Mobile County, Alabama facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mobile County
U.S. county
Mobile Government Plaza in Mobile
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Alabama
Alabama's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Founded	December 18, 1812
Named for	Mobile Bay
Seat	Mobile
Largest city	Mobile
Area
• Total	1,644 sq mi (4,260 km2)
• Land	1,229 sq mi (3,180 km2)
• Water	415 sq mi (1,070 km2)  25.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	414,809
• Estimate  (2023)	411,640
• Density	252.32/sq mi (97.420/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st
County Number 02 on Alabama license plates One of three counties shuffled to the top 3 numbers because of population size

Mobile County (/moʊˈbiːl/ MOH-beel) is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the third-most populous county in the state after Jefferson and Madison counties. As of the 2020 census, its population was 414,809. Its county seat is Mobile, which was founded as a deepwater port on the Mobile River. The only such port in Alabama, it has long been integral to the economy for providing access to inland waterways as well as the Gulf of Mexico.

The city, river, and county were named in honor of Maubila, a village of the paramount chief Tuskaloosa of the regional Mississippian culture. In 1540 he arranged an ambush of soldiers of Hernando de Soto's expedition in an effort to expel them from the territory. The Spaniards were armed with guns and killed many of the tribe. Mobile County and Washington County, Alabama make up the Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area with a 2020 population of 430,197. The Mobile, AL MSA and Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL MSA make up the much larger Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope CSA with a 2020 population of 661,964.

The northern border of Mobile County and southern area of neighboring Washington County constitute the homeland of the state-recognized tribe of MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, descendants of Choctaw and Creek who stayed in this area during the period of Indian Removal. They have organized to preserve their culture and language. They were the first of nine tribes to be recognized by the state.

History

This area was occupied for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. At the time of Spanish expeditions in the early 16th century, it was part of the territory of the Mississippian culture, which constructed major earthwork mounds. It was ruled by the paramount chief Tuskaloosa.

The historic Choctaw emerged somewhat later, and are believed to be descendants of those earlier peoples. They occupied this area along what early French traders and colonists called the Mobile River. They also founded the settlement of Mobile on the river and bay in the early eighteenth century.

The British took over the territory in 1763 (along with other French territories east of the Mississippi River) after defeating the French in the Seven Years' War. During the American Revolutionary War, it came under Spanish rule as part of Spanish Florida. Spain ceded the territory to the United States after the War of 1812.

In the 1830s, the United States forced the removal of most of the Native American tribes in the area under President Andrew Jackson's policy and an act of Congress to relocate them to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Many of those who remained continued their culture, and took refuge in the swamps in the border area between Mobile and Washington counties. Since the late 20th century, several tribes have reorganized and gained state recognition. Among those is the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, which was recognized as a tribe in 1979 by the state. The people have long been based in this area of the former Choctaw homeland, along the northern border of Mobile County and the southern border of Washington County.

After more than a century of European settlement, beginning with French colonists, Mobile County was organized by the state legislature and the proclamation of Governor Holmes of the Mississippi Territory on December 18, 1812. When Mississippi was separated and admitted as a state on December 10, 1817, after adopting its constitution on August 15, 1817, Mobile County became part of what was called the Alabama Territory. Two years later, the county became part of the state of Alabama, granted statehood on December 14, 1819.

The city of Mobile, first settled by French colonists in the early 18th century as part of La Louisiane, was designated as the county seat from the early days of the county. Both the county and city derive their name from Fort Louis de la Mobile, a French fortification established (near present-day Axis, Alabama) in 1702. The word "Mobile" is believed to stem from a Choctaw word for "paddlers". The area was occupied by French colonists from 1702 to 1763, and their influence has been strong in the city. It was ruled by the British from 1763 to 1780, when more American colonists began to enter the territory; and controlled by the Spanish from 1780 to 1813.

At the end of the War of 1812, the United States took over the territory. At that time, new settlers were being attracted to the land, eager to develop short-staple cotton in the uplands area. Invention of the cotton gin made processing of this type of cotton profitable, stimulating wholesale development of new cotton plantations in the Black Belt during the antebellum years. Mobile developed as a major deepwater port; in the nineteenth century, cotton was its major export.

There were nine documented lynchings in Mobile from 1891 to 1981.

• March 31, 1891 — Zachariah Graham
• October 2, 1906 — Roy Hoyle
• October 2, 1906 — Willie Thompson
• October 2, 1906 — Corneilius Robinson
• September 22, 1907 — Mose Dossett
• January 23, 1909 — Richard Robertson
• July 31, 1910 — Bill Walker
• June 6, 1919 — James E. Lewis
• March 21, 1981 — Michael Donald

Courthouse fires occurred in the years 1823, 1840, and 1872.

Geography

Aerial view of the Mobile River at its confluence with Chickasaw Creek. This photograph was taken around 1990, during construction of the Cochrane-Africatown bridge carrying U.S. Route 90 across the river.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,644 square miles (4,260 km²), of which 1,229 square miles (3,180 km²) is land and 415 square miles (1,070 km²) (25.2%) is water. It is the fourth-largest county in Alabama by land area and second-largest by total area. It includes several islands, including Dauphin Island, Gaillard Island and Mon Louis Island.

Major highways

Transit

• The Wave Transit System

Adjacent counties

• Washington County (north)
• Baldwin County (east)
• Jackson County, Mississippi (southwest)
• George County, Mississippi (west)
• Greene County, Mississippi (northwest)

National protected areas

• Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 414,809 people, 163,750 households, and 107,701 families residing in the county. The population density was 337.4 inhabitants per square mile (130.3/km²) There were 184,441 housing units.

The county's largest city, Mobile (population 187,041 per the 2020 census) is majority minority with African-Americans making up 51.06% of its population.

2010 census

According to the 2010 census, the population of the county comprised the following racial and ethnic groups:

• 60.2% White
• 34.6% Black
• 0.9% Native American
• 1.8% Asian
• 0.0% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
• 1.5% Two or more races
• 2.4% Hispanic or Latino (of any race)

Education

In most areas of Mobile County, schools are operated by the Mobile County Public School System. The cities of Chickasaw, Saraland, and Satsuma have separate school systems. Each is served by Chickasaw City Schools, Saraland Board of Education, and Satsuma City School System.

Mobile County is the home of the University of South Alabama (USA), a public research university divided into ten colleges, including one of Alabama's two state-supported medical schools. USA has an enrollment of over 16,000 students and employs more than 6,000 faculty, administrators, and support staff. It is also home to two private institutions of higher learning. Spring Hill College, founded in 1830, is Catholic and the third-oldest Jesuit college or university in the U.S. Its enrollment is about 1,500 students and it offers 46 academic majors. University of Mobile, established in 1961 and affiliated with Alabama Baptist Convention, has an enrollment of about 2,000 and offers 90 academic majors.

Communities

Cities

Towns

• Dauphin Island
• Mount Vernon

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Ghost town

• Beaver Mills

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Mobile para niños