Mobile Bay Area: Random Thoughts (Birmingham, Huntsville: gardens, suburbs, title)

[MardiGras251]

Originally Posted by Surge0001

very interesting had no idea there was creole history in Mobile, I guess like everything else NOLA tends to covet the history, looks like I need to head back to the New Orleans vs Mobile CvC thread and point a couple more things out lol

Look at the names around you lots and lots of French influence still here from mobile to Louisiana . Bon secour, bay Minette, dauphin island, rivière du chien ( dog river), bayou la batre, bellefountaine, creola etc..... this is another Article about that area that’s interesting https://www.familysearch.org/service...x=ArtCtxPublic

[Surge0001]

Originally Posted by MardiGras251

The church is st. Rose of Lima church here’s more info about that church

https://www.mobilebaynep.com/assets/...uis_Island.pdf

Oh, I know that church, went by it all the time going to school. I thought it was just regular church, didn't know it had historical significance. If I remember, there's a cemetery directly across from it, I wonder how many of those graves are of Creoles

[Surge0001]

Originally Posted by MardiGras251

Look at the names around you lots and lots of French influence still here from mobile to Louisiana . Bon secour, bay Minette, dauphin island, rivière du chien ( dog river), bayou la batre, bellefountaine, etc..... this is another Article about that area that’s interesting https://www.familysearch.org/service...x=ArtCtxPublic

Oh I know about the strong french history, always been in love with the french styles of Mobile. It's what made me take french in high school instead of Spanish. I just thought Creole was a localized thing only found in Louisiana

[MardiGras251]

Originally Posted by Surge0001

Oh, I know that church, went by it all the time going to school. I thought it was just regular church, didn't know it had historical significance. If I remember, there's a cemetery directly across from it, I wonder how many of those graves are of Creoles

Yup buried there and throughout the area. You know race mixing was really frowned upon back then so a lot of the history was kept on the DL. To me this area is just as significant as the plateau, magazine, and africatown area.

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by Surge0001

very interesting had no idea there was creole history in Mobile, I guess like everything else NOLA tends to covet the history, looks like I need to head back to the New Orleans vs Mobile CvC thread and point a couple more things out lol

You didn't know that?! What ?? Lol. The first volunteer fire company in the state and one of the oldest in the south was started by Alabama Creoles. The excelsior band was started by Creoles. They also were rooted in North Mobile County as well.

The Basilica downtown has a lot of early creole history as well as sure names.

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by MardiGras251

Yup buried there and throughout the area. You know race mixing was really frowned upon back then so a lot of the history was kept on the DL. To me this area is just as significant as the plateau, magazine, and africatown area.

I completely agree !!! It's a very unique ethnic group that is only found in one part of the U.S. O'm sure her grandmother know a little Creole French.

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by MardiGras251

Yup buried there and throughout the area. You know race mixing was really frowned upon back then so a lot of the history was kept on the DL. To me this area is just as significant as the plateau, magazine, and africatown area.

I completely agree !!! It's a very unique ethnic group that is only found in one part of the U.S. I'm sure her grandmother know a little Creole French.

[evlb401]

What I love about creole is that it is not locked to a certain race or specific culture. White, black, mixed race. There are all kinds of creole populations in the Americas. Spanish, French, Portuguese, English, and even Russian creoles up in Alaska. While the French creole culture has really faded here, it is alive in a lot of the Caribbean.

[natedoggbry]

Do y’all think that all the interest in developing Africatown as a tourist destination will actually come to fruition? Feels like the city and county keep doing stuff to try and draw in tourists and it’s middling at best. Like the gulfquest museum hasn’t been a big draw like they hoped. Do y’all believe all the city and county funded projects in Africatown to develop it as a tourist destination will flounder or pay off?

[Surge0001]

Originally Posted by natedoggbry

Do y’all think that all the interest in developing Africatown as a tourist destination will actually come to fruition? Feels like the city and county keep doing stuff to try and draw in tourists and it’s middling at best. Like the gulfquest museum hasn’t been a big draw like they hoped. Do y’all believe all the city and county funded projects in Africatown to develop it as a tourist destination will flounder or pay off?

I think it will be much more successful than Gulf Quest. Will we suddenly get 1 million more visitors a year, big no. I think it will benefit tourism more indirectly because it increases the list of attractions. People wanna explore for more than a day and Africatown will help that list by adding more.



I like the idea of a triple threat tour around downtown. I think a great tour would be one that starts Downtown, next goes to Africatown, and finally finishes at the USS Alabama (or the other way around). My idea for the tour Downtown, is something like the mini-Mardi Gras that the city was talking about doing either just before or the very beginning of the Pandemic. I feel this would be very fun thing to do and you experience like 150 years of history that isn't repetitive knowledge. You could get Gulf Quest involved by having it be the meeting point for the tours, so people are kinda forced to explore the building while waiting for tours to start