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 residential streets, and everything...
Ask McGehee
There has been a St. Mary Church at the southwestern corner of Lafayette Street and Old Shell Road since just after the end of the Civil War. Mule-drawn trolley...
Ask McGehee
Betty Bienville was a pen name used by Nettie Chandler (1869 - 1943) and her sister, Mary (1875 - 1956). Both were descendants of attorney Daniel Chandler whose...
Ask McGehee
According to early city directories, Mobile had 10 cigar dealers operating in 1869 but no manufacturers. That rapidly changed. In 1875 there were 19 cigar manufacturers listed. ...
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 pursued better water and rail...
Ask McGehee
“The Divine Sarah” appeared in the Port City on at least three occasions. Mobile had a theater as early as 1838 and was known for its playhouses during the 19th...
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 1882, and though he...
Salute to our Sister Cities
A directional marker stands at Fort Condé with arrows pointing to faraway places. Each arrow represents a Mobile sister city, encouraging global thinking and begging the question: How are we...
Ask McGehee
When World War II erupted, German U-boats were sinking American supply ships in the Atlantic faster than they could be built. Between 1939 and 1945 the Nazis torpedoed...
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 by September of 1862 it...