Timeline of Mobile, Alabama facts for kids

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Mobile, Alabama, USA.

Prior to 19th century

• 1702 - Fort Louis de la Mobile founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville of Montreal.
• 1703 - Mardi Gras begins.
• 1722 - French Louisiana capital relocated from Mobile to New Orleans.
• 1723 - Fort Conde built.
• 1763 - Mobile becomes part of British West Florida per Treaty of Paris (1763).
• 1780 - March: Battle of Fort Charlotte; Spanish in power.
• 1783 - Mobile becomes part of Spanish West Florida per Treaty of Paris (1783).

19th century

• 1810 - Mobile becomes part of the independent Republic of West Florida.
• 1813
  • Spanish West Florida annexed to the United States.
  • Mobile Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1814 - Town of Mobile incorporated.
• 1819 - City of Mobile incorporated.
• 1821 - Mobile Commercial Register begins publication.
• 1827 - Fire.
• 1829 - Mobile Female Benevolent Society founded.
• 1830
  • Spring Hill College and City Hospital established.
  • Population: 3,194.
• 1835 - Franklin Society Reading Room and Library founded.
• 1839 - October 2: Fire.
• 1840
  • St. Francis Street Methodist Church founded.
  • Population: 12,672.
• 1844 - Shaarai Shomayim congregation formed.
• 1850
  • Mobile Evening News begins publication.
  • Population: 20,515.
  • Bienville Square (city park) established.
• 1852 - Public schooling begins in Barton Academy building.
• 1854 - Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce chartered.
• 1855 - Publisher S.H. Goetzel in business (approximate date).
• 1857 - City Hall built.
• 1860 - Population: 29,258.
• 1861 - City becomes part of the Confederate States of America.
• 1864 - Wilmer Hall established.
• 1865 - State colored convention held in city.
• 1868 - Africatown established near Mobile.
• 1869 - Mobile Bar Association and Mobile Law Library founded.
• 1871 - Mobile Cotton Exchange established.
• 1872 - Mobile Carnival Association established.
• 1883
  • Fidelia Club formed.
  • Drago Band (musical group) active (approximate date).
• 1889 - Mobile County Courthouse built.
• 1890 - Mobile Camera Club founded.
• 1894 - Clara Schumann Club (music group) formed.

20th century

• 1902 - Mobile Public Library established.
• 1907 - Union Depot built.
• 1910 - Population: 51,521.
• 1914 - Rotary Club of Mobile organized.
• 1918 - Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company in business.
• 1925 - Lincoln Theatre built.
• 1927 - Saenger Theatre built.
• 1929
  • Mobile Press newspaper begins publication.
  • Woman's Clubhouse Association founded.
• 1936 - American Association of University Women of Mobile organized.
• 1937
  • Foreign trade zone established.
  • Aluminum Ore Company refining plant constructed.
• 1940 - Population: 78,720.
• 1950 - Population: 129,009.
• 1953 - Consular Corps of Mobile organized (approximate date).
• 1960
  • Sister city agreement established with Puerto Barrios, Guatemala.
  • Population: 202,779.
• 1962 - Mobile Genealogical Society founded.
• 1964 - Mobile British Women's Club active (approximate date).
• 1965 - Sister city agreement established with Málaga, Spain.
• 1966 - Neighborhood Organized Workers established.
• 1974
  • Azalea City News begins publication.
  • Sister city agreement established with Pau, France.
• 1976 - City twins with Worms, Germany.
• 1980
  • U.S. Supreme Court decides Mobile v. Bolden redistricting-related lawsuit.
  • Sister city agreement established with Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• 1982 - Sister city agreement established with Zakynthos, Greece (approximate date).
• 1983 - Mobile Municipal Archives founded.
• 1985 - U.S. Naval Station Mobile opens.
• 1988 - Sister city agreement established with Rostov on Don, Russia.
• 1989
  • Sister city agreement established with Pyeongtaek, South Korea.
  • Mike Dow becomes mayor.
• 1990 - Sister city agreement established with Katowice, Poland.
• 1992 - Sister city agreement established with Košice, Slovakia.
• 1993
  • September 22: 1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck.
  • Sister city agreement established with Havana, Cuba, and Ichihara, Japan.
• 1995
  • City website online (approximate date).
  • Bayfest (Mobile) (music festival) begins.

21st century

• 2002 - Tricentennial of founding of Mobile.
• 2005
  • Sam Jones becomes first African-American in city elected mayor.
  • City twins with Cockburn, Australia, and establishes sister city agreement with Bolinao, Philippines.
• 2010 - Population: 195,111.
• 2012 - Christmas tornado outbreak.
• 2015 - Bayfest is canceled.