Battles fought and lessons learned. Our coastal forts and military-themed attractions provide a step back in time while giving us guidance for the future.
USS Alabama Battleship in Mobile Bay.
Mobile
The Fort of Colonial Mobile, formerly Fort Conde guarded Mobile from 1723 to 1820. It was built by the French to defend against British or Spanish attack. Today, the Fort offers a shooting gallery, self-guided museum tour and armory.
At the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park sits the USS Alabama Battleship and USS Drum, the oldest American submarine, where you get up close and personal with giant battleship guns and life as a soldier on a battleship and submarine. Here, you can also explore a B-52 Bomber, a famous WWII submarine or a flight simulator at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
Eastern Shore
Fort McDermott Confederate Memorial Park in Spanish Fort guarded the East approach to Mobile. The area has been preserved and is accessible to the public to explore.
Tour the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort. Dedicated as a final resting place for Alabama veterans, this cemetery will provide honor, dignity and response that veterans have earned through their service and sacrifice while defending our nation’s freedom.
Visit Blakely State Park, where you can explore a historic Civil War Battlefield while enjoying a rare and compatible combination of multiple historic sites nestled in pristine woodlands along the famously-diverse and beautiful Tensaw River.
North Baldwin
Visit historic Fort Mims and Red Eagle’s Grave or any number of historical sites on Alabama Highway 59 in Stockton.
The Battle at Fort Mims occurred in 1813 during the Creek War, when a force of Creek Indians, belonging to the “Red Sticks” faction under the command of head warriors Peter McQueen and William Weatherford, or Lamochattee (Red Eagle), stormed the fort and defeated the militia garrison. The fort was a stockade with a blockhouse surrounding the house and outbuildings of the settler Samuel Mims.
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach
Explore a Third System masonry fort built between 1819 and 1833 when you visit Fort Morgan at the very end of the Fort Morgan Peninsula. Standing guard where the bay meets the Gulf of Mexico, the fort played a significant role in the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864, where Union and Rebel troops launched a heated battle of the American Civil War. Fort Morgan was also used intermittently through the Spanish American War, World War I and World War II. The fort is located near the Mobile Bay Ferry.
South Mobile
Step back in time as you visit Historic Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island. Observe where the American Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay was fought and Admiral David G. Farragut famously declared, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” While here, you can watch a blacksmith in action and see how the soldiers lived.
