive yellow signs and chains. The lots are now being leased by Central Parking. That company, based in Nashville, Tenn., operates 35 parking lots and garages downtown. McMillan said she and her husband got into the parking business in search of extra income when one of their children was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. She said her husband, who now has Alzheimer's disease, was able work at the post office in the morning and attend to the parking lots in the evening. Almost every week, McMillan said, she gets a letter or a phone call from someone who wants to buy part of her property. She's not inclined to sell.

o   A report was commissioned by the Downtown Mobile Alliance, says the city has a bad deal with Central Parking Corp. In 2003, when Central Parking briefly handled ticket-writing, downtown business owners protested because the company's yellow-jacketed "parking diplomats" were handing out nearly 100 tickets every weekday. Then-Mayor Mike Dow reacted by hiring retired police officers to write tickets, and giving them unofficial marching orders to not work as hard as the diplomats. – PR 7/23/2007

·         Source:“Big Buildings, Big Challenges”, Jeff Amy, PR 3/12/2007

 

Downtown Development

·         Downtown Mobile Investment Report (PDF) – Aug. 2008

·         Downtown Mobile Public Spaces Improvement Report (PDF) – Nov. 2002

·         The New Plan for Old Mobile was unveiled in Oct. 2008 after the city of Mobile hired EDSA planning firm of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to create a new comprehensive plan for the downtown. This will be the city's first plan for downtown Mobile since 1996. That plan was never adopted by the City Council, so its recommendations were never made part of the city's budgeting process. The city spent $400,000 for the plan. The time scale varies as well, with projects slated to be implemented anywhere from one to more than 10 years. – PR 1/1/08; 1/31/08; Kevin Lee, Lagniappe, 11/18/08

o   The planning area is bordered on the east by the Mobile River, to the south by Interstate 10 and Duval Street, to the west by Houston Street and to the north by Three Mile Creek and the neighborhoods north of Martin Luther King Avenue.

o   Project manager Dan Dealy, of DSD Services Group in Mobile, said the plan could include suggestions on zoning changes or overlay districts, which are areas that have their own, separate land-use rules. It could also suggest things such as park improvements, road repaving, new street signs or even enhanced police presence.

o   Mayor Sam Jones said that three major downtown landowners have been in discussions with developers, but none are prepared to move forward with any deals until the city adopts a downtown plan.

o   The plan is outlined at www.newmobileplan.com.

o   New Plan for Old Mobile (PDF)

·         Bring Back Broad was funded in 2005 and started construction in May 2008. The stretch of S. Broad Street between Canal Street and Virginia Street will be narrowed from five lanes to three lanes with a median. It will have new sidewalks, lighting and landscaping. The $2 million project is funded by federal grants from the Federal Highway Administration and the Small Business Administration.

·         Out-of-town developers are increasingly interested in working in downtown Mobile and with the construction of the RSA Tower downtown, Mobile is becoming an attractive "two-tier" city to out-of-state firms according to realtors.

·         Recently renovated and reopened downtown buildings include the GM&O Building, the Convent of Mercy, the Battle House, Mattress Factory condominium on Dauphin Street and the St. Louis Lofts in the former Mobile Fixture building.

·         Besides the land bought for RSA, developers have assembled whole blocks for a new FBI building and a new Social Security building in the last decade.

·         There are about 6,000 hotel rooms citywide.

o   The owners of the 170-room Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel on Government Street planned the addition of 200 rooms on land behind the hotel.

o   Two Renaissance brand hotels on Royal Street: the 250-room Battle House Hotel, and the 375-room Riverview Plaza, which is undergoing a $60 million renovation were completed in 2007. Both are owned by an affiliate of the Retirement Systems of Alabama

o   The 150-room Hampton Inn & Suites at the corner of Royal and Conti streets was opened by developer Mike Cowart of Cowart Hospitality Services in Birmingham and the Edmonds family based in Brent, Ala., who own a chain of hotels and restaurants.

·         Water Street Landing: Millennium Mobile, a Pasadena, California-based development company owned by the Yi family, planned an $80 million 239-unit condominium development with 60,000 square feet of retail space at the foot of Government Street at the site of the CSX building.  They paid CSX Railway $1.8 million for 1.6 acres. Andew Oliver, a Mobile native, first introduced the downtown riverside condo project in 2004. It was later revealed that Oliver had a criminal record, including a conviction in connection with a bank robbery and murder in Georgia in 1965. Construction slowed after the lead developer, Jim Maloney, died. An $869,724 lien was field against the developers by the local architect for the project, Watermark Design Group., and another was filed by White-Spunner Construction. – PR 1/28/07, 7/22/07

o   In June 2007, Sharman Egan of Lagniappe reported the project was canceled, based on information from James Ellis, president of MDi media, the marketing firm representing the developer. On July 22, the Press-Register reported the project was still on track, quoting the lead partner, James Bostick. On Aug. 28, Egan reported that Millennium Pacific Icon Group had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In June 2008, PR reported the project had been canceled, and the property put up for sale for $2.25 million. The property is in "receivership" in the Superior Court in Los Angeles County. Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine said he thinks the city and county should buy the property for the planned Mardi Gras park there instead of on the old Mobile County Courthouse land on Government Street, which Nodine has said he wants used for a condo or retail project. – Egan, Lagniappe, 8/22/07; PR 1/28/07, PR 7/22/07, PR 6/20/08  Website. Old Website.

·         County Courthouse Site: The city of Mobile earmarked $1.2 million for a Mardi Gras-themed park on the county-owned site of the former county courthouse. The Mobile County Commission voted to lease the site to the City of Mobile for 50 years with an additional two 20-year terms, totaling 90 years, for $1. The total cost of the park is projected at $5 million to $6 million. Beyond city and county contributions, plus $1.3 million already pledged by the Hearin-Chandler Foundation, Jones said he hoped to persuade leaders of the Mobile Carnival Association to help raise the rest of the money from private sources.– PR 10/29/07

o   In 2002, when Mayor Sam Jones was on the County Commission, the body voted to build a park on the land. When Jones was replaced by Juan Chastang in 2005, Chastang said he wanted the land to be the site of a condominium development that would help bring more residents downtown. Nodine said he found the proposal worth considering. After Chastang left office, the idea for a condominium on that property lost steam. Dean said he was never very fond of it, and Nodine said earlier this year that the land should be used for a park.

·         Birmingham developer Mike Cowart has a contract to purchase half an acre at the corner of Conti and Royal streets from the Irving Ripps family and plans to build a 7-story hotel there. He also has a contract to buy a parking lot owned by the Meaher family at the corner of Government and Royal streets to be used for hotel parking. – PR 10/1/06

·         Terry Hillery, a Boston developer with roots in Mobile, had originally planned to finance a seafood shipping business and office renovation in a pair of historic properties he owns, but those plans have changed, he said. Hillery is now considering turning his building at 355 St. Michael St. into a residence for himself, and a building on St. Francis Street on the market for potential condos. They were originally slated to be offices. – PR 8/12/07

·         Law firm Lyons, Pipes & Cook has either completed or nearly completed four downtown renovation projects totaling more than $1.5 million (with the help of GO Zone financing), including about a fourth of the downtown block at the southeast corner of Royal and Dauphin streets, and had originally proposed a parking garage and retail complex there. Those plans are indefinitely on hold due to skyrocketing construction costs.  – PR 8/12/07

 

Downtown Skyscrapers

Name

Height

Floors

Year

RSA Battle House Tower

227.1 m

35

2007

AmSouth Bank Building

129.0 m

34

1969

Adam's Mark Hotel

114.0 m

28

1983

Mobile Marriott

99.1 m

20

1979

City-County Administration Building

 

12

1994

Regions Bank Building

 

18

1929

Southtrust Bank Building

70.1 m

16

1947

The Lafayette Plaza Hotel

54.9 m

17

 

Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel

44.0 m

12

1940

Van Antwerp Building

36.6 m

11

1908

Royal St. Francis Building

35.0 m

8

 

Riverview Plaza

 

13

1983

Commerce Building

 

12

 

·         RSA Battle House Tower:

o   In 2001 The Mobile City Council approved a deal with the Retirement Systems of Alabama for a complete restoration of the Battle House Hotel, as well as construction of the Battle House Tower

o   The RSA Building, completed in 2007, is a 35 Story, 745 foot tall skyscraper that is not only be the tallest building in Alabama, but also one of the ten tallest buildings on the Gulf Coast

o   76 percent of the tower's 460,000 square feet of office space has been leased. The tower's lease rates range from $18 to $19 per square foot to the low $20s (current rates downtown average $15 to $16 per square foot for Class A office space). About 20 percent of the tower's tenants have moved in, with the majority expecting to finish their interior build-outs or finishes this year. So far, the tenants that have leased space in the office tower include Regions Bank; U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile; CitiGroup/Smith Barney; the architectural firm Goodwyn Mills & Cawood; and the law firms Adams & Reese, Hand Arendall and McDowell Knight Roedder & Sledge. – PR 1/6/08

·         AmSouth Building: 107 St. Francis St. Built in 1969, the AmSouth Bank Building is a modern white slab accented by an asymmetrically placed elevator shaft. At 34 stories and 424 feet, it was the tallest building in Alabama until 1986 (surpassed by SouthTrust Tower in Birmingham) and the tallest building in Mobile until 2006 (surpassed by the RSA Battle House Tower). The First National Bank complex of buildings once stood here. AmSouth merged with Regions in 2006. The 34th floor houses the Bienville Club.. It is managed by John Toomey of Toomey & Co.

o   The AmSouth building is under contract to be purchased for $7.2 million by real estate investor Alan Shuman of Reading, Pa. It was listed for sale for $11.5 million. It was owned by Mobile Tower Limited Partnership, the heirs of the late Wylie Tuttle and Herbert Papock, of Collins Tuttle & Co. in Manhattan. The building was scheduled for a foreclosure sale in May 2008, but the partnership filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The loss of AmSouth/Regions bank and other tenants cut the building's occupancy to 50 percent. Mobile Tower had reached an agreement in principle to sell 50 percent of its ownership to BGK Group, a private real estate company based in Santa Fe, N.M. that owns the 10-story Montlimar Place office building and University Place, but it fell through. - PR 5/29/08, 10/17/08

·         Merchants/Regions Bank Building: 106 St. Francis St. The Merchants National Bank Building was built in 1929. Capped by a steep pyramidal roof, it Mobile’s tallest building AmSouth Bank Building was constructed in 1969. The Merchants National Bank of Mobile was changed to First Alabama Bank in 1985, and subsequently to Regions Bank. The building was sold for $2.75 million to a Dallas-based investor group in July 2008.

