John Sledge
These Rugged Days: Alabama in the Civil War
  The war became much more immediate on Dec. 9 , when what were likely Alabama’s first shots in anger rumbled over...
The Shipwrecks of Mobile Bay
From the upper Delta to the lower Bay and adjacent Gulf waters, shipwrecks crowd our shores. It’s little wonder, since people have...
Pirate Attack!
  On September 9, 1710, ...
The Pirate Navigator
On the cusp of the 18th century, great changes were underway in the Gulf of Mexico. Spain’s almost two-centuries-long grip on the region...
The True Story of the ‘Rachel’
Historian John S. Sledge shares the remarkable tale of the antique ship that graces the shores of Fort Morgan.
Schoolyard Rivalry
It’s easily the most intense college football rivalry in the country — Auburn vs. Alabama. And if you live in the Heart of Dixie,...
The Battle of Mobile Bay Revisited
Every Old Mobile family worth its salt will claim a blockade runner somewhere in the family tree. Heaven knows plenty of daring men attempted to run...
The Fall of Mobile
One hundred and fifty years ago this month, on April 12, 1865, Confederate Mobile surrendered to Federal troops. The city’s strategic...
Westward Expansion
West Mobile. Where is it exactly? What comprises it? What are we to make of it? Questions like these periodically arise as Mobile continues...
Marked by Excellence
Big, colorful and visible from blocks away, simple cut-metal markers designate Mobile’s most historic and beautifully restored properties. From downtown Dauphin Street...
