The city gained its name from the Mobile tribe that European colonists encountered living in the area of Mobile Bay.
The European settlement of Mobile began with French colonists in 1702, was ceded to Britain in 1763, and finally captured by Spain in 1780. The Spanish held the city until the War of 1812, when it was seized by the United States.
In 1703, 15 years before New Orleans was even founded, French settlers in Mobile, Alabama established the first organized Mardi Gras celebration in what was to become the United States.
Surprisingly, the West Indies Salad was invented in Mobile, Alabama and not in the West Indies. A variation of crab meat ceviche featuring lump blue crab meat, diced sweet white onions, and cider vinegar, it is still a regional seafood delicacy enjoyed today.
In Alabama's history, many flags have flown over the state. Six of these flags have flown over Mobile, giving the city its nickname, "The City of Six Flags".
For years, parade participants threw boxes and even cases of Moon Pies, arguing the individual treats just get dropped, smushed, and wasted. In fact, Moon Pies have become such an icon of Mobile that a 12-foot version of the cookie drops from one of the city's tallest buildings every New Year's Eve.
The USS Alabama was decommissioned in 1947 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet, where she remained until 1962 when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. A campaign by Mobile schoolchildren to save the ship from the breakers' yard succeeded in raising the necessary funds to relocate the Alabama to Mobile Bay.
Mobile was founded in 1702 by the French as the first capital of Louisiana. The seat of government moved to Biloxi in 1720, leaving Mobile to serve as a regional military and trading center until 1817, when it was included in the Alabama Territory.
During the American Civil War, the Confederate ship H. L. Hunley became the first combat submarine to sink a warship (USS Housatonic), although the Hunley was lost along with her crew before she could return to base.
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