Old Mobile

Mobile has tons of beautiful old homes. Most of the homes are located downtown. There are over 100 homes/buildings on the National Historic Registry in Mobile, and probably three times more than that, that are not registered. Some of the homes are mind blowing. Each old home has an amazing story to tell. Historians around these parts can tell you everything about these homes, who built them. what they did etc. There are many interesting stories about these homes from the Civil War. Lots of them were used as make shift hospitals for wounded soldiers. If walls could talk, these houses would have a lot to say.

These photo were taken my senior year of college with 35mm. I wasn't lucky enough to have a digital camera then. All images are scanned in.

Just from living here all my life, I gathered a lot of info from just looking at these houses. Most all of them a Spanish, French, or Colonial style....with a few Queen Anne's thrown in. Everything about these houses is done a certain way for reason. Example: Every porch on older homes was always painted light blue. Owners believed that if they painted the ceiling under the porches blue, that wasps would not build nests there (they would think it was the sky). Still to this day a lot of people in the South paint theirs light blue...just an Old South thing. Most of the grand houses sit on Government Street. They are big and bold. I can only imagine the more wealthy lived on Government Street. Dauphin Street has a lot of nice homes as well, but they are not a grand as the ones a few streets over (but I would have any of them). All of the houses you see here are on Government St., and Dauphin St. The historic district is comprised of several areas. Government St. is part of the Historic Oakleigh Garden District. Dauphin St. is part of Lower Dauphin Historic District and Old Dauphin Way District. These district cover an expansive area.

Every day 100's of people drive down these busy thorough fares and never take the time to look at these magnificent homes. I however, am usually the one running off the road trying to look at them! No matter how many times I go downtown, I am still blown away. I always manage to see a house that I have never seen before.

Every Spring and Christmas several of these homes are on the Historic District Garden Tour, or the Historic Christmas Tour of Homes. It is really a sight to see. (slide show of this at the bottom)

These homes have certain building codes to abide by since they are on the Historic Registry. They are only allowed to use certain colors, and those colors must be approved by the board. They are very particular about what they can and cannot do. I feel otherwise. I know members of this board, and some of the things they make home owners do is asinine. If you want fiberglass columns...go for it, but no, the board wants to them to have real wood. Termites people...ever heard of them. It is a wonder that the termites haven't eaten every one of these houses up. We like to refer to the Historical Society as the Hysterical Society.

So here are a few of the hundreds of beautiful homes in downtown Mobile. I do not know the names of all of them, but they all have names. They are generally named after the people that built them. Hope you enjoy them Bragg Mitchell Mansion is a popular pick for weddings

I like this green one...they did something different and didn't follow the crowd!

This is the Tacon-Tissington-Barfield Mansion, built in 1901. This one...is my all time favorite. I have been in this home and it is UNREAL. It is a true Queen Anne. What a beauty she is.

You can go to this website http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/558210253pVFLtl?start=0 for a great photo album of the Home & Garden Tour from 2007. The Tacon-Tissington-Barfield mansion is on the tour.