Yesterday's News, "Today in History" Reprinted from Mobile Register, and other
media. Following are "snippets" of the history of Dauphin Island
and the lower Mobile Bay area, as taken from the Mobile Register normally
found on page 2A, other publications and sources. (History editor's note: I have been saving these for
years and reprinted at this location for those interested.)
Use of this material is for educadtional purposes only!
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Tuesday, March 6, 1906, After a troubled
nine-day voyage from Bocas del Toro to Mobile, the Norwegian steamer Fort
Gaines, with Captain Jellum at the helm reached Mobile March 5. The "circular
pump" kept breaking down, although hey were blessed by good weather, the
captain said. The vessel carried 26,000 bunches of bananas and three passengers,
Messrs, W. E. Turner, Carl Friese and Carl Locliger, who presented the
captain a testimonial to his abilities and ingenuity, upon their arrival
in Mobile. (Editor's note: the vessel was named in honor of the Fort located
on the east end of Dauphin Island)
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Sunday, March 18, 1906 - Every vessel that was anchored
in the lower bay for the past week waiting for favorable weather and winds
to go to sea, took advantage of the norther that came out Friday, and
those who witnessed their sailing below state it was a sight worth seeing
as the sixteen vessels went to sea. They comprised barks, three-masted
schooners and also a few steamers, and when they crossed the outer bar
it was but a few hours until they were out of site.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Neils Nilsen** Awarded -- 21 May 1906 - On 1 December 1905,
Neils Nilsen, keeper of the Sand Island Light Station, and a man named
Harlan Hansen were going in a small sailboat from the light station to
Fort Morgan, AL. Hansen fell overboard. Abandoning the boat, Nilsen went
to Hansen's assistance and swam with him to the shore, nearly a mile distant.
Hansen died, however, before Nilsen reached land.
Taken from US Coast Guard archives-30-
Thursday, July 19, 1906 - When the signal is given from
the Ouatchiouan by Commodore F. G. Merrill this morning the following
yachts will weigh anchor for the first annual cruise: Falcon, in command
of Captain J. C. Bush, vice-commodore: Princess, Captain La Baron Lyons,
fleet Captain; Scimitar in command of Captain D. R. Dunlap. These vessels
will be manned by picked crews from members of the Mobile Yacht Club.
To-night they will rendezvous at a point off Dauphin Island, where they
will lay until in the morning.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Wednesday, August 1, 1906 - About 4:30 the Norwegian steamer
Espana arrived up to the fruit wharf (Editor's note: Mobile, AL) with
only master, engineer and the pilot. She was brought close enough to the
docks to enable a few men to board her and handle lines, and after a few
minutes' delay she was docked safely at the wharf and started to discharging
her cargo….Captain Harry Murray, pilot, stated that the steamer arrived
in the lower bay at noon and that he boarded her off Sand Island; that
it was so rough outside and such heavy seas on the bar that the pilot
boat was unable to get out.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Monday, August 27,1906 - The master of the barkentine Arthenia
reports that on Sunday, August 19, when about 200 miles off Mobile Bar
Sand Island Light, he spoke (with the crew of) the three-masted with all
hands on board sick with fever. They reported the captain had died and
was buried at sea, and that those of the crew that were well enough were
trying to make Mobile light. She was bound to Scranton, Miss., her home
port. This schooner is owned .. by Messrs. Dantzlers Bros., and they have
sent the tug Dantzler to look for her and, if possible, bring her into
port.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
(Editor's note: I couldn't resist reprinting this item)
Mon, Sept. 24, 1906 - Last night at 8:46 o'clock a meteor of unusual brilliance
appeared in the eastern sky, half way between the horizon and Zenith.
Its course was from north to south, parallel to the horizon. It was pear-shaped
and of clear white color, making a light that cast a shadow. It left a
trail of fire behind it through its whole course.
Gasoline prices took a 2-cent reduction yesterday, bringing the price
of high test fuel to 22 ½ cents per gallon and standard gasoline to 19
½ cents.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
NOTE: The unnamed hurricane of 1906 crossed Dauphin Island
Thursday, September 27, 1906. Look for details in the Hurricane section
of these archives.