·         Waterman/Southtrust/Wachovia Building: Corner of St. Joseph and St. Michael. 

o   The Modern building was built in 1947, as the Waterman Building it was the corporate headquarters for the Waterman Steamship Lines. Subsequently became the Southtrust Bank Building. Southtrust merged with Wachovia in 2004.

o   Giant steamship boilers provide heat to the building and much of the mechanical infrastructure of the building was built to steamship standards, with giant pumps, and drives right out Waterman's steamship's inventories. The building's common area finish is imported Italian Marble, with chrome accents, common to the era. The elevators are also period.

o   Now housed in the University of South Alabama's Mitchell Center, between 1948 and 1973 the Waterman Globe was housed in the building's lobby and was a local attraction. Created by Rand McNally, the globe has a diameter of 12 feet and depicts the countries of the world as they were in the 1940s.

o   Featured are 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) murals.

·         Van Antwerp Building: 101 Dauphin St. Constructed in 1907. Designed by George Rogers. It is the first reinforced concrete building constructed in Mobile and at 11 stories was its earliest skyscraper.

o   The rounded northeast corner contains a large cartouche containing the initials “GVA” for Garet Van Antwerp, the pharmacist who built the structure. Garet Van Antwerp came to Mobile in the late 1850s to expand the family's pharmacy business.

o   The 11-story Van Antwerp building was purchased in 2000 for $687,500 at auction by New Orleans investors Earl Weber and Kenny Lobell. Local investors bought the Van Antwerp building from them in 2006 for $750,000.

Rendering (241991)    Looking east from St. Francis Street - 2004-3-12 (456785)   

Hotels

·         Adams Mark Riverview Plaza and Hotel: Refurbished in 2002.

·         Battle House Hotel: 26 N. Royal St. The original Battle House was built in 1852 and burned in 1905. A group of the city's businessmen, led by D.R. Burgess, raised more than a million dollars and rebuilt the hotel in 1907.The existing seven-story brick structure was designed by Frank M. Andrews.

o   Before the Battle House, the southeast corner of Royal and St. Francis streets had been the site of the Franklin Hotel, which burned in 1829, and the Waverly Hotel, which burned in 1850. James, John and Samuel Battle built a four-story brick building, with a two-story gallery of cast iron in 1852

o   The Battle Houses were visited by such notables as Jefferson Davis, Admiral Raphael Semmes, Generals Bragg, Beauregard, and Taylor. 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. Stephen Douglas spent the night he lost the presidential election to Abraham Lincoln at the Battle House.

o   The Battle House was owned by several firms. Sheraton hotels bought it in 1958 and closed it in 1974. Celia Wallace then owned it. The hotel was reopened in 2007 as part of the Retirement System of Alabama Battle House Project.

  

·         Bob Baumhower, the former Alabama and Miami Dolphins lineman who owns the Wings Sports Grille restaurants, said he still wants to open a new concept restaurant in the former Roussos restaurant at 166 S. Royal St. – PR 8/12/07

 

 

Church Street East Historic District/ Government Street

·         Cooper Riverside Park honors the memory of Ervin S. Cooper.

·         Fort Conde Visitors Center

·         Fort Conde Village

o    Fort Conde Village is owned by the city of Mobile. New York Developer Larry Posner leased 13 buildings in the Village from the city of Mobile for 50 years (with four 10-year options), with a payment of $100,000 a year or 5 percent of the gross revenue from the development, whichever is less. He is working to transform four 1800s buildings on St. Emanuel Street into bed and breakfast units and offices, a project originally pegged at $5 million. He has already renovated nine of the 13 buildings in the area since 1998. – PR 8/12/07

o    Posner lives in one of the restored houses when he's in town overseeing the restorations. He estimated he has invested about $2 million. Construction is under way on the circa 1857 Spear-Barter House on St. Emanuel Street, which will be restored as 6,000 square feet of office space; and the adjacent Hall-Ford House, a nine-room bed and breakfast with meeting parlors. The two structures are expected to cost at least $2.5 million to restore, Posner said. Two small buildings in the Village still need to be renovated, including the future site of the Mobile Medical Museum. He said has also drawn up plans for a chunk of vacant land in the Village and hopes to find the money to build apartments, more bed and breakfast units and retail space. – PR 4/20/08

·         Conde-Charlotte House: 104 Theater St. (aka Kirkbride House)

o   Built on the site of Mobile’s first jail (erected 1822-1824). In 1940 a renovation revealed the jail’s foundation.

o   Renovated in 1850 as a residence for Jonathan Kirkbride, master builder from New Jersey, and remained in the Kirkbride family until 1926.

o   Unusual in its use of Greek Doric and Corinthian columns in its two story portico.

o   Now a museum, it has been furnished to represent key eras in Mobile's past. The British living room, decorated in the style of 1790, gives way to an American Federal dining room from 1815 and a French Empire bedroom. Maintained by the National Society of Colonial Dames.

·         Old City Hall: 111 S Royal St. Built 1853-1858.

o   Southern Market buildings and municipal offices. Stalls for farmers, butchers, game sellers, and fishermen were on the ground floor. Seat of municipal government from 1858 to 1994, when the Mobile Government Plaza was built. Served as a military armory before and after the Civil War.

o   The structure was heavily damaged by Hurricane Frederick in 1979, then fully restored in 1982.

o   The Italian Renaissance building features murals depicting a pictorial history of Mobile.

o   Now houses the Gulf Coast Exploreum and Museum of Mobile, which moved there from 355 Government (now housing the Mobile Carnival Museum) in 2001.

·         Admiral Raphael Semmes Statue. Government Street, just east of Royal. Scupltor is Casper Buberl, who cast the Union Army bas reliefs on the Pensions Building in Washington, D.C. Erected in 1900, in honor of Admiral Raphael Semmes of the Confederate Navy. The bronze figure shows Semmes in uniform, standing on a granite base. In bas-relief is the steam cruiser, CSS Alabama.

·         The County Courthouse Site remains vacant. See below.

·         Office of Dr. Henry LeVert. 153 Government St. Office of Dr. Henry Levert, 1858-1864. This Italianate style building served as a doctor's office for one hundred years, 1858-1954.

·         The Mobile Bar Association. In 1869, thirty-two attorneys organized the Mobile Bar Association, the first bar association in Alabama and the fourteenth oldest in the entire nation.

·         Christ Church (Episcopal). 115 Church St. Built 1842. Established in 1823, the first Episcopal congregation in Mobile and in the State of Alabama. The building completed in 1842 by Leonidas Polk, Bishop of Louisiana and Alabama, later General of Artillery in the Army of the Confederacy. It features a Cenzo stained glass window. A $3 million renovation is planned.

·         La Clede Hotel. 150 Government St. Constructed 1855-56-1940. Originally two federal structures with party walls. Later enlarged to include a third brick building, unified by the 258-ft. cast iron galley. The La Clede Hotel opened in 1871 and continued to function as a hotel until 1963.

o   In the early 1980s, Tom Leavell, developer Allen Cox Sr. and Jim Mattei , co-founder of the Checkers burger chain, bought and restored the LaClede. Leavell and the remaining partners sold the building to a local law firm. – PR 5/18/08

·         Guesnard House. 51 S. Jackson St.   Built c. 1859 for Theodore Guesnard, jeweler and member of the Can’t Get Away Club. Acquired by the Government Street Presbyterian Church in 1965. An exterior restoration is now planned.

·         St. Emmanuel Street Pocket Park

·         1889 CourthouseMobile Government Plaza, completed in 1994, is the first complex in the United States to have both city and county governments in addition to the courts share a common structure. The 581,000 square-foot structure was selected from 195 entries in a national competition sponsored by the American Institute of Architects. Houston architects Harry Goleman and Mario Bolullo won the competition

o   The Mobile Government Plaza is Mobile County's sixth courthouse. The first courthouse built in 1829 was destroyed by fire, and the second courthouse was built in 1853. The second courthouse was destroyed by fire just 10 years after it was built, and a third courthouse was built in 1873. Once again, the Mobile County's courthouse was destroyed by fire and a fourth courthouse was designed by Rudolph Benz in 1889. It was an elaborate Victorian structure richly decorated with classical details and sculpture and topped with a massive clock tower. The Benz courthouse was demolished to make way for a fifth and more modern courthouse designed by Cooper Van Antwerp which was built in 1958 at a cost of $4.7 million.

·         Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel

·         Government Street Presbyterian Church: 300 Government St. Completed in 1837 by James Gallier and the Dakin Brothers at the behest of Henry Hitchcock.

·         Lafayette Plaza Hotel 301 Government St., The 192-room Lafayette Plaza Hotel has been renovated and now has a Holiday Inn brand.

