Monday, November 30, 2015

May 1777: Galvez threatened to fire on British ships at New Orleans which had come to demand the release of British vessels seized by the Spanish on the Mississippi River for allegedly being engaged in illegal commerce. Two of these confiscated vessels were owned by Americans and these boats were secretly returned to their owners by Galvez when he was requested to do so by Pollock.

1778: Spain secretly aided the Americans through the firm of Joseph Gardoqui. Funds were collected at Madrid by Diego Gardoqui who forwarded the money to Arthur Lee in Paris. Lee ordered war material from the Gardoqui Company in Bilboa and they shipped the goods to America. In 1778, Americans acquired 18,000 blankets, 11,000 pairs of shoes, 41,000 pairs of stockings, and great quantities of shirts, tent cloth and medicine.


May 1778: Pollock suggested to the Continental Congress that they should send a force of about 300 men to capture Natchez and Manchac because in the event of war between Great Britain and Spain, the Spaniards would immediately take possession of these two posts.




Sunday, November 29, 2015

Monday, November 23, 2015

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1963.  Remember that entire afternoon like it was YESTERDAY. 4th period science with Ms McGregor (rumors he was shot) 5th period social studies (Mrs. Elmore crying, unable to address the class) 6th period athletics.One kid was happy he got shot and that bothered me for years and years. After rolling it over in my head a million times, I think I can understand why Pat cheered when he heard the news that Kennedy had been shot dead. Pat's Daddy had worked on the Bay of Pigs Invasion for the Alabama Air National Guard. Went to the barber shop and they had the TV on. Walter Cronkite. Daddy closed the shop and stayed home on Monday so we could watch the funeral as a family.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

CHECK OUT OUR PROGRESS! The little known story of how a Continental Navy ship, the U.S.S. West Florida, ended up in the water off Dauphin Island in 1780 as part of a larger Spanish flotilla preparing for an armed amphibious invasion of Mobile Bay is a long one that begins almost four years earlier in 1776 when the Continental Congress in Philadelphia first considered a GULF COAST CAMPAIGN. The legacy of this historic invasion comes down to every present-day property owner on Dauphin Island because the origin of all modern day legal land titles on Dauphin Island originate with a Spanish re-grant of British title to the island which was allowed by the provisions of a treaty ending THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com
The little known story of how a Continental Navy ship, the U.S.S. West Florida, ended up in the water off Dauphin Island in 1780 as part of a larger Spanish flotilla preparing for an armed amphibious invasion of Mobile Bay is a long story that begins three years earlier when the 2nd Continental Congress first considered a GULF COAST CAMPAIGN. The legacy of this historic invasion comes down to every present-day property owner on Dauphin Island because the origin of all present-day legal land titles on Dauphin Island originate with a Spanish re-grant of British title to the island which was allowed by the provisions of a treaty ending THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
From Hamilton's COLONIAL MOBILE, page 263:
"This is the first instance in these records of re-granting what had been British property. The Versailles treaty of peace of September 3, 1783, was to allow eighteen months for British subjects to sell and leave, and the time was extended six months longer ; but this treaty was not yet concluded. While West Florida was Spanish in fact, the war continued elsewhere until that treaty recognized the independence of the United States, and at the same time confirmed East and West Florida to Spain.

The most prominent re-grant was that by Governor Grimarest of Dauphine Island to Joseph Moro, the origin, in fact, of the existing title to that historic spot. Moro's petition of July 31, 1781, is dated at New Orleans, and says that he is an inhabitant of that city. Galvez the next day directs Grimarest to investigate the matter, and if the land is vacant to put Moro into possession and return the proceedings made out 'in continuation' with the commission, — a substitute for the endorsements on original papers by officials in our practice. September 21 of the same year there was a report by Charles Parent, Orbano Demouy, Dubroea, and Louis Carriere, who had been called on for evidence. 