Monday, May 6, 1907 - Dauphin Island - The oyster season
will close here on the 10th. Large freight schooners from Biloxi and other
western ports have purchases load after load of the local product. This
much appreciated by the oystermen as the two canning industries of this
state were ruined by the gale last September.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Friday, January 10, 1908 - One of the first steps towards
the deepening of our waterways, and one in which Mobile is particularly
interested, has been taken by Dr. H.B. Rockwell. Thought his instrumentality,
active measures have been started to deepen the channel through Grant's
Pass. (historic editor's note: Pass was just north of Dauphin Island,
at the north end of the present bridge) This little isthmus is the connecting
link between Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound, and by deepening the channel
to nine feet there will be opened up the "inside passage" between Mobile
and New Orleans, and will render navigation between these two cities safe
and practical.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Sunday, February 9, 1908 - Mobile pilots promise to figure
materially in a fight on the halls of congress against the passage of
Representative Littlefield's bill to abolish pilotage on all coastwise
vessels in the county. A New York pilot is in Mobile for the purpose of
gathering data to use against the bill. (History editor's note: The Mobile
Bar Pilots set up operations on Dauphin Island in 1965. Following Hurricane
Katrina in 2005, the Pilots rebuilt new pilot's housing and separate quarters
for the boat captains and engineer quarters.)
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Tuesday, March 2, 1906 - Falling from the pier at Fort Gaines in
some mysteriour manner, Max Burg, a German employed by the contractors working
at Fort Gaines, was drowned Saturday night or early Sunday morning, his body
being brought to this city (Mobile) and interred yesterday.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Wednesday, September 29, 1909 - Frederick White, merchant and oysterman of
Dauphin Island, was in Mobile yesterday and says that the island was but little damaged by the recent storm and that
all of the vessels anchored in the harbor rode the gale without injury. The gale being from the southeast,
the sand dunes protected the habitable part of the island from the wind and waves. Mr. White
reports that the soundins in the channel show that there was more water at the entrance of the channel
that before the storm. Mr. White gave it as his opinion that the oyster season under the new law will be more
prosperous for the Dauphin Islanders than for any other season since the storm in 1906, that there were
more schooners engagerd in the trade than heretofore, and every outlook was encouraging.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
-
NOTE: The Great Miami (Florida) Storm crossed Dauphin Island
on September 21, 1926. For expanded details and pictures of the effects
on the island, see the 1926 Storm in the Hurricane section of these archives.
-
Monday, May 22, 1930 - The proposed $1,100,000 bond issue for a free bridge
to Dauphin Island would be legal despite contrary opinions expressed by
persons opposed to it authorization by the electors on June 3. It was
declared in an opinion received Tuesday by County Attorney James H. Webb
from Chapman and Cutler, Chicago bond attorneys.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
October 10, 1930 - Resumption of school work at Dauphin
Island in less than two months became unlikely at the meeting of the school
board yesterday. The board authorized steps to promptly begin to prepare
plans and obtain bids for the erection of a four-room frame building to
replace that recently destroyed by fire. Efforts to arrange for reopening
of the school in temporary quarters during the interval of construction
had been unsuccessful.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Monday, November 3, 1930 - More than seventy guests enjoyed
the boat excursion to Dauphin Island last week, which was conducted by
Captains Earl and Clyde Bryant, on their twin boats, the 'Sweetheart'
and 'Geane Bryant.' The merrymakers left Bayou La Batre about 3:30pm and
the boats were anchored at West Point, where about half of the party went
ashore and indulged in games and some went in bathing. Superintendnet
W.C. Griggs, of the Mobile County schools, was a leader in the games,
such as pop-the-whip, leap frog, etc.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Saturday, Feb. 14, 1931 - Retaining of an attorney to study
various legislative measures was discussed at the meeting yesterday of
the Mobile Real Estate association held at the Cawthon Hotel. It was decided
to employ one at an early date, one of the duties being to study the legislation
in regard to the Craft bill in connection with the erection of a bridge
to Dauphin Island and another to study matters pertaining to the sale
of the city wharf…. The association approved the idea of allowing people
to plant gardens in vacant lots during the summer.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Saturday, July 11, 1931 - A devil fish weighting approximately
1,800 pounds was caught by a party of Mobile and Bayou la Batre men near
Dauphin Island Thursday while a cameraman for the Fox news service made
films of the struggle with the monster. It took three hours to land the
big fish, and a man had to put out in a row boat to harpoon it a second
time before it was subdued and towed to shore. In the party were J. T.
Harrison, manager of the Bienville hotel; O. M. Phelps, general manager
of the Mobile chamber of commerce; J. P. Muller, New Orleans, cameraman;
Ed Zewin, secretary of the Bayou la Batre chamber of commerce and others
from Bayou la Batre. The fishing was done from the Grover Cleveland.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Monday, August 17, 1931 - In quest of the thrill that comes
from a test of science and endurance against that greatest of game fishes,
the silvery tarpon, a small army was bivouacked last night at Fort Gaines,
on the eastern end of Dauphin Island, from where a veritable fleet of
fishing craft will put off into the surrounding coastal waters early of
yesterday morning as Alabama's third annual deep sea rodeo formally opens.