·         Mobile Carnival Museum, 355 Government St. aka Bernstein House

o   The Carnival Museum withdrew a longstanding arrangement with the Midtown Optimist Club, who used the facility’s parking lot for 35 previous years to stage their only fundraising activity, a concession booth during Mardi Gras. The Carnival Museum announced plans to erect a parade viewing stand in the lot to be reserved for special sponsors and patrons.

·         Spanish Plaza on Government St. honors the Spanish occupation of the city between 1780 and 1813. A statue of Queen Isabella stands here, an exhibit from the 1964-65 New York World's Fair.

·         Barton Academy: 504 Government St. Greek Revival. Built in 1836 by James Gallier Sr. and the Dakin Brothers.

o   For $2,750, Willoughby Barton and several others bought a track of land in downtown Mobile in the late 1820s to build a school. Funding from a state lottery helped raise the remaining money needed to open Barton Academy, which became a collection of private and church schools. Barton, a member of the state legislature, sponsored the legislation that created the Board of School Comissioners for Mobile County.

o   Henry Hitchcock chaired the committee to raise funds for the building, a large part of which came from his own fortune. Hitchcock hired Gallier and Dakin. The Cast iron fence came from New York in 1839.

o   In 1852, Barton became Alabama's first public school building, with 400 students in primary through high school grades. The school quickly grew to 1,012 students.

o   It was used as a Union hospital after the fall of Mobile in 1865. It closed for a few years after the Civil War, but reopened. At the time of the school's centennial, in 1936, Barton offered just the seventh-grade.

o   Until recently Barton housed the Mobile County Board of School Commissioners. Restoring the outside will cost up to $8.3 million, but an estimate on how much money will be needed to repair the will depend on what the incoming superintendent, Roy Nichols, decides to do with it. School officials have said they would like to establish a school at Barton once again. The building is structurally sound, according to a study conducted recently by TAG Architects. - PR

·         Kennedy House: 607 Government St. Built in 1857 for Joshua Kennedy Jr., son of Joshua Kennedy

·         Haas House 652 Government Street was the residence of Sigmund Haas, a cotton factor, who had been living in Mobile at least since 1870, when he was listed as a bookkeeper for Frolichstein, Hahn and Co. He had his offices at 60 Commerce St., and he served as president of the Fidelia Club

·         Ben May Public Library: 701 Government St. Built 1928 by George Rogers.

o   Mobile’s main library, now renamed for the late Ben May, has doubled in size after $10 million in renovations and expansion. The budget for the expansion ballooned from $6.6 million to almost $10 million, in part because of increased construction costs. Of the $10 million, $4.5 million has been raised from private donors, including $1 million from the Ben May Memorial Fund, $500,000 from the J. L. Bedsole Foundation and $400,000 from the Dr. Monte L. Moorer Foundation. The reopened main building will house 160,000 volumes.

·         British Park

·         Church Street Cemetery: Mobile's oldest graveyard was established in 1819 as a burial ground for yellow fever victims.

o   The was brought from the Kennedy brothers for $20. At the time it was one-half mile beyond the city limits.

o   It is sectioned with the northern third for Protestants, the southern third for Catholics, and one-third for Masons, Oddfellows, veterans, Potters field, and strangers.

o   Boyington Oak. In 1834, Charles Boyington was convicted of murder. From the scaffold, he declared that an oak tree with 100 roots would grow out of his grave to prove his innocence. The Boyington Oak grew over his burial site.

o   The cemetery was closed for burials in 1898.

o    In 1967 the body of Joe Cain was moved from a cemetery in Bayou La Batre to the Church Street Cemetery, the idea of Julian Lee Rayford, who was buried next to Cain in 1981. In 1998, Eugene Walter was buried in the Church Street Cemetery, receiving a special dispensation from Mayor Dow.

o   In 2000, a radar study indicated dozens of possible burials outside the brick wall to the east and south. If these are indeed burials, the interred were probably fever victims from the 1819 epidemic, buried before the graveyard was surveyed and fenced. Originally marked by simple wooden crosses, these graves would have quickly become overgrown and forgotten. For much of the late twentieth century the library used the area as an overflow parking lot. The site will soon be converted into a park and these long-lost graves acknowledged by a historical marker.

o   Sources: John Sledge, Cities of Silence: A Guide to Mobile's Historic Cemeteries (2002).

·         Big Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church: 112 S Bayou St. Founded in 1842 by a group of slaves, the church's first buildings were a wooden shed and parsonage. The present church was built in 1868. The stucco façade was added in 1896.

·         Gilmore-Gaines-Quigley House. 751 Government St. Built c. 1864. Longtime home of Edmond Pendleton Gaines. Now offices for the Jaycees and America’s Junior Miss.

·         Admiral Semmes House 802 Government St. Built c. 1859. In 1871, it was purchased by popular subscription and presented to Raphael Semmes. It is now owned by the First Baptist Church.

·         First Baptist Church. 806 Government St. Built c. 1906.

·         The Bee Hive: 901 Government Street.  The congregation of Government Street United Methodist Church, Methodism's Mother Church in Mobile, began in 1826 on Franklin Street. Called "The Bee Hive" because of its activity, it sent "swarms" throughout the city to form new congregations. A brick structure replaced the original wooden church in 1849-49. The move to this corner was accomplished with the dedication of a Gothic structure in 1890. The remodeling to Spanish Colonial architecture was begun in 1906 and completed in 1917. Architect was Mobilian George B. Rogers, and Harry E. Goodhue of Boston created the stained glass windows.

Other Historic Buildings:

·         Government St.: Frazier-Lowenstein House (c. 1857)

·         St. Emmanuel St.: 162, Antunez House (c. 1872); 164, Delacour House (c. 1878), 163, Issac Spear House (c. 1857), 165, Hall-Ford house (c. 1836), 200, Antomanchi Store (c. 1869)

·         Conti St. : Horst-Brady House, “Moongate” (c. 1867); Spear-Alonzo (c. 1838);

·         908 Government St.: The Pillans House was built in 1857 by Mobile mayor Harry Pillans' uncle Joel Abbott Roberts, who built 906 Government St. in 1859 for Harry's parents. They are said to have paid off the mortgage to Joel Roberts' widow using Confederate money "the day before Confederate money was outlawed," according to a descendant. 908 Government Street was sold by Mrs. Joel Roberts in 1876 to Dr. Edmund Pendleton Gaines who married his cousin, Mary Toulmin. (General Edmund Pendleton Gaines married Frances Toulmin, daughter of the first Judge Theophilus T. Toulmin.) Dr. Gaines sold the approx. 6,000-square-foot house to Harry and Daisy Torrey Pillans and it remained in the Pillans family until its demolition in 1979 for a fast food place. There were other marriages between the Gaines, Pillans, Toulmin, and other related families (Ross, Lyon, Buck, Taylor, Abbot, and others) and nearly all of the families on the east end of the 900 block of Government Street appear to have been related by blood or marriage. – Ray Isbell, Rootsweb, 4/27/2000 (0956897487)

·         The YMCA Building was destroyed by fire in 2001 and demolished in 2003.  It was owned by Celia Wallace.

Restaurants

·        Pollman’s Bakery, 750 S. Broad (also 31 N Royal, 4464 Old Shell Road)

 

Dauphin Street

·         Main Street Mobile

o   Dauphin Street Historic District Walking Tour

·         Dauphin Street was named for the son of Louis XIV. Under the Spaniards who ruled from 1780-1813, the street was called St. John or Galvez Street. When the Americans took possession of Mobile in 1813, the street was renamed Dauphin. - MSM

·         A fire in 1839 destroyed the older wooden buildings on the street and the two- and three-story brick commercial buildings that we see today began to be built. Many of the early structures had the straight lintels and dentil moulding of the Federal style. The Reconstruction period brought the acceptance of new building trends such as the Italianate style and cast iron facades. The last decades of the 19th Century brought the Victorian era and Revivalism which continued into the 20th Century.- MSM

·         Sculptor-designed bike racks are located on Dauphin, Government, Conti and St. Francis streets

·         The Rotary International Clock was installed on the southeast corner of Dauphin Street and Royal in 2002. The Rotary Clock was the Tricenntenial gift to the City of Mobile by the Rotary Club of Mobile. The Verdin Company of Cincinnati replicated the clock from archival photos of the original clock that stood near this location in the early 1900s.

·         Old Register Building, corner Royal and St. Michael, Built 1809. Originally the DeMouy House Inn, then known as the Lafayette House until 1870, then the Roper House. The Mobile Register, published by John Lawrence Rapier, was located there until 1832

o   In 1826, Louis De Mouy, son of Charles Orbonne De Mouy, was owner of an Inn at which LaFayette stayed on his visit to Mobile. Craighead related in 'From Mobile's Past' that a reception was given for the Marquis at the Inn, and that for a joke, someone yelled 'fire' whereupon the Marquis jumped out of the first story window.

·         The Kress building was designed by Seymour Burrell in 1907 with additions in the 1940s. Originally “L” shaped, the building is now cruciform and has fronts on Royal, Dauphin, St. Emanuel and Conti streets. The St. Emanuel Street entrance is a later Art Deco design by G.F. Sibbert. The city had owned the Kress building at one time, selling it in the 1990s to the Altmayer family. Parts of the first floor had been built-out for the Social Security Administration in the late 1990s, but hurricane-driven water damage forced the owner to rip out the wallboard, leaving just the framework. It was purchased in 2008  for $1.2 million by R.A. Hargrove Properties LLC from Jay Altmayer Jr.

o   S. H. Kress had two locations, downtown Mobile and downtown Prichard, which closed in 1980. S. H. Kress & Co. was a national chain of five-and-dime stores which began in Pennsylvania in 1896, was bought by Genesco in 1964, and closed its stores nationally in 1980-1981.  It was known for its architecturally distinctive stores.

