Mobile Tricentennial

Jan 18th, 2002

On October 18th, 1994, the Mobile City Council unanimously adopted a resolution sponsored by Mayor Michael C. Dow and Councilmember Vivian Figures recognizing the Mobile Tricentennial Planning Committee. Several U.S. cities have already celebrated their 300th anniversary, among them New York, Philadelphia and Boston. These celebrations took place early in the 20th century. Now Mobile will begin the 21st century with her own exciting event-filled celebration.

Mobile, as one of America's oldest cities and the oldest west of the Appalachian Mountains, has much to celebrate. No other vicinity in the United States has as vivid a history as does Mobile Bay. Not only does Mobile have a rich Native American culture, but also a dramatic place in Spanish conquest history, as explorers and conquistadors such as Pineda, Cabeza de Vaca, Hernando de Soto and Tristan de Luna sailed into or near the bay. The first great colonization epoch of what is now the United States took place here during the years 1559-61, and every effort thereafter has witnessed Mobile's heavy participation. Beginning with the establishment of Mobile as the first capital of French Louisiana and including the Revolutionary War and the Civil War, Mobile has played an important role in most phases of American history.

Mobile's colorful past is not yet widely known to the rest of the United States. The opportunity to change all that is steadily approaching, and the moment will not catch us by surprise. Numerous local citizens have been quietly but methodically planning for the great event since 1994.