The Port of Mobile, the State of Alabama's only seaport, lies on Mobile Bay off the United States' shores on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mobile River. This river port is about 85 kilometers northeast of the Port of Biloxi, Mississippi, and some 95 kilometers northwest of the Port of Pensacola, Florida. North America's Mardi Gras was born in the Port of Mobile, Alabama's third largest city. In 2000, the Port of Mobile was home to almost 199 thousand people, and over 540 thousand people lived in the Port of Mobile metropolitan area.

Industrializing after the early 20th Century, the Port of Mobile was an important ship-building and -repair center during World War II, and it continues to be a center for that industry. The Port of Mobile is also home to manufacturers of paper products, apparel, chemicals, computer hardware and software, and aircraft parts. The city's major industries are construction, aerospace, manufacturing, medicine, and services. The major service industries in the Port of Mobile are education, government, and healthcare. Oil and natural gas taken from the Gulf of Mexico are also important to the local economy.

Named after the indigenous Mobilian tribe of Mobile Bay, the Port of Mobile was a colony of France, Britain, and then Spain during its first century. The Port of Mobile was the first capital of French Louisiana in 1702 when it was called Fort Louis de la Louisiane.

The Port of Mobile's founders were French Canadian brothers to establish control over French Louisiana's claims. The Mobile Roman Catholic parish was created in 1703, and it was the first parish established on the Gulf Coast of the United States.

In 1704, yellow fever arrived at the new Port of Mobile aboard the Pelican. While the French women that it carried mostly survived, the yellow fever killed many colonists and Native Americans. During this period, the first African slaves arrived as well. By 1712, about 400 people lived in the new colony. In 1720 when the capital of Louisiana was moved to Biloxi, the Port of Mobile continued to be a trade and military center. In 1723, a new brick Fort Conde replaced the old fort.

The Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War in 1763, and it ceded the Port of Mobile territory to Great Britain. The British made it part of their West Florida colony and changed the name of Fort Conde to Fort Charlotte after King George III's queen, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Eager to keep as many productive inhabitants as possible, the British promised religious freedom to the French residents of the Port of Mobile. Jewish residents were attracted by the policy of religious tolerance (the French had not tolerated any but Catholics). The new Jewish residents were largely merchants and traders, and they helped the Port of Mobile's commercial development.

By 1766, about 860 people lived in the Port of Mobile. Then during the American Revolution, the West Florida colony and the Port of Mobile were a refuge for British loyalists escaping the rebelling colonies.

The Spanish Empire in the New World wanted to remove the British threat to their colony in Louisiana (won from the French by the Treaty of Paris), and they captured the Port of Mobile in 1780. The Spanish renamed the fort Fortaleza Carlota, and they made the Port of Mobile a part of West Florida. It remained under Spanish control until 1813 when it was taken by the United States during the War of 1812.

In 1813, the Port of Mobile was part of the Mississippi Territory. Its population had shrunk to about 300. When Mississippi gained statehood in 1817, the Port of Mobile became part of the Alabama Territory. By 1819 when Alabama won statehood, over 800 people lived in the Port of Mobile. Farmers had settled the riverfront areas, and the southern plantation economy was well established. Statehood brought a boom in population growth.

The growing Port of Mobile attracted doctors, attorneys, merchants, mechanics, and many others wanting to take advantage of the busy upriver trade. By 1822, the city was home to almost 3000 people.

After the 1820s, the Port of Mobile grew as a commercial center, particularly due to the brisk cotton trade. The waterfront gained wharves, terminals, and warehouses. By 1840, the Port of Mobile was outstripped in United States' cotton exports only by the Port of New Orleans. Mobile's economy was based on cotton, and its fortunes were tied to the cotton crops. It was also the center for slave trade until the 1850s.

By 1860, almost 30 thousand free people lived in the Port of Mobile. A scant 1785 people owned more than 11 thousand slaves in the Port of Mobile, bringing the county's population to over 41 thousand. The Port of Mobile was a Confederate city during the American Civil War. The first submarine to sink an enemy ship was built in the Port of Mobile.

In 1864, the Union took the Port of Mobile in the Battle of Mobile Bay. In order to avoid the destruction that other southern cities had suffered, the city surrendered to the Union just three days after General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomatox Courthouse. Despite that caution, a federal ammunition depot exploded in Mobile in 1865, killing about 300 people, sinking ships docked in the river, and destroying the northern part of the city.

The post-Civil War Reconstruction of the Port of Mobile lasted from the end of the war until 1874 when local Democrats won the city government. In the last decades of the 19th Century, the Port of Mobile suffered economic depression and insolvency like many other southern cities.

The 20th Century brought new economic and population growth to the Port of Mobile. By 1920, about 60 thousand people lived there. In the first decades of the 20th Century, the Port of Mobile and the harbor were improved. The shipping channels were deepened, and new port infrastructure was added.