For some reason the matter was held up over two years, until after peace was declared; for Grimarest's concession to Moro bears date December 5, 1783, after J. B. Lamy had made a settlement in the centre of the island. In 1785 we find the king maintaining there a pilot and four sailors at an expense of $696.00."
BREAKING NEWS!!!! BIG CHIEF HAS DECLARED A HIATUS IN THE ANNOTATION OF DAUPHIN ISLAND STREET NAMES! Have no fear... THE 2016 DAUPHIN ISLAND ARMCHAIR ADMIRAL CONTEST IS STILL "ON LIKE A CHICKEN BONE", however, only 60 of Dauphin Island's streets have been annotated on the blog. This minor PAUSE IN THE PROCESS has been brought on by NEW INFORMATION we have received concerning Dauphin Island's role in THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION  so the 1780-1781 SPANISH AND CONTINENTAL NAVIES' CONQUEST OF BRITISH WEST FLORIDA will now occupy BIG CHIEF'S ATTENTION. Continue to study the significance of Dauphin Island Street Names in preparation for THE BIG CONTEST by using the DAUPHIN ISLAND: AMERICA'S MOST HISTORIC GULF ISLAND blog, Mr. S. Blake McNeely's black book and the Chamber's street map because THE FIRST of the "yet to be announced" DAUPHIN ISLAND TRIVIA CONTESTS will DEFINITELY be held on the island after January 1. We have learned so much from the annotation of the first 60 street names including important biographical information concerning the many now deceased Alabamians who developed Dauphin Island in the 1950s. We have also corrected some major historical inaccuracies contained in the COMMITTEE ON NOMENCLATURE'S description of each street name's significance to Dauphin Island. We are approaching 4000 blog views so folks are definitely checking out this new information and that number is sure to rise when more people become aware of the early American Navy's role in the conquest of British West Florida during the 1780 SIEGE OF MOBILE.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

#55 IROQUOIS PLACE
named for the Iroquois Indianshttp://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Rene_R._de_La_Salle , the French name for a once powerful Confederacy of six North American Indian Tribes that came into early conflict with the French and were a barrier to their southward advance from Canada. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive.

#56 IRVING PLACE
named for Washington Irving  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Irving   , distinguished visitor to Mobile in the years just before the Civil War.  This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=531

#57 ISABELLA POINT
named for Isabella de Bobadilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C3%A9s_de_Bobadilla    , the wife of Hernando DeSoto, Isabella is said to have waited in vain at Dauphin Island for the return of DeSoto who was killed while on one of his extensive exploration trips through the Mississippi Valley. Isabella had been escorted to the Mobile Bay area by Captain Maldonado, the Spanish fleet commander in support of DeSoto. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=151099253 (ed. note: Isabella Point was enlarged to build Dauphin Island's JEREMIAH A. DENTON AIRPORT.)#

#58 ITASCA PLACE
named for the U.S. ship "Itasca" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Itasca_(1861) of four guns which was among the fleet of wooden ships blockading Mobile Bay in the Civil War. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive.

#59 JEFFERIES BEACH
named for A. Beverly Jefferies who was Chairman of the Mobile County Board of Revenue and Road Commissioners when plans were formulated for building the Gordon Persons Overseas Highway and the Dauphin Island Bridge. Find-A-Grave link  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66928804  (ed. note: At present, the original location  of Jefferies Beach is unknown to this writer."Beverly Jefferies Highway" is located east of Citronelle.)

#60 KEY STREET
named for Francis Scott Key https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key   , author of "The Star Spangled Banner," who was a goodwill ambassador from the United States government to Alabama when President Jackson had enraged the Alabama governor by sending Federal troops to enforce an Indian treaty(link to the story of Key's visit to Alabama  http://alabamapioneers.com/francis-scott-key-close-friendship-alabama-governor-gayles-wife-daughter/#sthash.QKr5jQXs.dpbs   ). Most of this north to south street is NE of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with DeSoto Avenue and ends south of Bienville Boulevard at its intersection with Alabama Avenue. Find-A-Grave link  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=578

#61 LACKLAND STREET
named for Samuel Houston Lackland, one of the founders of Mobile's Azalea Trail  http://www.johnstrange.com/edm310summer07/hinds/history.htmland a staunch supporter of Dauphin Island for many years. Most of this north to south street in NW of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with DeSoto Avenue and ends south of Bienville Boulevard at its intersection with Alabama Avenue. Find-A-Grave link >http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=105033426

Friday, November 20, 2015

#55 IROQUOIS PLACE
named for the Iroquois Indians http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Rene_R._de_La_Salle , the French name for a once powerful Confederacy of six North American Indian Tribes that came into early conflict with the French and were a barrier to their southward advance from Canada. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive.

