RV Lifestyle The waterways are a good starting point to understanding Mobile, Alabama, because the city is on a river, just north of a bay, south of a swamp, and it has a storied history as a port. From the powdery white beaches of the gulf to the 800 square miles of alligator-populated delta, you’re never far from water here. Mobile was named after the Mauvilla (or Maubilla) Indians who lived here centuries ago. Mobile is more than 300 years old and this fact alone tells us that there must be a lot of history associated with a city of that age. The many museums and historical homes help tell Mobile’s story. Once called the Paris of the South, Mobile has long been the cultural centre of the Gulf Coast, where you’ll have an authentic experience found nowhere else in the southern United States. The birthplace of Mardi Gras in the U.S., the area’s sheer beauty, modern architecture, amazing museums and famous seafood continue to impress visitors and locals alike. As the oldest city in Alabama, Mobile has a rich past, spanning centuries. French, Spanish, British, Creole, Catholic, Greek and African legacies have influenced everything from architecture to cuisine, creating a miniature melting pot in the Port City. Founded in 1702 as the original capital of the Louisiana Territory and nestled along beautiful Mobile Bay, few American cities boast a history as rich as Mobile’s. In 1711, the French erected a brick fort to protect their New World interests and named it Conde. The site, now a 4/5-scale reconstruction of the original early 18th-century French Fort Conde, functions as a welcome centre. Since the original fort sat on 4.5 hectares of land, a full-size reconstruction was not possible because of the area which it would cover in downtown Mobile. The reconstructed fort opened on July 4, 1976. Later, the British took ownership and after that, the Spanish. In the 1820s, the U.S. Congress ordered its sale and removal and shortly afterwards, it was demolished. MOBILE Mobile honors Mardi Gras The Old and the New - Reconstructed Fort Conde Going 24 | www.snowbirds.org
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