Ask McGehee
James Conning was a New York-born jeweler who had established himself on Dauphin Street in the 1840s. Early advertisements assured customers of a “large and elegant assortment of...
French Plantation Life on the Mobile River
Throughout the Port City’s long colonial century (1702 - 1813), there were plantations all around the Bay area. These were not like the enormous cotton farms of...
Big Stage, Big Names
The Civic Center Arena, originally named Municipal Auditorium, has hosted some of the most legendary musicians and groups in the nation. Keeping with the spirit of...
The Mississippian Period
Long before Europeans first trod these shores, Native Americans were here. In the beginning, they were simple hunter-gatherers, subsisting on what they could take from...
An Independent Woman
For all the delights of my first trip to New York City in 1964, the summer I turned 11, none was greater than having my big...
Ask McGehee: What’s the history of The Antoinette Apartments on Government Street?
In August of 1911, Mobile’s Register reported “work commenced last week on dismantling of the Government Street home which was occupied by Augusta Evans Wilson. The handsome...
Ask McGehee: Has Mobile ever had a white Christmas?
Although snow along the Gulf Coast is a bit of a phenomenon, it does occur, but unfortunately seldom in December. There have been a few exceptions.
On Dec. 31,...
The Canoe Fight
This month marks the 200th anniversary of one of the most storied incidents in Alabama history, the Canoe Fight. It took place during the bloody Creek War,...
Ask McGehee
The Chinese filling station, which stood on the northwest corner of Government and Dearborn streets, was the creation of architect C. L. Hutchisson Sr. in 1926....
The White Car
it wasn’t until we were standing in a dark, rutted-out, dirt parking lot at the edge of the Tensaw River that I began to question my...