#56 IRVING PLACE
named for Washington Irving  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Irving   , distinguished visitor to Mobile in the years just before the Civil War.  This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=531

#57 ISABELLA POINT
named for Isabella de Bobadilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In%C3%A9s_de_Bobadilla    , the wife of Hernando DeSoto, Isabella is said to have waited in vain at Dauphin Island for the return of DeSoto who was killed while on one of his extensive exploration trips through the Mississippi Valley. Isabella had been escorted to the Mobile Bay area by Captain Maldonado, the Spanish fleet commander in support of DeSoto. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=151099253 (ed. note: Isabella Point was enlarged to build Dauphin Island's JEREMIAH A. DENTON AIRPORT.)#

#58 ITASCA PLACE
named for the U.S. ship "Itasca" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Itasca_(1861) of four guns which was among the fleet of wooden ships blockading Mobile Bay in the Civil War. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive.

#59 JEFFERIES BEACH
named for A. Beverly Jefferies who was Chairman of the Mobile County Board of Revenue and Road Commissioners when plans were formulated for building the Gordon Persons Overseas Highway and the Dauphin Island Bridge. Find-A-Grave link  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66928804  (ed. note: At present, the original location  of Jefferies Beach is unknown to this writer."Beverly Jefferies Highway" is located east of Citronelle.)

#60 KEY STREET
named for Francis Scott Key https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Scott_Key   , author of "The Star Spangled Banner," who was a goodwill ambassador from the United States government to Alabama when President Jackson had enraged the Alabama governor by sending Federal troops to enforce an Indian treaty(link to the story of Key's visit to Alabama  http://alabamapioneers.com/francis-scott-key-close-friendship-alabama-governor-gayles-wife-daughter/#sthash.QKr5jQXs.dpbs   ). Most of this north to south street is NE of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with DeSoto Avenue and ends south of Bienville Boulevard at its intersection with Alabama Avenue. Find-A-Grave link  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=578

#61 LACKLAND STREET
named for Samuel Houston Lackland, one of the founders of Mobile's Azalea Trail  http://www.johnstrange.com/edm310summer07/hinds/history.html and a staunch supporter of Dauphin Island for many years. Most of this north to south street in NW of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with DeSoto Avenue and ends south of Bienville Boulevard at its intersection with Alabama Avenue. Find-A-Grave link >http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=105033426

Thursday, November 19, 2015

WOW! THERE IS A MAJOR CONNECTION BETWEEN DAUPHIN ISLAND AND ST. DENIS, FRANCE. The man who is the namesake of Dauphin Island, LOUIS, THE GRAND DAUPHIN, is buried in the BASILICA OF ST. DENIS in ST. DENIS, FRANCE! Infanta Place on Dauphin Island is also named after him!
#53 INFANTA PLACE
named for the "heir apparent" to the French throne when Isle Dauphine was first settled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis,_Grand_Dauphin. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive.


 Link to the burial place of Louis, the Grand Dauphin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St_Denis
#51 INEZ PLACE
named for the book "Inez: A Tale of The Alamo," (link to the novel's text https://archive.org/details/ineztaleofalamo00evaniala link to Encyclopedia of Alabama entry http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-2187    ) written by Mobile's famous writer, Augusta Evans Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Jane_Evans    . This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive. Find-A-Grave link for Augusta Evans Wilson http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=30565410

#53 INFANTA PLACE
named for the "heir apparent" to the French throne when Isle Dauphine was first settled https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis,_Grand_Dauphin. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive. Link to the burial place of Louis, the Grand Dauphin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St_Denis

