mōbēlˈ, mōˈbēlˌ, city (1990 pop. 196,278), seat of Mobile co., SW Ala., at the head of Mobile Bay and at the mouth of the Mobile River; inc. 1814. Mobile is one of the country's major ports, the only seaport in Alabama, and the second largest city in the state. It has an important history as a shipping and shipbuilding center. The city's economy is primarily based on its oil refineries and industries that produce paper, textiles, aluminum, and chemicals. After the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway was completed in 1984, connecting N Mississippi's Tennessee River with the Tombigbee River in W Alabama and providing access to the Gulf of Mexico, Mobile enjoyed a boon to downtown business growth and redevelopment. The site of Mobile was founded in 1710 by the sieur de Bienville. It was the capital of French Louisiana from 1710–19. The British held it from 1763 to 1780, when Bernardo de Gálvez took it for Spain. Mobile was seized for the Americans by Gen. James Wilkinson in 1813. During the Civil War, ships from Mobile evaded the Union blockade until Admiral Farragut's victory at Mobile Bay (1864); Gen. E. R. S. Canby captured the city in Apr., 1865. Mobile has many beautiful antebellum homes and magnificent gardens. Also noteworthy are a Roman Catholic cathedral, the city hall (1858), and Marine Hospital (1842). Of historical interest are the homes of Admiral Raphael Semmes and Gen. Braxton Bragg, the headquarters of Gen. Canby, and forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance to Mobile Bay. Mobile is the seat of Spring Hill College (the oldest in the state), Mobile College, and the Univ. of South Alabama. Brookley Air Force Base, a Coast Guard station, and a Coast Guard aviation training center are there. The colorful annual Mardi Gras was begun in the early 1700s; the Azalea Trail Festival dates from 1929. The Bankhead Tunnel lies under the Mobile River.

See C. Donelson, Mobile: Sunbelt Center of Opportunity (1986).

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