·         Neisner Building, 22-26 S. Royal. Built c. 1946.  Formerly housed Neisner’s retail store. Hargrove and Associates, a Mobile engineering firm, bought it from Jay Altmayer Jr. for $550,000 in 2007 and announced $1.5 million plans for conversion to office space.

·         ThenFirst National Bank Building, 68 St. Francis St.  Built in 1906.

·         St. Emanuel Place: 127 Dauphin St.  11-unit apartment complex owned by Tilmon Brown

·         The Spira & Pincus Building:169 Dauphin St. Designed by Rudolph Benz in 1899. A Classical Revival building in stone.

·         Bienville Square

o   In 1824 when the U.S. Congress transferred the land, site of the old Spanish Hospital, to the City of Mobile specifying that the property be forever used as a city park.

o   In 1834 the city began acquiring additional land and by 1849 the city held clear title to the entire block. In the 1850’s improvements were made which included walkways, a now gone cast iron fence, benches, and an ornamented central mound.

o   In 1890 the “Acanthus Fountain” was placed by Bienville Water Works in honor of its founder Dr. George A. Ketchum.

o   In 1905, Teddy Roosevelt spoke in the Square about the importance of the Panama Canal to the port of Mobile.

o   The current bandstand was built in 1941, as a gift to the people of Mobile from Sears Roebuck and Company.

o   The Cawthon Hotel occupied the parking lot that faces the west side of Bienville Square, running west to Joachim Street, until it was demolished in 1973. The Cawthon Real Estate Corp., a charitable entity that sends money to the Wilmer Hall children's home, owns it. The lot generates about $80,000 a year for Wilmer Hall. The lot isfrequently flagged as a problem in efforts to improve the square and as a prime target for redevelopment.

·         The 82,000-square-foot Gayfers building fronts Bienville Square on Dauphin Street and also Conti Street.

o   The Mobile County School System bought the Gayfers building for $1 million in 2003 with plans to establish a performing arts high school there. The board placed the building on the market in November of 2004. Board members later said the purchase was a mistake and the facility would not be suitable for a performing arts high school. Officials thought they had sold it in the fall of 2006, when two companies put in competing offers to buy it. But both of those companies eventually backed out.

o   In August 2007, Island Investments LLC of Orange Beach, comprised of Bo Wilson of Mobile and Shaul Zislin of Hollywood, Fla., bought the building for $1.2 million. The partners plan to put in 15,000 square feet of commercial space and 36 condominiums – PR 8/9/07, 10/7/07, 3/9/08

·         O’Gwynn Building: 16-20 S. Conception St., was renovated by Tilmon Brown, Ann Bedsole, and Todd Drummond into 10 condo units

·         Crescent Theater: 208 Dauphin St, was renovated by Max Morey and John Switzer, with the theatre on the street level and two high-end lofts on the second and third levels. Switzer purchased the former Monsoon’s building at 210 Dauphin St., next door to the theatre, and is working with Morey to redevelop that building, with a banquet hall downstairs and two corporate entertainment suites upstairs. – Egan, Lagniappe, 8/28/07

·         A&M Peanut Company 209 Dauphin St. AKA Mrs. G. T. Turner Building. The A&M Peanut Company or its predecessor, the Planters Peanut Shop, has been in business since 1947. All nuts are roasted on the premises in a machine dating from 1907. This building was designed by James H. Hutchisson in 1886.

·         Sangrouber Van-Antwerp Building. 225 Dauphin St. This building was constructed in 1899 by architect W. H. Hammond. In 1993 it opened as a microbrewery after extensive renovation. Several microbreweries have since opened and closed in this spot since. It now houses the Hurricane Brewery.

o   Port City Brewery opened in 1993 after the Legislature approved a restrictive law allowing breweries only in historic buildings or sites. It must also be shown that beer once was produced in the same county. The beer also cannot be possessed, sold or dispensed except on the premises where it's brewed. The pub must also operate a restaurant with a seating capacity of at least 80 people.

·         Saenger Theater 6 Joachim St. S. Designed by Emile Weiland. Opened in 1927, the Saenger was a major movie theater for many years. Its French Renaissance decor features a magenta color scheme and wonderful plaster ornaments. Owned and managed by the Centre for Contemporary arts, the theater now houses special events and productions.  

·         St. Francis Street United Methodist Church, 15 N. Joachim St. Built in1895.

·         B.C. Turner Building: 300 Dauphin St. The west half of this building was completed in 1848 and the east half in 1905. The present Classical Revival façade dates from 1905. The building now houses a residence and several offices.

·         Cathedral Square:  The buildings in Cathedral Square were torn down in 1979 to create a public park. Improvements, including the fountain, took place in 1996. The buildings around the square make up the Cathedral Square Arts District.

·         Portier House (circa 1833): 307 Conti St. Michael Portier, Mobile's first bishop, made this his home from 1834 until his death in 1859. Four subsequent bishops resided here until 1906. Abram J. Ryan, poet-priest of the South, occupied the northwest corner room on the second floor from 1870 until 1877. Residence was restored by the Catholic Diocese of Mobile in 1958.

·         The Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile.

o   The Cathedral is sited on an early cemetery known as the Campo Santo, or "Holy Ground." The graves were marked by plain wooden crosses and in 1793 Manuel de Lanzos, ordered that it be better maintained and protected from livestock.

o   The cathedral, designed in 1833, by Claude Beroujon, a former seminarian turned architect, is laid out in a Roman basilica design.

o   Construction began in 1835, but the Panic of 1837, caused a shortage of funds and delayed the start of construction until 1842. The cathedral was consecrated for public worship in 1850, by Bishop Michael Portier, though Beroujon’s design was not yet fully realized. The portico and towers were to come later.

o   Various members of the Hutchisson family of architects worked on the building: cornice and roof (1849); portico (1872-1890); and towers (1890-1895). The Cathedral features German art glass windows by Adolph Meier, a bronze canopy over the altar, and 14 hand-carved Stations of the Cross.

o   The surrounding cast iron fence from Wood and Miltenberger of New Orleans dates from 1860.

o   The classical portico, with eight massive columns of the Roman Doric order, was added in the 1870’s, under the direction of Bishop John Quinlan. The twin towers were completed in 1884, during the watch of Bishop Jeremiah O'Sullivan.

o   The stained glass windows were made in Munich, Germany by Franz Mayer & Co., and installed beginning in 1890. The last window was installed in 1910. Each window depicts an event involving Mary in the life of her son, Jesus.

o   A number of bishops who have served Mobile rest in the crypt under the floor toward the front of the church.

o   In1954, a homeless man, seeking shelter in the church, caused a fire that destroyed the sanctuary. Bishop Thomas Joseph Toolen’s restoration efforts included the addition of a massive bronze baldachin, supported by four marble columns, and a new mahogany cathedra and / pulpit.

o   In 1962, Pope John XXIII elevated the cathedral to a minor basilica, a title bestowed on churches of historical and spiritual importance. A basilica is entitled to have its own coat-of-arms. Other basilica insignia include Pope John XXIII's personal coat-of-arms installed above the cathedral entrance, the yellow and red Umbracullum, or umbrella, and tintinabulum, or bell, in the sanctuary.

o   Buildings at 50 S. Franklin (Elkins c. 1854) and 56 S. Franklin (Herpin c. 1857) are also owned by the Catholic diocese and used as offices and residences.

·         Horst House: 407 Conti St. This Italian townhouse was built circa 1867. Notice the cast-iron windows and cornices.

·         250 St. Francis St.:  A 32 unit condo is planned on this site of this parking lot by developers John Hunter and John Peebles – PR 7/22/07

·         Scottish Rite Temple: 351 St. Francis St. Designed by George Rogers in 1921, this Egyptian Revival building has stuccoed battered walls and is the only Egyptian Revival building in the city. The entrances are marked by a pair of sphinxes. Built as a Masonic temple, it was sold in 1996 to Three Georges Southern Chocolates Owner Scott Gonzalez, and became The Temple Downtown entertainment venue in 2004.

·         Washington Firehouse #5: 7. N. Lawrence St. Built in 1851 at a cost of $5,500, this two-story brick Greek Revival building was constructed to house the privately run Washington Fire Company.

·         Mattress Factory 412-416 Dauphin St., was converted into 24 condos by developer Tilmon Brown in 2007.

·         Campbell Pharmacy building on Dauphin and St. Emanuel streets was renovated into retail and 11 apartments by Tilmon Brown of JTB Group. He also plans to build about 32 condo units in the former Buick building at Hamilton and St. Louis streets. – PR 4/16/06

·         The Mobile Arts & Sports Association , the parent organization of the Senior Bowl , paid $425,000 for a three-story, 6,000-square-foot building at the southwest corner of Dauphin and St. Emanuel streets, and plans to renovate the 1890s building and put the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame Museum on the ground floor – PR 4/22/07

·         Wintzell’s Building: Built in 1891 by black businessman Charles W. Peters. A two-story clapboard structure, this is the only wooden structure designed for commercial use remaining on Dauphin St. Wintzell’s Restaurant has been doing business in this block since 1938.

·         The Bull: 609 Dauphin St.  Restaurant. Renovated by Wendell Quimby.

·         Creole Fire House #1: 13 N. Dearborn St.  Designed by James H. Hutchisson in 1872, this two-story brick structure was built to house the Creole #1 Fire Company. It was converted into a residence by developer Tilmon Brown.

·         Central Fire Station: 701 St. Francis St. This is a three-story brick structure with fire truck bays was built in 1926.

·         Carriage Works: 701, 709 Dauphin St. Condos developed by Todd Drummond and Ann Bedsole

·         Meaher Building: 755 Dauphin St. Built circa 1930 for Augustine Meaher, this is a one-story brick building with five wooden storefronts. Now a restaurant, the building once housed a pecan factory and a landscaping business.

