Ask McGehee: How old are the oaks in Bienville Square?
According to Ron Jackson, the longtime urban forester for Mobile, live oaks have been in that location since at least 1812....
The Aviators
Even before the Wright Brothers flew a powered heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903, John Fowler (1862 -...
Legendary Laws
Stop in the name of the law! And most of us do because we respect our legal system. Plus, orange jump suits...
Ask McGehee: Didn’t Mobile once have two different daily newspapers?
In the late 1920s, Mobile had only one newspaper, which published a morning and weekly afternoon edition. Mississippi-born Frederick Ingate Thompson...
Bankhead v. Wallace
Tunnel to Towers Race through the tube for a good cause. When firefighter Stephen Siller finished his late shift...
Broken But Not Forgotten
Alabama’s public education system was born at Barton Academy along Government Street in January of 1839. The Greek Revival building, which...
Ask McGehee: Didn’t Mobile’s Saenger Theatre originally have a pipe organ?
According to news clippings from the opening in January 1927, the Saenger Theatre had every luxury at the time – air-conditioning, ...
Little Red Schoolhouse
In 1920, The Blakeley School, above and opposite, was erected on Magnolia Church Road, just north of Spanish Fort....
War of 1812: The 200th Anniversary
Most of us know only that the War of 1812 occurred in 1812, and that it wasn’t all that important. The fact...
Ask McGehee: When was Government Plaza built, and how did that design ever get...
A Mobile County Courthouse had stood on the southwest corner of Government and Royal streets since 1822. The fifth and last incarnation had...
