Fort Conde-Charlotte

About this property

Fort Charlotte, Mobile (French: Fort Condé de la Mobille and Spanish: Fuerte Carlota de Mobila) is a partially-reconstructed 18th-century fort in Mobile, Alabama. The ships of the original French settlers, sailing to Old Biloxi in 1699, and later transfers, were staged through Dauphin Island (south of Mobile Bay, which was not dredged for larger ships until many years later). Mobile was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1702 as Fort Louis de la Louisiane at 27-Mile Bluff up river (27 miles [43 km] from the mouth). After the Mobile River flooded and damaged the fort, Mobile was relocated in 1711 to the current site. A temporary wooden stockade fort was constructed, also named Fort Louis after the old fort up river. In 1723, construction of a new brick fort with a stone foundation began, renamed later as Fort Condé in honor of Louis Henri de Bourbon, duc de Bourbon and prince de Condé. The fort guarded Mobile and its citizens for almost 100 years, from 1723 to 1820. The fort had been built by the French to defend against British or Spanish attack on the strategic location of Mobile and its Bay as a port to the Gulf of Mexico, on the easternmost part of the French Louisiana colony. The strategic importance of Mobile and its fort was significant: the fort protected access into the strategic region between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic colonies along the Alabama River and Tombigbee River. The fort and its surrounding buildings covered about 11 acres (4.5 ha) of land. It was constructed of local brick and stone, with earthen dirt walls, plus cedar wood. A crew of 20 black slaves and 5 white workmen performed original work on the fort. If the fort had been reconstructed full-size, it would cover large sections of Royal Street, Government Boulevard, Church, St. Emanuel, and Theatre Streets downtown. The Fort Conde Village neighborhood, which now includes the Conde–Charlotte House historical museum, was constructed during the 1820s and 1830s within the southern bastions of the original fort. During 1763 to 1780, Britain was in possession of the region, and the fort was renamed in honor of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. From 1780 to 1813, Spain ruled the region, and the fort was renamed Fuerte Carlota. In 1813, Mobile was occupied by United States troops, and the fort was renamed again as Fort Charlotte. In 1820, Congress authorized its sale and removal because it was no longer needed for defense. Later, city funds paid for the demolition to allow for new streets to be built eastward towards the river and southward. By late 1823, most of the above-ground traces were gone, leaving only underground structures.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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