·         Other Historic Buildings:

o   Pollock & Bernheimer Building, 1904, Rudolph Benz (5 Dauphin); Levy Wolverton Building, circa 1875 (102 Dauphin); Walgreen’s Building, circa 1938 (110-112 Dauphin); McCrory 5 & 10 Building, 1924 (125-127 Dauphin); Scheuermann Building, 1893, Rudolph Benz (203 Dauphin); Ann McCaw Building, circa 1885,  Rudolph Benz (210 Dauphin); Abraham Spira Building, 1891, Rudolph Benz, served as a theatre from 1908-1931 (220 Dauphin); Demouy Building, circa 1879 (222, 224, 226 Dauphin); Crown Theatre, circa 1909 (270 Dauphin); Sidney Smith Building, 1848 (354 Dauphin); Jacques Chighizola Building, 1858 (356 Dauphin); John McGuire Building, 1852 (358 Dauphin); Jacques Chighizola Building, circa 1854 (407 Dauphin); Maria Crawford Building, 1900 (417 Dauphin); Louis Monin Building, circa 1867 (454-456 Dauphin); Steele Building, circa 1853 (522 Dauphin); Henry Chamberlain Building, circa 1865 (551 Dauphin); Schumacher Carriage Works (709-711 Dauphin);

o   Daniels, Elgin & Co. Building, circa 1860 (2 S. Water);

o   Abraham Pincus Building, 1891, Rudolph Benz (1 S. Royal), Burke Building, circa 1875 (1 N. Royal);

o   Coley Building, 1870 (56 St. Francis); First National Bank Building, 1906 (68 St. Francis); Neville Building, circa 1890 (255 St. Francis); Joseph Silver House, 1845 (257 St. Francis); Joseph Silver house, 1845 (altered in 1926) (259 St. Francis);

o   Franklin Fire Engine Company #3, 1852 (6 St. Joseph) – renovated with 8 St. Joseph in 2006 for $1 million by Ann Bedsole. It now houses the Hearin-Chandler Foundation.

o   Cavallero House, circa 1835 (7 N. Jackson);

o   Augustine Meaher House, 1901 (5 N. Claiborne); John Dahm House, 1873 (7 N. Claiborne);

Past Buildings

·         The Masonic Temple on Bienville Square at 8 St. Joseph St., built in 1902, was demolished in 2002. A time capsule had been hidden for a century behind the cornerstone of the building.

Businesses

·         The Dauphine Shoeteria has been on Conti Street for over 60 years – PR 12/5/2006.

Restaurants

·         Wintzell’s Restaurant. 601 Dauphin St. Established in 1938.

·         Picklefish restaurant was opened on Dauphin Street by Mead Miller in 1995.  It closed in 2008 due to his health. A second Picklefish location, which opened in 2001 on Old Shell Road near the University of South Alabama campus, will remain open

·         Roussos, formerly on Royal St., moved to MalbisEastern Shore Center. George and Zenia Roussos moved to Mobile from Miami in 1955 so they could partner in the restaurant business. The family later owned the well-known Roussos Restaurant; their three children still own a Roussos Restaurant on the Eastern Shore. – PR 11/18/07

·         Heroes

Bars

·         The Garage

·         Hurricane Brewery. 225 Dauphin St.

·         Veet's. 66 S. Royal St. Owner Doug Previto plays the house band, the Family Jewels.

o   Guitarist Tim Kinsey released a solo album, "What Do You Think Of Me?", available at www.timkinseymusic.com

 

Placeholder  ImageDeTonti Square

·         DeTonti Square Improvement Association

·         Richards-DAR House: 256 Joachim St. One of Mobile's finest examples of the Italianate style. Famous for its cast-iron facade depicting the four seasons. Steamboat Captain Charles G. Richards and his wife, Caroline Elizabeth Steele, built their house in 1860. The Ideal Cement Company purchased the house from Richards’ descendants in 1946. After being turned over to the city of Mobile in 1973, the six Mobile Chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution leased the home. The organization is responsible for furnishing and administering it as a period house museum.

·         258 N. Claiborne: 8 unit apartment complex owned and renovated by Ted Pitsios – PR 8/20/06

 

 

Other areas in the Hank Aaron Loop

·         St. Louis St.:

o   St Louis Lofts: 308 St. Louis St.  Tuscaloosa developer Steven Barr renovated the former Mobile Fixture & Equipment warehouse in 2007. –Jumper, PR 8/20/06; Jumper, PR 7/19/09; Egan, Lagniappe 7/14/09

·         Federal Courthouse: A new $75 million federal courthouse building is being planned.

·         Ryan Park, with a statue of Father Abram J. Ryan. In 1912 a Mobile newspaper launched a drive to erect a statue to him. Dedicated in 1913, it includes a stanza from "The Conquered Banner" below an inscription that reads: "Poet, Patriot, and Priest."

·         The Tower on Ryan Park (758 St. Michael Street) opened as a residential building in 1951. 

·         St. Francis Place is the former Sisters of Mercy Convent building that was converted to 30 condominiums in 2002. The three- and one-half-story stucco structure with a two-story attached porch housed the Convent of Mercy Catholic girl’s school until 1968. It is also known as the Empress Chandelier building.

·         Gulf City Lodge 601 State St. The Elks Lodge was built in the 1870s. It is now used primarily as an entertainment venue. It is owned by Huntsville businessman Paul Bracy, owner of Bracy Vending Inc. vending company

·         U.S. Marine Hospital: NW corner of St. Anthony at Jefferson. Built 1838-1841. In operation 1842- 1952. Served Confederate and Union Troops, 1861-1865.

·         City Hospital: 850 S Anthony St. This 1819 structure was a military hospital during the Civil War.

·         Mobile City Hospital: NE corner of Broad Street, at St. Anthony. Built in 1830 by Thomas S. James, Mobile's third hospital has been preserved in its original design except for additions at each end, serving without interruption through disastrous fires, yellow fever epidemics, and war. For 83 years, between 1861 and 1959, it was administered for the city by the Sisters of Charity.

·         First Medical School in Alabama: NW corner of St. Anthony, at Warren. The first medical school in Alabama, and the thirty-fourth in the United States, was established on this site in November 1859. Dr. Josiah Nott, founder and first chief of surgery. It closed in 1861 at the outbreak of the War Between the States and did not reopen until 1868. The medical school continued until 1920 when it was moved to Tuscaloosa. Dunbar public school currently utilizes the building.

·         Orange Grove Housing Project consists of the 12 blocks between Bloodgood and Marion streets near Interstate 165, just north of downtown. It's adjacent to two other public housing communities, Albert F. Owens Homes (built 1959) and Jesse Thomas Homes (built 1970), which have been slated for demolition and redeveloped with a HOPE VI grant. Residents have been flooded from their homes repeatedly during hurricanes and tropical storms, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

o   In June 2004, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the Housing Board $20 million to tear down the Owens and Thomas developments and replace them with a mixed-income community of townhouses, single-family homes and a senior citizens complex. The HOPE VI project also includes construction of 12 single-family homes in the Church Street East historic area just north of Church Street at Washington Avenue behind the Mobile Public Library main branch. Once the demolition is complete, Pennrose-Formation LLC will oversee construction of the 88-unit senior citizens complex and 87 townhouses that are part of the project. Work on the senior citizens complex is expected to start in early 2008. – PR 8/30/07

·         GM&O Building was built in 1907

·         Other Historic Buildings:

o   Claiborne Apartments – renovated 2006 (258 N. Claiborne);

·         Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard used to be called "Davis Avenue" east of Catherine Street and "Stone Street" to the west of Catherine Street.

 

Oakleigh Garden District

·         Oakleigh Garden District Map

·         Oakleigh Garden District Society

·         The Oakleigh Venture Revolving Fund was launched in 2001. – PR 8/8/2004

o   It has received grants from the Fannie Mae Foundation and the Bedsole Foundation, according to Palmer Hamilton, a local attorney who spearheaded the fund along with other residents in Oakleigh. The idea is to revive abandoned, rundown houses, sell them and use the money to do it all over again. The fund members are volunteers and take on projects as the balance in their operating account allows. The fund has created almost $5 million of new or improved houses. Marine Street, the fund's first targeted street, has been transformed into a vibrant part of the neighborhood. In 2005, the Bedsole Foundation, one of the OVRF's original funding sources, asked the fund to expand its work to Mobile's Central Business District.

o   The Oakleigh fund is an unincorporated subcommittee of the nonprofit Historic Development Commission. The nonprofit commission is separately incorporated from the closely related city agency of the same name. The Oakleigh fund has a separate board and has operated independently from the Historic Development Commission. The Mobile Historic Development Commission also handles the Mobile Revolving Fund.

o   The OVRF received $705,385 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2003. The money was earmarked for the Oakleigh fund by U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, who has ties to the fund's president, Mobile lawyer and lobbyist Palmer Hamilton. The Oakleigh fund spent $438,113 paying off work that had been done earlier by another entity, Springhill in Oakleigh Partners. But under federal rules, the money couldn't be spent on things done before Feb. 20, 2003, when Congress passed the law doling out the money, raising the question whether the money may need to be returned. – PR 12/23/07

·         Oakleigh Mansion:  350 Oakleigh Pl. Started in 1833 by James Roper on a Spanish land grant, "Oakleigh" was named for the magnificent oaks around it.  Roper was a cotton trader who was hit by the Panic of 1837. Unable to repay the $20,000 he had borrowed to build the house, he sold it to his brother-in-law, who allowed him to live in it rent-free. The "T" shaped dwelling with elegant parlors and curved outside stairway from the brick terrace to front gallery was well suited for a semi-tropical climate. Many famous visitors, including President James Garfield were entertained here. It was included in the Historic American Buildings Survey and the National Register of Historic Places. Acquired by the city of Mobile in 1955. Now operated as a museum by the Historic Mobile Preservation Society

·         Magnolia Cemetery: 1202 Virginia St. Founded in 1836, the yellow fever epidemics that filled Church Street Cemetery necessitated the new cemetery.  This 120-acre cemetery contains gravesites of early Mobile settlers and Confederate soldiers. Geronimo’s son is buried here.

