Mobile County Helps Unearth Old Mobile

Posted on: Feb 8th, 2010 | News and Announcements

An archeological preservation site has been established by the Mobile County Commission at the location known generally as Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff, preserving the land and its artifacts that tell the story of the French settlement of Old Mobile in 1702. The site has been referred to as the French colonial counterpart to the English settlement at Jamestown, VA. ?The conservancy will protect the historical artifacts on that land in perpetuity,? said Commissioner Merceria Ludgood, who represents the area in north Mobile County. ?This site holds priceless historical treasures that link us to our past.? Mobile County commissioners had voted to preserve approximately 20 acres of riverfront property by donating the land as an archeological easement to the Archaeological Conservancy, a national nonprofit conservation organization. The site served as the first capital of the French colony of Louisiana, founded by French Canadian brothers Pierre Le Moyne d?Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. ?The reason most tourists come to Mobile is because of our historical facilities and the fact that we?re famous for being the first capital of nearly half of the United States,? said Jay Higgenbotham, retired director of the Mobile Municipal Archives. ?We have a fine prospect now for preserving our history.? Helping to unearth the past will be the University of South Alabama?s Center for Archeological Studies, which has been working at the site since 1989. The county?s preservation site adds to the land at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff that will be perpetually available to scholars for excavation. ?I?m thrilled about it,? said Dr. Gregory Waselkov, director of USA?s Center for Archeological Studies. ?My colleagues and I had been concerned about the long-term preservation of the Old Mobile site.? The locations of more than eight buildings have already been excavated by the university. Many more building sites have been located including the fort that once served as the center of the military, political and religious community of the French settlers. Joy Klotz, long a local champion of historical preservation and the former president of Friends of Old Mobile, was also thrilled by the news of a new preservation site. DuPont, a former owner at the historical site, had already donated its land to the Conservancy, leaving Mobile County and Alabama Power Co., as the remaining landowners. ?I am beside myself with delight,? said Klotz about the county?s donation. ?This is absolutely fabulous. In first place, that is the first French colony in what?s now the U.S. It is also the original site of Mobile. It?s the first capital of the entire Louisiana Purchase. And it?s just incredible archeologically speaking.? The Old Mobile site was designated a national historic landmark in 2001.