E. O. Wilson’s Mobile Roots: The Young Naturalist Who Studied Ants
E. O. Wilson spent formative years in Mobile, where a fascination with ants and South Alabama’s natural world preceded a landmark scientific career.
Mobile Comic Creator Scott O. Brown Launches ‘LA Stories’ Local History Anthology
Mobile native Scott O. Brown, a comics industry veteran with more than a decade of experience as a writer, letterer, publisher, editor and production manager, is turning his hometown’s rich…
Today in Mobile History: Soul Singer O.V. Wright Died at Providence Hospital in 1980
On November 16, 1980, Southern soul singer Overton Vertis “O.V.” Wright died at Providence Hospital in Mobile after collapsing outside the hospital’s doors. He was 41 years old. The death…
Mobile-Born Inventor Lonnie Johnson Pursued Heat-to-Electricity Research
A 2010 archive report on Mobile-born inventor Lonnie Johnson, the Super Soaker and his early heat-to-electricity research, with historical context and fact checks.
The Killing of Saraland’s First Mayor: How a 1958 Corruption Fight Set the Stage for Murder — Part I
Saraland’s first mayor, Oscar Leon Driver, was found dead outside his home on July 6, 1958, in a killing that would come to be tied to a bitter power struggle…
Mobile History: The Story Behind Festorazzis Coffee Saloon on Royal Street
Long before coffee shops became a fixture of nearly every American downtown, Mobile had one that locals considered without equal: Festorazzis Coffee Saloon, a Royal Street institution that opened in…
In 2010, ThyssenKrupp Began Operations at Its Mobile County Steel Complex
An archival look at the 2010 startup of ThyssenKrupp's Calvert steel complex, the jobs and investment then projected, and the later changes that reshaped the facility.
How an Early Internet Project Preserved a Snapshot of Downtown Mobile Around 2000
Long before Google Street View, an independent website called WalkaboutCity.com set out to let visitors “be there before you get there” in downtown Mobile, quietly building one of the earliest…
Inside the Conde-Charlotte House, One of Downtown Mobile’s Most Layered Historic Landmarks
Tucked near Fort Conde in downtown Mobile, the Conde-Charlotte Museum House stands as one of the city’s most layered historic properties, with a past that stretches from the colonial era…
How a Spanish Treasurer Named Eslava Left His Mark on Mobile’s Streets
Miguel Eslava served as royal treasurer and customs collector in Spanish colonial Mobile in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and his family's name still marks streets, a creek, and…