Ambulance at Bienville, circa 1906

A city ambulance from the turn of the last century poses at Bienville Square. Horse-drawn ambulances were a familiar sight on the battlefield during the Civil War and quickly became a part of civilian life. Within a matter of years, this scene would become a relic of the past as the automobile came into widespread use. St. Andrew’s Cross, dedicated to Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville in 1906, is visible in the background, along with Bienville Square’s iconic, if not slightly smaller, oak trees.

Photo courtesy of J. Eugene Bressingham, The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of South Alabama • Colorization by Dynamichrome Limited