Manufacturing, ship-building, and steel production became important to the city's economy during and after World War I. However, racial relations deteriorated over the same period. The first segregation ordinance was passed to segregate streetcars in the Port of Mobile in 1902, bringing a two-month unsuccessful boycott by the city's black population. Over the following decades, de facto segregation was replaced by formal Jim Crow laws.

The Port of Mobile's shipyards and the Brookley Army Air Field brought tremendous growth during World War II, as workers came to join the war effort. Almost 90 thousand people moved to the Port of Mobile between 1940 and 1943. The Port of Mobile was one of 18 cities in the United States that produced Liberty ships. Its Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company made war ships faster than the Axis could sink them. The Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation constructed freighters, destroyers, and minesweepers.

After World War II, ship-building in the Port of Mobile took a back seat to the paper and chemical industries, and most of the old military bases were closed. After having served the war effort, African Americans began to press for social justice and equal rights in the Port of Mobile. Although more moves toward integration had taken place in the Port of Mobile than in other southern cities, the black minority was not satisfied.

In 1963, the Mobile County School Board was sued by three black students for denial of admission to Murphy High School. The following year, the court ordered the students' admission, and the desegregation of the Port of Mobile's county school system began as the end of legal segregation in the country came with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

When Brookley Air Force Base was closed in the late 1960s, the Port of Mobile's economy felt the blow. The city entered a decade-long era of economic depression. In the 1980s, the city took on a new initiative to make the Port of Mobile a more competitive city. They built new facilities, undertook municipal projects, and restored many historic homes and buildings. Violent crimes decreased, and new businesses began to move into the city. Ship-building began anew in 1999 when Austal USA was founded in the Port of Mobile.

The Alabama State Port Authority (ASPA) is responsible for managing the Port of Mobile. The Port of Mobile covers an area of almost 1.7 thousand hectares including the main complex, McDuffie Island, Choctaw Point, inland docks (187 hectares), and other port sites.

The Port of Mobile contains 37 berths and over 37 hectares of warehouse and open yards. The channel for the Port of Mobile is 13.7 meters deep to the tunnels and 12.2 meters deep in the river harbor. The Port of Mobile is served by the Terminal Railway (TASD) with 75 miles of track, 247 freight cars, and eight locomotives.

In 2008, the ASPA welcomed 859 vessels into the Port of Mobile carrying 28.1 million tons of cargo, including 129.1 thousand TEUs. Port-wide, some 1295 vessels called at the Port of Mobile. The primary imports in 2008 included containers, coal, iron and steel, aluminum, copper, lumber and woodpulp, plywood, veneers, fence posts, paper, cement, and chemicals. Major exports through the Port of Mobile included containers, coal, plywood, lumber, woodpulp, laminate, flooring, paper, iron and steel, frozen poultry, chemicals, and soybeans.

There are 19 ASPA or state docks terminals in the Port of Mobile in addition to the privately owned and operated facilities. The Port of Mobile is served by four railroads: BNSF Railway, CSX Intermodal, Canadian National/Illinois Central Gulf, and Norfolk Southern Railway. The ASPA Main Docks Complex serves breakbulk, bulk, and project cargoes.

The new state-of-the-art Port of Mobile Container Terminal opened in 2008. This joint venture between the ASPA and Mobile Container Terminal LLC, which operates the terminal, brings the Port of Mobile's container capacity to 800 thousand TEUs.

There are 28 general cargo/intermodal berths in the Port of Mobile that handle almost equal volumes of imports (51%) and exports (49%). In 2007, these berths handled over 3.3 million tons of cargo. They are complemented by an 8.5-hectare container yard, a freezer terminal, a rail-ferry terminal, and a roll-on/roll-off ramp. The major cargoes handled at these berths include containers, iron and steel, woodpulp, copper, aluminum, lumber, linerboard, paper, and frozen poultry.

The Bulk Material Handling Plant in the Port of Mobile handles coal imports. In 2007, it handled 3 million tons of cargo. The plant has ground storage capacity for 400 thousand tons and covered storage capacity for 100 thousand tons. The plant has two berths totaling 476.7 meters with alongside depth of 12.2 meters.

The Port of Mobile's McDuffie Coal Terminal is the largest import terminal in the United States. Handling 18.5 million tons of cargo in 2008, it has ground capacity for 2.3 million tons and annual throughput capacity for 30 million tons. The terminal contains three berths.

The Port of Mobile's Marine Liquid Bulk Terminal at Theodore has a 335.3 meter long pier. Its ship berth on the east offers alongside depth of 12.2 meters, and its barge berth on the west offers alongside depth of 4.3 meters. In 2007, the terminal handled a total of 1.2 million tons of cargo. The Mobile Middle Bay Port at Theodore covers almost 81 hectares and includes a 182.9 meter finger pier with alongside depth of 11 meters.

