# Timeline of Mobile, Alabama

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.
* 1823 - Christ Church Cathedral established.
* 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.
** Barton Academy construction completed.
* 1840
** St. Francis Street Methodist Church founded.
** Population: 12,672.
* 1842 - United States Marine Hospital completed.
* 1844 - Shaarai Shomayim congregation formed.
* 1845 - Trinity Episcopal Church established.
* 1850
** Mobile Evening News begins publication.
** Population: 20,515.
** Bienville Square (city park) established.
* 1852
** Public schooling begins in Barton Academy building.
** Mobile and Ohio Railroad opened.
* 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.
** (August 5) Battle of Mobile Bay.
* 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.
** Population: 31,076.
* 1894 - Clara Schumann Club (music group) formed.
* 1900 - Population: 38,469.

## 20th century

* 1902 - Mobile Public Library established.
* 1906 - (27 September) Mobile swept by a hurricane.
* 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.
* 1928 - Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks founded.
* 1929
** Mobile Press newspaper begins publication.
** Woman's Clubhouse Association founded.
* 1930 - WALA radio begins broadcasting.
* 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
** WALA-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
** Consular Corps of Mobile organized (approximate date).
* 1955 - WKRG-TV (television) begins broadcasting.
* 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.
* 1975 - Springhill Medical Center (then called Springhill Memorial Hospital) opens.
* 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.
* 1987 - Providence (hospital) built.
* 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.
* 1998 - Sammy’s v. City of Mobile strip club-related lawsuit decided.

## 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 cancelled.