Mobile, Alabama

Mobile
City
Skyline of Mobile
Bienville Square
Dauphin Street
Port of Mobile
The USS Alabama
Flag of Mobile
Flag
Official seal of Mobile
Seal
Official logo of Mobile
Logo
Nickname(s): 
"The Port City", "Azalea City", "The City of Six Flags"
Map
Interactive map of Mobile
Mobile is located in Alabama
Mobile
Mobile
Location within Alabama
Mobile is located in the United States
Mobile
Mobile
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 30°40′03″N 88°06′04″W / 30.66750°N 88.10111°W / 30.66750; -88.10111
CountryUnited States
StateAlabama
CountyMobile
Founded1702
Incorporated (town)January 20, 1814[1][2]
Incorporated (city)December 17, 1819[3]
Government
 • TypeMayor-Council
 • MayorSandy Stimpson (R[4])
 • City CouncilDistrict 1 – Cory Penn
District 2 – William Carroll
District 3 – C.J. Small
District 4 – Ben Reynolds
District 5 – Joel Daves
District 6 – Josh Woods
District 7 – Gina Gregory
Area
[5]
 • City
180.07 sq mi (466.39 km2)
 • Land139.48 sq mi (361.26 km2)
 • Water40.59 sq mi (105.14 km2)
 • Urban
220.75 sq mi (571.7 km2)
 • Metro
1,229 sq mi (3,184 km2)
Elevation
[7]
33 ft (10 m)
Population
 (2020)[8]
 • City
187,041
 • Estimate 
(2022)[9]
183,289
 • RankUS: 141st
AL: 4th
 • Density1,314/sq mi (507.4/km2)
 • Urban
321,907 (US: 126th)[6]
 • Urban density1,458.3/sq mi (563.0/km2)
 • Metro
411,640 (US: 133rd)
 • Metro density335/sq mi (129.2/km2)
 • Combined
665,147 (US: 79th)
 • Combined density172.6/sq mi (66.63/km2)
DemonymMobilian
Time zoneUTC–6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC–5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes
Zip codes[10]
Area code251
FIPS code01-50000
GNIS feature ID2404278[7]
Websitecityofmobile.org

Mobile (/moʊˈbiːl/ moh-BEEL, French: [mɔbil] ⓘ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 census.[8][9] After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobile's population increased to 204,689 residents, making it the fourth-most populous city in Alabama, after Montgomery, Birmingham, and Huntsville.[11] Mobile is the principal municipality of the Mobile metropolitan area, a region of 430,197 residents composed of Mobile and Washington counties; it is the third-largest metropolitan area in the state after Birmingham and Huntsville.[12]

Alabama's only saltwater port, Mobile is located on the Mobile River at the head of Mobile Bay on the north-central Gulf Coast.[13] The Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the economic health of the city, beginning with the settlement as an important trading center between the French colonists and Native Americans, down to its current role as the 12th-largest port in the United States.[14][15]

Mobile was founded in 1702 by the French as the first capital of Louisiana. During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony of France, then Great Britain, and lastly Spain. Mobile became a part of the United States in 1813, with the annexation by President James Madison of West Florida from Spain.[16] During the American Civil War, the city surrendered to Federal forces on April 12, 1865,[17] after Union victories at two forts protecting the city. This, along with the news of Johnston's surrender negotiations with Sherman, led General Richard Taylor to seek a meeting with his Union counterpart, Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby. The two generals met several miles north of Mobile on May 2. After agreeing to a 48-hour truce, the generals enjoyed an al fresco luncheon of food, drink, and lively music. Canby offered Taylor the same terms agreed upon between Lee and Grant at Appomattox. Taylor accepted the terms and surrendered his command on May 4 at Citronelle, Alabama.[18]

Considered one of the Gulf Coast's cultural centers, Mobile has several art museums, a symphony orchestra, professional opera, professional ballet company, and a large concentration of historic architecture.[19][20] Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Carnival or Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. Alabama's French Creole population celebrated this festival from the first decade of the 18th century. Beginning in 1830, Mobile was host to the first formally organized Carnival mystic society to celebrate with a parade in the United States. (In New Orleans, such a group is called a krewe.)[21]

  1. ^ "Municipalities of Alabama Incorporation Dates" (PDF). Alabama League of Municipalities. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  2. ^ "An Act to provide for Government of the Town of Mobile. —Passed January 20, 1814." (Internet Archive). A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama: Containing The Statutes and Resolutions in Force at the end of the General Assembly in January 1823. Published by Ginn & Curtis, J. & J. Harper, Printers, New-York, 1828. Title 62. Chapter XII. Pages 780–781.
  3. ^ "An Act to incorporate the City of Mobile. —Passed December 17, 1819." (Internet Archive). A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama: Containing The Statutes and Resolutions in Force at the end of the General Assembly in January 1823. Published by Ginn & Curtis, J. & J. Harper, Printers, New-York, 1828. Title 62. Chapter XVI. Pages 784–791.
  4. ^ City elections are Nonpartisan.
  5. ^ "2023 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  6. ^ United States Census Bureau (December 29, 2022). "2020 Census Qualifying Urban Areas and Final Criteria Clarifications". Federal Register.
  7. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mobile, Alabama
  8. ^ a b "Explore Census Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference USCensusEst2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Zip Code Lookup". USPS. Retrieved March 17, 2024.
  11. ^ Sharp, John (July 19, 2023). ""Mobile now second largest city in Alabama after annexation vote"". AL.COM. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  12. ^ "P1. Race: Total Population: 2020 Census". data.census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  13. ^ "Mobile Alabama". Britannica Online. Retrieved October 19, 2007.
  14. ^ Drechsel, Emanuel. Mobilian Jargon: Linguistic and Sociohistorical Aspects of a Native American Pidgin. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-824033-3
  15. ^ "Waterborne Commerce Statistics: Calendar Year 2010" (PDF). United States Army Corps of Engineers. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  16. ^ "United States History". Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  17. ^ Bunn, Mike (May 8, 2017). "Battle of Fort Blakeley". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  18. ^ Plante, Trevor K. (Spring 2015). "Ending the Bloodshed: The Last Surrenders of the Civil War". Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration. Vol. 47, no. 1. College Park, Maryland: National Archives Trust Fund Board, National Archives and Records Administration. ISSN 0033-1031. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  19. ^ "General Information". Mobile Museum of Art. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2007.
  20. ^ "About Region". SeniorsResourceGuide.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  21. ^ "Mobile Mardi Gras Timeline". The Museum of Mobile. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2007.