Fort Condé
| Fort Condé | |
|---|---|
| Mobile, Alabama | |
Fort Conde in Mobile, Alabama is a 4/5 scale replica of part of the dismantled French, Spanish & British fort.
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| Coordinates | 30°41′20″N 88°02′23″W / 30.68877°N 88.03980°WCoordinates: 30°41′20″N 88°02′23″W / 30.68877°N 88.03980°W |
| Type | Fort |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | New France; Great Britain; Spain; United States |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1723 |
| In use | 1723-1820 |
Fort Conde, located in Mobile, Alabama, United States is a reconstruction, at 4/5 scale, as a third of the original 1720s French Fort Condé at the site. The original fort was also known as Fort Carlota under Spanish rule, and also Fort Charlotte under British and American rule.
The current Fort Conde, spanning almost 1/3 of the original fort, was recreated at 4/5-scale on the site. The new Fort Conde was opened on July 4, 1976, as part of Mobile's celebration of the United States bicentennial. The fort is located at 150 South Royal Street.
Mobile was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1702 as Fort Louis de la Mobile 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.
Fort Condé guarded Mobile and its citizens for almost 100 years, from 1723-1820. 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 Fort Condé 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.
Fort Condé and its surrounding buildings covered about 11 acres (45,000 m2) 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 in downtown Mobile. The Fort Conde Village neighborhood, which now includes the Conde-Charlotte House historical museum, was constructed in 1822-1830s within the southern bastians of the original fort.
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Wikipedia