The Pinto Island Terminal is the newest ASPA investment in the Port of Mobile. Expected to open in 2010, the 8.1-hectare terminal will have annual capacity for over five million tons of semi-finished steel slap. It will include about 305 meters of deep-water dock dredged to 13.7 meters, and it will be equipped with an automated barge-loading system. Each of the terminal's three cranes has an outreach of 45.7 meters and a backreach of 50.3 meters. The terminal storage yard will have capacity for 150 metric tons of cargo.

The Port of Mobile's inland docks cover a total area of 189.4 hectares. They are located at Phenix City (44.5 hectares), Tuscaloosa-Northport (27.5 hectares), Cordova (24.3 hectares), Columbia (23.9 hectares), Claiborne (21.9 hectares), Selma (15.0 hectares), Montgomery (12.9 hectares), Demopolis (6.5 hectares), Bridgeport (5.7 hectares), Eufaula (5.3 hectares), and Axis (2.0 hectares).

The City of Mobile is proud to offer a rich history and heritage as well as many modern attractions and adventures for visitors. The Port of Mobile boasts delicious fresh seafood, romantic delta excursions, beautiful beaches, interesting museums, world-class golf courses, and many fascinating historic homes. Visitors enjoy the relaxed coastal lifestyle and a wonderful waterfront area that is home to the country's newest cruise terminal. For information on the many attractions and activities available to visitors to the Port of Mobile, please visit the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Center's website.

The Port of Mobile enjoys the mild subtropical climate of the northern Gulf of Mexico with hot humid summers and mild wet winters. The Port of Mobile may be the wettest city in the lower 48 states, receiving about 170 centimeters of rainfall over 59 days each year. The last snow fell in 1996. The Port of Mobile is sometimes hit by tropical storms or hurricanes. In 1979, Hurricane Frederic caused tremendous damage to the city, and the city suffered significant damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Temperatures range from an average high of 33 °C (91 °F) in July and August to an average low of 4 °C (40 °F) in January. Rainfall is fairly consistent throughout the year.

History buffs will enjoy visiting the Port of Mobile's Fort Conde, a recreation of the original 1723 fort built by the French. The fort protected the city for almost a century when the city was a colony of France, Great Britain, and Spain.

One of the Port of Mobile's most popular attractions is the Bellingrath Gardens in Theodore. This 26-hectare garden estate is open all year. Originally intended to be a fishing camp, Bessie Bellingrath made it a showplace with gardens of azaleas and camellias modeled after the European gardens she admired during her travels. She added fountains and waterfalls framed by English flagstone walkways. In 1932, the Bellingraths invited the public to visit the gardens, and over five thousand residents came to see what they called "Belle Camp." Police were called out to direct traffic. The Bellingraths were so overwhelmed by the response that they opened the gardens for the general public. Today, the Bellingrath Gardens feature many flowering plants throughout the year. They include a rose garden, a conservatory, a butterfly garden, the great lawn, fountain plaza, terraces, the riverfront, a rockery, boardwalk, a small lake, and an Asian American garden.

The Bellingraths built an over 10-thousand square foot, 15-room home on the grounds in 1935 when they realized that the gardens would need close supervision. Created with bricks from the 1852 birthplace of Alva Smith Vanderbilt Belmont and ironwork from a grand Mobile hotel, the Bellingrath Home was complemented by flagstone terraces, a slate roof, a central courtyard, and many balconies in grand southern style. Giving the impression of a more modest residence than a mansion, the home has a guest house and garage and contains a wonderful collection of Boehm Porcelain as well as the original furnishings and decorative items. The home is open for tours each day. Curing Christmas the tours are extended, and the house is beautifully decorated for the season. Of special note are the sterling silver and European porcelain collections.

While visiting the Bellingrath Gardens and Home, visitors enjoy the 45-minute river cruise on the Southern Belle River Cruiser that takes a leisurely journey along the Fowl River where visitors can see native wildlife and birds as well as get a great view of the Bellingrath Home. The cruiser also offers public and private dinner cruises and private charters.

In 1703, the Port of Mobile became the first known American city to have a Mardi Gras celebration. Today, it is home to "America's Family Mardi Gras." People come to enjoy the two-and-a-half week celebration when the streets of downtown Mobile are filled with marching bands, floats, and crowds. While the celebrations ended with the Civil War, they began again in 1866 when Joseph Stillwell Cain decided to raise the city's spirits by donning a costume and holding a one-float parade. Now, he is remembered every year on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, called the "people's day," when revelers decorate anything they can handle and join the Joe Cain Procession.

Travelers who want to visit the Port of Mobile by sea can find a list of scheduled cruises on the Cruise Compete website.