Mobile, Alabama, USA
1906

Mobile, a city, port of entry, and capital of Mobile co., Ala., is situated on the W. bank of the Mobile River, at its entrance into the bay of the same name, 30 miles N. of the Gulf of Mexico and 140 miles ENE. of New Orleans. Lat. 30° 42' N. ; Lon. 88° W. It is the leading city of the state in commerce and occupies an important position in the cotton-market of the United States. The site is a level sandy plain, sufficiently elevated for convenient drainage, being about 15 feet higher than the bay. The city is not compactly built, except the portion occupied by the commercial houses, and the shaded streets of magnolia and live-oak, together with the numerous gardens, give it a pleasingly restful appearance. On the S. and W. sides of the city are dry, sandy pine hills, which afford agreeable retreats during the hot season. The most prominent buildings are the Federal building, cotton exchange, court-house, marine hospital, Southern Market, Odd Fellows' and Temperance Halls, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Among the city's educational institutions are Barton Academy, the Medical College of Alabama, Academy of the Visitation, and St. Mary's School. Mobile has an advantageous position for trade, being the natural outlet of one of the greatest cotton regions in the United States. Steamboats ply between this port and Montgomery on the Alabama River and Tuscaloosa on the Black Warrior. During winter and spring they ascend as high as Columbus on the Tombigbee River. Other steamers run to New Orleans via lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain. The city is on the direct route from the Gulf of Mexico to the great lakes and is approached by the Louisville and Nashville, the Mobile and Ohio, and other railroads. The harbor has been greatly improved and now admits vessels drawing 23 feet of water. From 250,000 to 300,000 bales of cotton pass through the port of Mobile annually, and there are also exported large quantities of lumber, staves, shingles, and naval stores. The export trade of the city is largely with the South American States, Cuba, and the British West Indies. The industrial establishments are represented by numerous cotton- and cotton-seed oil mills, foundries', flouring-, lumber-, sash- and blind-factories, and manufactories of ships and boats, cordage, tobacco and cigars, beer, cedar pencils, etc. Mobile was founded by the French about 1710 (their settlement farther N. on the Mobile River having been removed hither). For a number of years it was the capital of their incipient colony of Louisiana. From 1763 to 1780 it be longed to England and then to Spain until 1813. In the latter year the forces of the United States took possession of it, but the place almost immediately fell into the hands of the English, who relinquished it to the United States in the Treaty of Ghent, Dec., 1814. It was incorporated as a town in 1814 and a city charter was granted in 1819. In the Civil War the city held out against the Federals until April, 1865. (See Mobile Bay). Pop. in 1860, 29,258; in 1870, 32,034; in 1880, 29,132; in 1890, 31,076; in 1900, 38,469, of which about 13,000 were colored.

Lippincott's New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns ... in Every Portion of the Globe Publisher J.B. Lippincott Company, 1906

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