Premier event of its kind in the south, the fishing rodeo has already
brought wide renown to the Alabama coast and its wealth fishing grounds,
in which fishes of many species abound.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Wednesday, August 19, 1931 - Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Geron were
among those attending the deep sea rodeo on Tuesday, inviting Mr. George
T. Stanard and Mrs. J. L. Bedsole to be members of their party, motoring
to Bayou La Batre, and there taking the steamer for Dauphin Island.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Thursday, August 20, 1931 - Fort Gaines, Dauphin Island,
Ala., - S. Palmer Gaillard, Jr., of Mobile, tonight was the proud possessor
of the prize for the first tarpon caught, a 58-pound silver king, that
was the only one landed during the third annual Alabama deep sea rodeo..
Gaillard, fishing from the Sweetheart from Bayou La Batre, battled his
tarpon for 45 minutes before he was reeled into the boat and gaffed.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Saturday, April 2, 1932 - Hopes of promoters for private
interests on Dauphin Island apparently are near realization after expenditure
of almost $1,000,000 by Mobile County in making the island accessible.
A petition seeking the right to operate a boat service from Cedar Point,
ferrying point to the island, was officially placed before the board of
revenue at its Friday meeting. The petition was filed by Frank M. Collier,
Jr., canning factory owner on the island.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Tuesday, May 10, 1932 - A ferry service to Dauphin Island
from Cedar Point probably will start shortly after August 1, the approximate
date on which County Engineer John R. Peavy expects completion of Cedar
Point road to the tip of the mainland.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Monday, July 25, 1932 - More than 250 Mobilians visited
Dauphin Island yesterday where they enjoyed surf bathing and s sea food
feast, according to a report last night by Sam Lackland. The sea food
dinner that consisted of fish, oysters, crabs and shrimp, was served by
Frank Collier, who opened a ferry service to the island yesterday from
Cedar Point. At one point there were more than 100 people in the surf,
Mr. Lackland reported. A bath house was improvised with palms and palmettos,
he said, where people changed their clothing.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Tuesday, July 26, 1932 - Object of a search by land, sea
and air, four prominent Mobilians comprising a week-end fishing party
were rescued early Monday afternoon in the open Gulf of Mexico, where
they had been tossed..for nearly 24 hours after their small speedboat
had become disabled. Those in the party- William B. Paterson, capitalist;
his son Billy; Dick Luce, general manager of the Piggly-Wiggly chair of
stores in Mobile, and Colonel Robert S. Thomas, United States district
engineer - were returned to the city on a cruiser following their escape
about four miles from Sand Island Lighthouse.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
August 17, 1932 - Schedule of the ferry service between
Cedar Point and Dauphin Island was announced Tuesday afternoon.... The
county receives five percent of the gross profits of the ferry under a
franchise contract with Frank Collier of Dauphin Island. The fare was
50 cents each way on weekdays, and 50 cents per round trip on Sundays.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Friday, Sept. 2, 1932 - With two fishermen of Mobile and
two Van Vleave, Miss, seamen missing, the tropical hurricane which swept
inland yesterday after stampeding Mobile, left a grim record in its wake.
Frank Benson, 18, after swimming thought the churning waters of Mobile
Bay to the shore, where he gave the alarm of the sinking (of the Mobile
owned schooner Live Oak), was rushed to Mobile Infirmary.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Tuesday, August 8, 1933 - A group of Mobile fishermen,
bound for Dauphin Island to participate in the annual Deep Sea Fishing
rodeo, were forced to leap overboard from their launch as it left the
foot of Eslava Street Sunday when the gasoline tank exploded. Among those
who leaped into the water to safety were Leo Bradley, Joe Holberg and
Harwell Dowell.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Saturday, October 14, 1933 - Approximately 213 delegates
to the Alabama Sheriffs and Peace Officers convention were marooned aboard
the steamer Eastern Shore about 150 feet north of the Dauphin Island pier
Friday night after the bay boat ran aground on a bar while returning the
visitors to the city from an excursion to the island.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Friday, October 27, 1933 - Mobile Mayor R. V. Taylor will
be confined to his home for several days as a result of injuries received
Wednesday afternoon when dismounting from an automobile at Cedar Point
while en route to Dauphin Island with members of the state advisory board
of the public works administration and out-of-town hotel men. An X-ray
examination early Thursday morning disclosed that no bones were broken
in the mayor's fall, and the extent of his injuries was a sprained hip.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Sunday, November 26, 1933 - Do you remember when, where and who
caught the world's largest tarpon?...The big fish was landed in September 1916, was
caught in the waters of Mobile Bay, at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, and
was landed by W.G. Oliver, Birmingham business man.... The tarpon measured 6 feet, 11 inches
in length and weighed 215 pounds.
