Mobile

mo-bel', the chief city and seaport of Alabama. It is situated at the head of Mobile Bay, thirty-three miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It is 141 miles by rail eastward from New Orleans. The site is a sandy plain about fourteen feet above the Gulf level. The city is laid out on the rectangular plan. The entrance to the bay has been deepened by the general government from seventeen feet to twenty-four. The harbor is one of the finest in the Union. The city does a large business by steamboat with interior points of the state. It has also several lines of railway. It is the natural outlet of a cotton-producing region. Cotton and cottonseed oil, fruits, live stock, meat, coal, lumber, tar, resin, and turpentine to the value of $15,000,000 a year are exported. The city ranks third in the Union in the importation of tropical fruits. Coffee, bananas, and sisal are important imports. The trade is largely with Cuba, the West Indies, and Central America. Fisheries are an important local industry. The city was founded in 1702. It was the capital of Louisiana until 1722, when the French governor removed to New Orleans. The site was acquired by the United States from Spain with the accession of Florida in 1819. The waters of the bay may be said to have been dominated at different times by five flags, those of France, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, and the Confederacy. In August, 1864, Farragut entered the harbor and, after a spirited engagement, captured the Confederate fleet anchored there. The population in 1910 was a little over 55,000. The city has a number of fine buildings, including a United States custom building, erected at a cost of $250,000. A seaside boulevard, known as the Shell Road, is paved with shells after the fashion of Gulf cities.