Mobile is Alabama’s oldest city, which became part of the state in 1819. Mobile is filled with magnificent historic districts and dozens of landmarked homes and buildings. During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony of France, Great Britain, and Spain. During the American Civil War, Mobile was a Confederate city. The turn of the 20th Century brought rapid economic boom, shipbuilding, steel, cotton, iron, and several other new industries were built, which attracted a large number of immigrants and doubled the population. During this time, the city received $3 million in federal grants for harbor improvements to deepen the shipping channels. Mobile was one of eighteen United States cities producing Liberty ships. And the shipbuilding industry grew significantly during World War II, which resulted in a considerable increase in the city’s white middle-class and working-class population. The postwar era saw a rapid decline of jobs in the shipyard, and the defense industry and chemical industries began to expand.
Here below are some old pictures of Mobile, Alabama from the early 20th Century that capture streets, roads, cityscapes, and everyday life.
#1 Battle House, Mobile, 1901
#2 Royal Street looking south from St. Francis, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1910
#3 Driveway looking away from William A. Dawson House, Mobile, Alabama, 1939
#4 Along the docks, Mobile, Alabama, 1906
#5 Seven-year-old Ferris, Mobile, Alabama, October 1914
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I have ancestors that lived here among many other locations across the U.S. so It’s amazing to see a photo like this. It is also at the same time painful to see such a young little boy looking so sad.. I wish I could help.
#6 Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Conti Street, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1910
#7 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1906
#8 Bienville Hotel, Bienville Square, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1910
#9 A pretty bit of Monroe Park, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1910
#10 Duncan Place and Semmes monument, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1901
#11 112 S. Conception Street, Mobile, Alabama, 1939
#12 Dauphin Street, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1906
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and now Mobile has a horrible negroe infestation
#13 Waring House built by Edmund Dargan, 110 Church Street, Mobile, Alabama, 1939
#14 House with unusual staircase Mobile, Alabama, November 1938
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something painted on lower floor. Can make out “O” and “N” between windows
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To each their own. I don’t see the letters “anonymous” claims to see but I do see what appears to potentially be a faded letter from the American alphabet and it is the letter “U”
#15 Royal Street, 1950s
#16 Young newsboy who begins work at daybreak, Mobile, Alabama, October 1914
#17 Collins store at Royal Street near St. Louis Street, Mobile, Alabama 1939
#18 Alabama Medical College, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1901
#19 Unloading a banana steamer, Mobile, Alabama, 1906
#20 Old Market House at Royal and Church, Mobile, 1906
#21 House of Shutters, 110 Church Street, Mobile, 1939
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The shutters will probably to keep the Sun out in the afternoon.
#22 Cast ironwork porch, Mobile, Alabama. Artist Walker Evans.
#23 River packet Jas. T. Staples, Mobile, 1913
#24 Hotel Windsor and Royal Street, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1901
#25 The cotton docks at Mobile, Alabama, 1905
#26 Pulp Wood Going Down The River Styx To Mobile By Inland Waterway Near Robertsdale.
#27 Operating room in a Mobile, Alabama, 1900s. The doctors and nurses pose before operating on a patient.
#28 Bathers at the Mobile, AL sea shore, 1901
#29 Two Boys Working in Cotton Mill, Mobile, Alabama, 1914
#30 Young Worker in Barker Cotton Mills, Mobile, Alabama, 1914
#31 A Restaurant in Mobile, Alabama, 1937
#32 Young Office Boy Employed by Law Firm, 11 years old, Full-Length Portrait, Mobile, Alabama, 1914
#33 Man and Cotton Cart, Mobile, Alabama, 1906
#34 Southern Railway terminals, Mobile, Alabama, 1905
#35 Mobile County Courthouse, 1925
#36 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama, 1906
#37 River packet Nettie Quill, Mobile, Alabama, 1906
#38 Mobile, 1919
#39 Feed Store Employees and Vehicles, 1932
#40 Victory in Europe Celebration, 1945
#41 Cotton Exchange, a building with beaucoup bling, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1906
#42 Royal Street looking north, Mobile, Alabama, circa 1910
#43 Tacking up a United States Food Administration poster encouraging people to “Save Wheat” and help the women of France during World War One in Mobile, Alabama, 1918.
#44 Mobile, 1920
#45 King Felix III Float, 1935
#46 Mobile, 1904
#47 Negro houses in Mobile, Alabama, April 1937
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#29 A photograph of an African American residence in Mobile, Alabama. circa 1930’s.