Compiled by Cammie East Cowan from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Sunday, December 24, 1933 - A partyt of three anglers,
two of them women, made a catch of 150 pounds of sheep-head and redfish
today at Fort Gaines. The fish were caught with lines thrown from the
end of the pier at hte fort hotel. So good was the biting that the total
of 150 pounds was caught in three hours. Those in the party were Mr. and
Mrs. J. W. Stack and Mrs. W. H. Askew.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Tuesday, February 13, 1934 - Mobile will join Pensacola in celebrating the opening
of the new inland waterway, which extends from Mobile Bay, and Dauphin Island waters, to the Florida
city, for Mobile is as deeply interested in the new water-course as Pensacola, and ought to derive
much benefit from it, Mobile, in the heart of what has been colled the American Riviera, is in
sympathy with progressive movements in all these coast cities and is glad to see them prosper in well
being. Inland waterway betterments on this coast, no matter where they are made, will be helpful
to all Gulf Coast communities.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Friday, March 23, 1934 - Dauphin Island and Fort Morgan, guardians
of the entrance to Mobile Bay, will be inspected today and Sunday by a group of
PWA and CWA officials investigating the possibility of development in line with
President Roosevelt's spread-the-work policies. The visitors headed by Mayor Robert
Crawford of Washington, assistant department administrator of the PWA, arrived
in Mobile yesterday afternoon by plane and auto from Montgomery and Birmingham
and were carried to Cedar Point, from where they boarded boats to Dauphin Island.
The visit is in connection with the country's application for a $1,005,000
PWA loan with which to build a bridge to Dauphin Island and plans of the government
for development of a transient bureau at Fort Morgan. Among those invited as
members of the officail party ... were: W.J. Plunkert, chief of the southern division of the
government's transient bureau; Theodore Swann, Alabama airport advisor; A.J. Hawkins, regional airport
advisor; Thad Holt, Alabama administrator for the CWA; Col. Sumpter Smith, Alabama commander of
the national guard air corps. Frank W. Boykin is head of the committee on arrangements
on arrangements and was appointed by Mayor R. V. Taylor.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Monday, May 28, 1934 - Caught in a heavy squall while returning
from a pleasure trip to Dauphin Island, a party of 16 Mobilians yesterday
narrowly escaped disaster as their craft, the Memphire, was skillfully
piloted through a devastating hailstorm, wind and rain, which caused
slight injuries of two of the group and threatened at times to
overturn the boat. The injured: Captain R.L. Ford, whose mastery of his
craft was credited with saving the lives of those in the party. He received
bruises about the face and body as a result of being struck by hailstones.
Miss Dorothy Broughton, 204 South Ann Street, bruises about the face and
body from falling hailstones. Floyd McKenzie, slight bruises. Practically
the entire superstructure of the boat was torn away by the waves, wind and
hail. Out of gratefulness to Captain Ford, members of the party took up a
collection for the captain upon their safe arrival at Bayou La Batre.
First aid treatment was given the injured by Dr. Stephen F. Hale; a member
of the party had spent Saturday night on the island, and were returning
to Bayou La Batre when the squall broke about five miles from the island.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Wednesday, May 30, 1934 - The Coast Guard cutter was still working
Tuesday afternoon trying to move the motorboat Sea Horse off shore at Sand Island,
the boat having been grounded there in the storm Sunday. The boat is from
Week's Bay.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the
Press-Register -30-
Friday, June 1, 1934 - Inauguration of a weekend
patrol for the protection of life and property in lower Mobile bay
and the gulf in the near future was announced by coast guard officials
Monday, following the heavy hail, wind and rain squalls which raked
those sections Sunday resulting in the disabling of four local craft
and endangering the lives of approximately 50 persons.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the Press-Register -30-
Saturday, June 23, 1934 - Special efforts will be made this year to
enlarge the seafood menu during the Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo off Dauphin Island.
That is a good plan. Seafoods are a great Mobile asset, a great Gulf Coast asset.
Visitors, who come to Mobile, or to any of these coast communities, are delighted
with them, for they are fresh, sweet and whole-some.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the Press-Register -30-
Saturday, August 25, 1934 - A delightful trip was injoyed last Sunday when the boat of Nick Johnson
'Edna B' was sailed to Dauphin Island. The party left Bayou La Batre at midnight Saturday and returned
at 5 o'clock Sunday afternoon. Fishing, games an singing were enjoyed aboard the ship. A dip into the gulf completed
this delightful affair. Those who composed the party were: the Misses Melone, Eloise and Bessie Miles, Laura and Dorthy
De Geer, Ida Lee Williams, Dorothy Noel and Edward and Charles Bosarge, Feaster Deakle, Jack Nelson and Wilson Johnson.
Compiled by Linde Lenz-Britt from issues of the Press-Register -30-
October 18,1948 - DI Bridge considered.
Copied and saved from the Mobile Press Register
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