John Sledge
Reader's Choice
The 150th anniversary of the Civil War has been marked by an avalanche of good books. Besides the...
That Old Mobile Joy
It was a bleak December afternoon — overcast, chilly, the light rapidly fading. We were driving on one of Downtown’s less favored...
The Streets of Victorian Mobile
Following the Civil War, Mobile was slow to recover, but as the decades passed, things steadily improved. Business and civic leaders...
Wilde Card
One of 19th-century Mobile’s most colorful and memorable visitors was Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde. The flamboyant Irishman was touring the United States in...
Rain Supreme
Last year, a young woman from Michigan interned where I work. Right before she left, I asked her what she thought of...
An August Dawn Remembered
One hundred and fifty years ago this month, a fiery contest took place between Union and Confederate forces at the mouth of...
Defending Confederate Mobile
A key piece of Confederate Mobile’s defensive strategy was its naval squadron. Like the army, the navy changed commanders several times, but...
Bygone Structures
“Remove not the ancient landmark, ” the Bible tells us. But we Americans have always been an impatient, push-ahead people, continually building, tearing down...
An Elegy to Spanish Moss
Not long ago, I had to attend a meeting at the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion on Spring Hill Avenue. Having a little time before...
Tedious on the Mud
Getting into or out of antebellum Mobile by sea wasn’t easy. No one involved with maritime traffic then was completely happy with the...