·         Washington Square

·         1867 Philips-Turley house at the corner of Charles and Palmetto.

·         Blacksher Hall 1056 Government St. This 1901 Neo-classical mansion was designed by Mobile architect Rudolph Benz and is notable for its heavily ornamental detailing, grouped Ionic columns, elaborate cornice with swags and large front gable. The interior features a wide central hallway, 12 fireplaces and eight bedrooms, stained glass skylights and fine antiques. It was built for Charles Hearin.

·         Bellingrath Carriage House: 1114 Government St., was a carriage house at 60 S. Ann St. that was part of the original Bellingrath family home. It was sold to Enoch Aguilera, one of the owners of the Berney/Fly Bed and Breakfast at 1118 Government St., who moved it in 2004, before it was damaged by several hurricanes. It is currently for sale – see Sharman Egan, Lagniappe, 12/4/07.

·         Burgess-University of Mobile House. 1209 Government St. Since 1978 this fabulous house has been owned by the University of Mobile, serving as its president's home. The elegant Renaissance Revival was built for a wealthy cotton factor in 1907. It was part of a tract developed by John Rapier and was designed by George B. Rogers.

·         Tacon-Tissington-Jones House: 1216 Government St. The circa 1901, six-bedroom, three-bath home was purchased by a Birmingham couple for $511,200 in 2006. – PR2/21/06

·         Paterson/Dean Estate: 1673 Government St. The 8,000-square-foot mansion on two acres was recently listed for sale at $1.5 million.

·         A developer out of the Atlanta area, Marvin Hewitt Enterprises, planned to build a strip mall with a Texaco gas station and convenience store on Broad Street at Elmira Street. The company already has approval for a similar project on Spring Hill Avenue in the Old Dauphinway Historic District. The neighborhood association rallied enough opposition to convince the developer to abandon the plan in late July. – Egan, Lagniappe, 7/31/07

·         The Oakleigh Venture Revolving Fund started a major revitalization effort on Marine Street in 2002 and far has restored almost 30 houses. Marine Street is Oakleigh's oldest street, dating from the 1830s. The fund's members try to use Carolina brick, which costs more but looks just like 150-year old brick. – PR 12/30/07

Restaurants

·         Callaghan’s Irish Social Club: Woodrow Callaghan opened his club at the corner of Marine and Charleston streets in 1946. His descendants continued to operate it until 2002, at which point developer Wendell Quimby purchased and restored it. Thompson and partners have operated it since then. – PR 8/3/07

 

 

Leinkauf Historic District

·         The Leinkauf neighborhood, and Leinkauf Elementary School which opened in 1903, are named in honor of William H. Leinkauf, a Mobile merchant and banker who served on the Board of School Commissioners from 1865 until his death in 1901

·         The Leinkauf Elementary School burned down in 1993, and was rebuilt.

 

 

Old Dauphin Way

·         Source: Old Dauphin Way Association

·         The Old Dauphin Way District is part of the Price and Espejo tracts, large Spanish land grants of the early 1800s.

·         Very little development occurred in the area until 1830-1840. From then on frequent listings in Mobile city directories show residents on Spring Hill Road, Spring Hill Shell Road (now Old Shell Road) Dauphin, Common, Ann, Julia, and Lafayette Streets.

·         Most of the older structures in the district are simple frame cottages which originally housed carpenters, florists, bar pilots, steamboat captains, and commission merchants. Grander houses were also built and can still be seen along Dauphin Street and Spring Hill Avenue.

·         Espejo Street was name for Antonio Espejo and Catherine Street was named for his wife Catalina. Reed Avenue was named for W. A. Reed who lived on that street, and he later subdivided Gladys and Kenneth Streets, which were named for two of his children. 

·         Towle House, built in 1874, faces South Hallett Street but has an address on Montauk Avenue. It was constructed for Amos Towle, who both lived and operated the Towle Institute, a boys’ school, from the house.

·         Caroline Avenue is a three-block span of shot-gun board-and-batten cottages, residences of servants who worked in the big houses on Government Street. The Duffee Oak on Caroline Avenue is the first tree to have a protective preservation bill passed in the State Legislature.

·         Three Gulf Coast cottages typify working-class residential architecture in the city: 20, 22 and 23 South Lafayette. 23 South Lafayette was constructed in 1852 for a ship's carpenter and architect. Constructed in 1868, 20 South Lafayette was built for a steamship company clerk, and 22 South Lafayette, also constructed in 1868, was owned by a bookkeeper for a cotton factory.

·         Monterey Street has a large planted median.

o   Anchoring the block at Catherine Street is the Shepard House, a fanciful Queen Anne constructed in 1897 by C. M. Shepard, a purchaser for the Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad.  This eighteen room home, with eleven fireplaces and four stained glass windows, was used for lavish entertaining.  His two daughters, Kate and Isabel opened a private boarding and day school in 1910.  The house was designed by architect George Franklin Barber and was believed to have been delivered from Tennessee in thirteen railroad cars.

·         North Monterey StreetFearnway are separate subdivisions of Fearn Realty, both developed in the first decade of the 20th-century. Houses on North Monterey are primarily American Foursquares which are classically detailed. Curved and divided to slow traffic and planted with oaks, Fearnway features more Bungalows. Originating in California in the early years of the 20th century, the Bungalow quickly became popular throughout the nation. The style, in a diluted form, continued to be built in Mobile through the 1930s.

·         Reed Avenue was subdivided in 1911. It developed over a narrow period of time resulting in a concentration of Bungalows on the street. The Bungalows are, however, decorated in a variety of styles including Classical Revival and Arts and Crafts that produce visual variety style on the street.

·         1551 Dauphin is the design of C.L. Hutchisson, Jr., and is done in the Classical Revival style with a red tile roof. At 1555, 1557, and 1565 Dauphin are large two-story houses of varying designs, yet each is inspired by the Classic Revival. Anchoring the end of the block at 1569 Dauphin is a much earlier house constructed in 1869 in the Gothic Revival style.

·         Magnolia Manor, 1654 Springhill Ave., is an Italiante townhouse begun in 1854 and finished in 1862 by Jebez Fellows, a merchant, who owned a clothing store on Water Street. In 1933, the 15 room house was purchased by Dr. Toxey and Maurine Haas. Magnolia Manor is now available for rental for social functions.

·         Vincent-Doan House/Mobile Medical Museum: 1664 Springhill. Built circa 1826, it is Mobile's oldest residential estate on its original site. It was the country home of Benjamin Vincent, owner of a steamboat that ran between Coden and New Orleans. It originally had an open first floor and a staircase on the west side that gave access to the second floor through the gallery, a feature typical of early cottages. Numerous alterations over the years have resulted in the removal of the staircase and enclosure of the first floor for additional living space. It now houses the Mobile Medical Museum.

·         Trinity Episcopal Church 1900 Dauphin St. Mobile's second Episcopal Church. Originally built in 1853, the Trinity Episcopal Church was located at the corner of St. Anthony and Jackson streets. Clarence L. Hutchisson was commissioned in 1945 to remove and rebuild the entire church, as designed by architects Willis and Dudley of New York, to its present location on Dauphin Street. According to Gould, the brick-by-brick re-built church retained the original English Gothic Revival style with an added basement. The original spire was destroyed by Hurricane Frederic and replaced with a synthetic material.

·         Greene-Marston House, aka Termite Hall, 2000 Dauphin St.

o   Three distinct architectural styles are reflected in this house: The original 1-1/2 story cottage was built in the mid-1800s by the Greene family. This cottage was incorporated into the 2-1/2 story Victorian structure built by Martin Van Heuval in 1903. The cottage is now referred to as "the wing". In 1910, the house was further remodeled by William Syson.

o   Termite Hall was purchased in 1919 by Mrs John Lawrence Rapier (Regina DeMouy Rapier), wife of the owner of the Mobile Register, to replace the DeMouy house lost by fire in 1917. Many of the Marston/Rapier/Demouy clan moved into the house.

o   Termite Hall got its name in the 1920s when the porch rails disintegrated, riddled by termites, which luckily never reached the main house.

o   Adelaide Marston Trigg (1918-2008) and Eleanor Marston Benz (born 1916) resided in Termite Hall and hosted dozens of artists, writers and intellectuals and fostered local culture. Trigg also co-founded The Haunted Book Shop. Eleanor was a librarian at McGill Institute for several decades after 1955.Eugene Walter wrote Delectable Dishes from Termite Hall. New Orleans author Helen Scully wrote In the Hope of Rising Again, loosely based on the life of her great-grandmother, Regina Rapier Marston. – PR10/13/08  Picture

 

 

Midtown

·         The Loop: In the early 1900s, The "Loop" was the end of the trolley line. Patrons would get off the trolley and loop it around to return to town. For a nickel patrons could ride all day.

o   The Loop Group is a community action group for residents of the Loop -- that section of Mobile from Holcombe Avenue, Senator Street, Pinehill Drive and Airport Boulevard to the cannon.

o   Loop Business Association.

o   Little Flower Catholic Church

            

·         Murphy High School, built 1926

·         Bragg-Mitchell Mansion 1906 Springhill Ave. Originally built by Judge John Bragg in 1855, this beautifully restored pre-Civil War mansion demonstrates both Greek Revival and Italian influence. Fifteen-foot ceilings and a dramatic curved staircase contribute to the sense of splendor. Acquired 1925 by A. S. Mitchell, who restored the house and lived here forty years.

·         Visitation Monastery and Academy 2300 Springhill Avenue. Founded in 1833, at the request of Bishop Michael Portier, sisters from the Visitation Monastery of Georgetown, D.C. established the academy for girls. The foundation served as a school until 1952 and now functions as a retreat house.

·         Springhill Avenue Temple--Sha'arai Shomayim Umaskil El Dol (The Gates of Heaven and the Society of the Friends of the Needy) Congregation. 1769 Springhill Ave. Organized in Mobile in 1844, this Reform Jewish Congregation is the oldest in Alabama and one of the oldest in the United States. The building was built in 1955.

·         From 1933 to 1949, the Oak Hills Country Club, once the Oak Hills Public Golf Course, was situated where the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center currently stands.

·         Pill Hill” was the name for the neighborhood near the Mobile Infirmary when many physicians lived

·         The Village at Midtown is a proposed redevelopment of a 17 acre track which is currently Lakeside Park Apartments located on Bragg Avenue just North of the Mobile Infirmary, USA Women's and Children's Hospital and The Mitchell Cancer Institute into luxury, gated apartments.  Developer is Kenneth Payne of Pensacola, current owner of the apartments.

·         Georgia Cottage 2558 Springhill Ave. Built circa 1840. Girlhood home of Augusta Evans Wilson.

·         Siena Vista Drive is famous for its Christmas decorations

·         Ashland Station on Old Shell Road

·         Tacon Station on what is now the Illinois Central Railroad at Dauphin St. was named after railroad executive Henry Tacon

·         The Graf Dairy Farm was located on 36 acres at the southeast corner of Dauphin Street and Sage Avenue. The Graf family operated a dairy there in the early 1900s. The Grafs had not wanted to sell or develop the land until recently. At least three separate investor/developers have some of the property under contract to purchase, contingent on rezoning. The Preserve at Midtown, a 96-unit condo project, is planned for 12 acres by Gavin Bender Sr. of Bender Real Estate and Robert Randall of Randall Investments. A drugstore (developed by Elcan & Associates) and a bank are planned for two parcels fronting Dauphin Street. The Grafs also own part of the shopping center across Sage Avenue. The 100-plus-year-old house owned by the Grafs located at the center of the property will be moved to the rear of the property.

·         Public Safety Memorial Park: This 10-acre property was owned by the U.S. Department of the Interior and occupied by the U.S. Corps of Engineers since before World War II. In 1975, after the Corps of Engineers moved to a new building on St. Joseph Street it was offered to the City of Mobile for public park and recreation use. It is subject to reversion of ownership to the United States if it is not used for the purpose for which it was obtained. The Corps of Engineers kept a small portion of the property located on the southwest corner of the park, where a small building and radio tower for field operations are located. Thirty-three structures were removed; three remained to house the Mobile Recreation Department and the Parks Department. The park was referred to as the old Corps of Engineers but, in 1979, it was named "Booth Park" for a Mobile Police Officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty. In 1990 it was deemed that the park should be called, "Public Safety Memorial Park" as a tribute to all of the Police Officers and Firefighters who died in the line of duty serving the City of Mobile. To date, only three phases of the a five-phase renovation plan presented to the Federal Government have been completed. In addition to the above noted landscaping, there is one-half mile of jogging/walking trails around the park. “Your P.A.R.K.” is a renovation program for the park.

Businesses

·         “Society Shell”: Founded in 1946, Griffith Shell at the intersection of Ann and Government Streets features "full service" pumps. Tom Perez wrote a play named “Society Shell”

·         The 19th Hole was a bar on Old Shell Road

·         Widemire's Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe at Old Shell Road and Florida Street was founded by Edwin Widemire, who retired in 1998 and died in 2006.

Restaurants

·         The Dew Drop Inn: 1808 Old Shell Road, moved to its current location in 1937; famous for its hot dogs

·         Butch Cassidy's: 60 S. Florida St.

·         Chuck’s Place: 2503 Old Shell Road

·         Queen G’s Café: 2518 Old Shell Road

 

South Mobile

·         Built primarily in the 1930s-1960s, many south Mobile neighborhoods have been in decline since the closing of Brookley Air Force Base in 1964.

Down the Bay

·         James M. Seals, Jr. Park (renamed from Texas Street Park in 2004) and James Seals Community Center (with its Mighty Marching Tigers band) are named in honor of James M. Seals, Jr.

·         St. Martin de Porres Hospital , 735 South Washington Ave: The hospital was established by the Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile in 1947. Segregation prevented African American Physicians from admitting patients to the Mobile City Hospital. The current building was erected in 1950. The hospital was named for St. Martin de Porres, who was born in 1597 in Lima, Peru. The son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed black slave, de Porres cared for the sick and many cures were attributed to him. With integration, the hospital closed in 1971. In 1976, it was re-opened as a nursing facility, Allen Memorial Home in dedication to Bishop Edward Allen, the fifth Catholic Bishop of Mobile.

·         Naman’s Food Store was started on South Broad Street in 1955.  It closed in 2005 and became Manning’s Marketplace.

·         Ladas Pharmacy, 1050 S. Broad was started in 1959 by Louis Ladas

·        South Bay Apartments are owned by Summit Asset Management in Montgomery

                              

 

Maysville

·         Frank W. Boykin Homes, , and R.V. Taylor Plaza are public housing projects near Maysville

Birdville

·        "Thomas James Homes" housing project 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. It is located near Michigan Ave. and I-10.

Farnell

Mertz

·         Mertz Station came into being in the 1800s as a railroad stop at which farmers from Dog River to Cottage Hill could load their produce onto freight cars for shipment into Mobile.

·         Mertz Elementary School was demolished in 2001.

·         Zion Baptist Church was started in 1848 by Mertz’ pioneer families - Farnells, Rowells, Lundys, Yeagers, Pollards, Southhalls – PR 8/31/08

·         Holcombe Avenue, once a commercial strip, has deteriorated. Holcombe Avenue in conjunction with Halls Mill Road, was the original 1926 U.S. 90 route through Mobile before Government Boulevard to the west was constructed.

·         The Carmelite Monastery is on Dauphin Island Parkway, surrounded by a tall concrete wall topped with barbed wire. In 1943, four Carmelite nuns from Philadelphia came to Mobile and settled on the Holcombe Estate and were the first nuns to inhabit the Monastery of St. Joseph and St. Teresa. It contains the simple Chapel of the Infant Jesus.

·         Tiny Diny, 2159 Halls Mill Road, was established in 1939. It moved across the street from its original location in 1984. It was owned by “Miss Trudy” Shackelford from 1980 until she retired in 2007. She has leased it to Ron Casciano, a veteran restaurateur.

·         Yen Restaurant, a Vietnamese Restautant, was started by the late Yen Le and is run by his family.

·         Osman’s Restaurant

·         The Four Strong Winds Coffee House was on Holcombe Ave.

Navco

·         Gulf Manor was developed in the late 1950s, lies at the end of Navco Road, just east of Luscher Park and its boat launch. In 2000, Census figures showed about 600 people living there. It suffered severe flooding during Hurricane Katrina. – PR 8/26/07

Crestview

·         Crestview subdivision, south of U.S. 90, just east of Demetropolis Road on the southwestern edge of Mobile, was first developed with seven lots in 1955 and now has over 500 homes. The original map was signed by officials of Skyland Development Co., David D. Roberts, vice president, and Riley Smith, secretary. Crestview homes, some of which sold originally for under $20,000, are now in the range of $119,900 to a high of $198,000, with an average price of $147,000. – PR 11/18/07 www.crestviewneighbor.com

 

Dauphin Island Parkway (DIP)/Dog River

·         Parks on Mobile Bay’s waterfront included Arlington Park, Bayfront Road, and Monroe Park.

o   Frascati Park, with its summer theater, concerts and bathing, was destroyed by a storm in 1893.

o   Monroe Park was one of the centers of Mobile’s social life within the city but fell into disuse in the 1940's.

o   The streetcar ran from Crichton, through Mobile, to Monroe Park.  The streetcar line was ended in 1940.

o   In the 1990s, it was proposed that Monroe Park be sold to the city for recreation and the possible site of what became Hank Aaron Stadium, but these were rejected in favor of industrial use. Alabama State Docks bought Monroe Park and plans on building a rail yard there to support a shipping container facility at nearby Choctaw Point.

o   Fort Sidney Johnston, a Confederate fort which was never completed due to material shortages, was unearthed in Monroe Park in 2003

·         Bayfront Park: In 2003, The Alabama State Port Authority, required to provide public waterfront access as part of the environmental impact agreement for the Choctaw Point Terminal, proposed a 41-acre park at Arlington Point just south of the Coast Guard base in Brookley. – PR 12/19/07, Sharman Egan, Lagniappe, 6/19/07

o   Facing criticism that the state docks' container terminal and railyard development at the former site of Monroe Park would rob residents of their last hope for meaningful public access to Mobile Bay, Lyons in 2003 announced plans to create a new park for the city centered around Arlington Point. The plan was applauded by community leaders who have seen much of the city's 30 miles of waterfront devoted to industry.

o   The Alabama State Port Authority plans a public park by late 2008 or early 2009 on more than 20 acres just east of Brookley Industrial Complex on Mobile Bay, part of 46 acres it bought for $1.3 million from the Mobile Airport Authority.

o   The park does not include Arlington Point -- a key element of the plan the Port Authority discussed as early as 2003. That 15-acre, man-made spit of land juts into the bay between Brookley and the McDuffie Coal Terminal. The U.S. Army owns the land, and the Airport Authority has about 30 years left on a lease of part of the property. The plan to include Arlington Point was maintained during a series of public meetings in early 2005. However, in October 2005, $2.5 million in improvements to an existing dock facility at Arlington Point was included as part of a package of incentives used to lure the EADS tanker aircraft assembly center to Brookley Field. That project, plus a Coast Guard presence on Arlington Point, have tied up the Arlington Point property

o   The docks will use some of the land it purchased to replace wetlands it destroyed in developing its container terminal at Choctaw Point.

o   Lyons said the park will have a boardwalk winding through wetlands, and could eventually include walking trails, gazebos, kayak launches and a parking area. Plans for a pier included in the park plan developed by Spectrum & Associates are uncertain, he said.

o   In addition to its $1.3 million to buy the Airport Authority land, the state docks would spend about $2 million to develop the park, Port Authority officials said, and another $5 million to create the new wetlands, a project headed by Thompson Engineering.

o   Bayfront Park Rendering (PR)

·         Fort Whiting Armory, 1630 S. Broad, was built in 1938. It has been used by a number of Mardi Gras societies. Home of the Alabama National Guard unit, it underwent a $6 million renovation in 2003.

·         When Europeans first settled in the Dog River area, they only built summer homes. The first residents of this area were the Rochon brothers. They bought a brick kiln from a man named Olivier, and made their money by making bricks. It was not until the last one hundred years that residents lived by the river yearlong.

·         The Dog River Cotton Factory was built in the 1850s and burned after the Civil War

·         Early residents of the Navco/Ventia Road area include the Legere and Farnell families

·         The Alba Club was founded in 1903. It is named in honor of Peter Francis Alba, Indian fighter with Robert E. Lee, Confederate cavalry captain, founder of the Mobile Humane Society

·         Mobile Yacht Club was organized in the 1840s (earlier called the Mobile Regatta Club), and began holding large regattas on the Eastern Shore which attracted racing yachts and high stakes from all along the Gulf Coast. The club's membership suffered during reconstruction, but by the 1880s, Mobile yachtsmen had reorganized their club and sold stock to build a clubhouse on a newly acquired plot on the Mobile River just opposite downtown. A small launch ferried members from the foot of St. Francis Street to the new club. In 1897 a new building was designed by New Orleans architect, Thomas Sully but was destroyed in the 1906 hurricane. At the end of 600-foot wharf at Monroe Park, Mobile Yacht Club built another lavish building. (Picture) After WWI, the club moved to the Eastern Shore. In 1940, just north of the mouth of Dog River, the club built a neat two-story house that served well for more than 30 years. After Hurricane Frederick in 1979, the current building was constructed.

·         Sources: Mary Eddins, “A Pictoral Oral History of Dog River

Restaurants

·         Nan Seas, 4170 Bayfront Road, had been in business since the 1940's but closed after Hurricane Katrina. The owner, Willis Robinson, plans to reopen in the former Lakeside Lodge on Cody Road near Airport Boulevard. – PR 9/16/07

·         Grand Mariner Marina and Mariner Restaurant

 

 

Riviere Du Chien

·         There is only one entry by land into the community, along Riviere du Chien Road, which runs south from Halls Mill Road.

·         The Linksman Golf Course opened in 1972 and was originally known as St. Andrews. It was bought in 1988 by Ft. Walton Beach-based Edwin Watts Golf, which was founded in 1968. It closed in 2005.

·         The city of Mobile built a bridge connecting the Lipscomb Landing neighborhood and the larger residential area along Riviere du Chien Road

·         Hippie Beach is an area on Hall’s Mill Creek about a mile northwest of where the creek meets Dog River which became an infamous teenage hangout. The land is owned by Creekline, Inc., whose representatives Grubb & Ellis/Peebles & Cameron said they will prosecute any tresspassers. It is off Shipyard Road near the Cypress Shores community, which is south of Hall’s Mill Creek. – PR 7/14/08,7/15/08

 

 

Campground

·         Confederate troops who protected Mobile were encamped here but abandoned it in April, 1865. After the Union troops entered the city, many of the recently freed slaves settled in the outlying districts of Mobile. The landowners, mostly white, built rental housing on small plats for the working class African Americans who lived in the area. Although an 1868 survey map references the Campground and indicates an early plan for development, deeds from various landowners reveal that development actually progressed between 1888 and 1906.

·         Campground continued to grow steadily throughout the early 20th century. Largely an African-American working class neighborhood, a professional middle class including doctors, dentists, businessmen, schoolteachers, nurses, secretaries and postal carriers emerged and residents lived harmoniously intermingled. Some notable prosperous individuals worked and owned businesses along Davis Avenue and in the downtown area, including Dr. James A. Franklin. After the end of segregation, Davis Avenue and other areas declined economically as numerous businesses and residents relocated to other areas of the city. Davis Avenue was renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue in 1986 and since that time, community and civic leaders have sought to revitalize the area.

·         The Campground consists of roughly 10 city blocks, bordered on the north by Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, east by North Ann Street, south by St. Stephens Road and west by Rylands Street. While some distinctive bungalows, traditional cottages, shotgun houses and neo-classically inspired residences are present in the district, the majority of dwellings are cohesively small and vernacular in character. The buildings were constructed between the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, and in most cases were rental property owned by white landowners. The Due to the fact that the buildings within the Campground were rental property, many of them remain unaltered and lend the district its architectural flavor. Campground was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

·         The block bounded by Michael Donald Avenue, Ann Street, Spring Hill Avenue and Old Shell Road, dominated by The Oaks apartments and a nearby convenience/liquor store, has been targeted by Mobile police as "the heart of the beast" of area crime including drugs and prostitution. A police initiative, undertaken with various city agencies, is targeting the neighborhood for rehabilitation with increased police patrols and prostitution stings  combined with neighborhood beautification efforts and crackdowns on eyesore properties. – PR 7/6/08

  

Toulminville

·         Toulminville began a small settlement on the property of Harry Toulmin. Toulminville was along the Mobile and Ohio Railroad northwest of Mobile.

·         During the Irish potato famine in the 1840's, many Irish (including the McNulty's, McAndrews, McDonoughs, McDonalds and the Reynolds etc.) immigrated and staked their lots as farmers in Toulminville.

·         In World War II, Toulminville had become an upper-middle class suburb, with many affluent neighborhoods built along Stanton and Summerville Streets.

·         In 1956 Toulminville was annexed into the city of Mobile.

·         In the 1960s, white flight issues caused by desegregation and an upsurge of crime on Mobile's northside (highlighted by an incident in 1966 in which a white nun was raped by a black man at Catholic Cemetery on Davis Avenue, now Martin Luther King Avenue) caused the district which was majority white in 1960 to become nearly 80% black by 1975, and Toulminville was the bedrock of the district which elected John LeFlore, a Mobile NAACP leader who became the first black elected to the legislature in Mobile County. The final holdout against white flight were neighborhoods along Stanton and Summerville Street which finally became nearly all black in the 1980s, though they remained affluent areas. Toulminville had a serious crime problem during most of the 1980s and 1990s.

·         Leflore High School (originally Toulminville High School) is a performing arts magnet school. As Toulminville High School, it was an all-white school during segregation times, and remained majority white until the 1970s, and in 1979 was renamed LeFlore High School in honor of John LeFlore. In the 1980s, it was converted into a magnet school.

·         Roger Williams Housing Project is “one of Mobile’s most notorious”

·         Trinity Gardens is an impoverished black neighborhood bordering the northwestern reaches of Toulminville

·         Mobile’s Catholic Cemetery, established in 1848, is located on 150 acres in Toulminville. It has fallen into disrepair and is currently the object of restoration by the Friends of the Catholic Cemetery, Historic Mobile Preservation Society and the Archdiocese of Mobile. The Friends of the Catholic Cemetery’s goals are to establish a perpetual care trust fund to clear growth, establish a memorial fund to improve fencing around the cemetery, repair monuments for those who have no known living descendant. Admiral Raphael Semmes and Father Abram Joseph Ryan and buried here

   

Africatown

·         1860 The Clotilde was the last known ship to arrive in the Americas with a cargo of slaves.

o   Timothy Meaher was a Mobile shipyard owner in business with his brothers Burns and James Meaher, all of whom were from Maine. Meaher bet friends $100,000 that he could defy the federal government and bring a ship of slaves to Alabama from Africa. Maine Capt. William Foster, with his topsail schooner Clotilde, was hired by Meaher for the voyage. Meaher had built the Clotilde in Mobile in 1856.

o   In Ghana, West Africa, near the present city of Tamale in 1859 the tribes of Africa were engaged in civil war, and the prevailing tribes sold the members of the conquered tribes into slavery. The village of the Tarkbar tribe near the city of Tamale was raided by Dahomey warriors, and the survivors of the raid were taken to Whydah, now the People's Republic of Benin, and put up for sale. 110 Africans were sold to Foster for $100 each at Whydah and taken to the United States on board the Clotilde. Their arrival marked the last known instance of captured Africans being brought to the United States as slaves.

o   By the time the Clotilde arrived in Mobile, federal authorities, having heard about the illegal scheme, were on the lookout for it. Captain Foster entered Mobile Harbor on the night of July 9, 1860. He transferred his slave cargo to a riverboat and sent them up into the canebrake to hide them. He then burned his schooner and sunk it.

o   The Africans were distributed to those having an interest in the Clotilde expedition including the three brothers, the ship's captain, and others in south Alabama, with 32 settling on the Meaher property at Magazine Point, three miles north of Mobile.

o   In a federal court case in 1861, US v. Burns Meaher, Timothy Meaher, and John Dabey,  the three were charged with importing 103 natives of Africa for the purpose of slavery in the United States on the schooner Clotilde. The case was dismissed because the Federal Court could not prove the involvement of Timothy Meaher in this plot, but there was a strong implication that the case was dismissed because of the beginning of the Civil War.

o   Five years later, the Civil War over, the slaves were free. After selling or releasing most of the