#54 INGRAHAM PLACE
named for Joseph Holt Ingraham https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Holt_Ingraham   , rector of St. John's Church in Mobile around the year 1800[ed. note: this date is a mistake. Ingraham came to Mobile in 1855 at age 46 to become rector of St. Johns.], and who wrote three successful religious novels. This east to west street is located SE of the 3-way stop. This street is located on both sides of its intersection Iberville Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12212059
Many of you may have noticed that the French police raid that killed the mastermind of  THE FRIDAY THE 13TH PARIS ATTACKS occurred in the Paris suburb of SAINT DENIS and you may have wondered whether there's a connection in that suburb's name and Dauphin Island's ST. DENIS COURT which intersects Bienville Boulevard on the west end of the island. There's not much of a connection. The French city is named after the martyred first bishop of Paris, Saint Denis. D.I.'s ST. DENIS COURT is named for famed French explorer Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis (September 17, 1676 – June 11, 1744) who once served as commandant of D.I. and was the hero of Dauphin Island's 6th armed amphibious invasion which occurred when Spanish ships blockaded the island in August of 1719. Earlier in 1714, St. Denis had founded the oldest town in Louisiana, Natchitoches, and also led one of the first expeditions to explore the present-day state of Texas. Please check out the progress we've made on annotating the DAUPHIN ISLAND STREET NAMES. 50 of the streets have been completed and we've corrected some MAJOR MISTAKES in the original manuscript from McNeely's THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAUPHIN ISLAND, ALABAMA. http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com
#50 INDIAN PLACE
named for the twenty-four Indian tribes which lived peacefully near Mobile and which maintained close friendship with the French in Mobile. This east to west street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on the east at its intersection with Hernando Street and goes west to a dead end past its intersection with Iberville Drive. Penicaut's https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpe23 commentary from page 206 of FLEUR DE LYS AND CALUMET: "These savages are named the Chaqtos, the Taouachas, the Apalaches, the Tinssas, the Mobilians, the Tomez, the Gensdes Fourches [McWilliams' footnote 13: The first seven tribes named are small tribes living near Fort Louis de la Mobile. The Naniabas, who lived at The Forks (FOURCHES) of the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers, are omitted from this list. Surely they come to sing the calumet to the new governor and share in French largess. The deduction is that Gens des Fourches were the Naniabas) the Chactas, the Pascagoulas, the Passacolas, the Capinans, the Colapissas, the Bayagoulas, the Oumas, the Tonicas, the Chaouchas, the Natchez, the Chicachas, the Nassitoches, the Yatacez, the Alabamons, the Canapouces, and others [McWilliams' footnote 14: I have twenty-two tribes listed. But I had to supply Chactas, Pascagoulas and Passacolas from Spofford, p. 372. Margry has nineteen in his list (DECOUVERTES, V, 547) Several of these tribes had come from a great distance: the Chicachas from north Mississippi and Tennessee; the Nassitoches and Yatacez from the Red River; the Canapouces(Catawba) from Carolina. But French presents no doubt paid them well for the effort.]
These calumets of peace lasted more than two months because the savages, being too badly separated one from another, could not all be there at the same time. They were all well received by M. de l'Epinet, who sent them back home with presents." Link to page 206 of FLEUR DE LYS AND CALUMET https://books.google.com/books?id=XJ9phjBhQyQC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=%22fleur+de+lys+and+calumet%22+%22fourches%22&source=bl&ots=y6rlv0sliT&sig=TVCCNZF7p5wLf2H3GVzils0ajiM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMIhrbHuvKcyQIVSxo-Ch3h6Q3H#v=onepage&q=%22fleur%20de%20lys%20and%20calumet%22%20%22fourches%22&f=false

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

#49 IBERVILLE DRIVE
named for Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Le_Moyne_d%27Iberville , chosen by the French king  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France  to carry out LaSalle's dream of establishing a French colony on the Gulf Coast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_colonization_of_Texas , who persuaded the French king to let him establish his colony on Mobile Bay at Isle Dauphine and on Mobile River at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Mobile_Site  . As French Commander for the New World, he sent his young twenty-one year old brother, Bienville https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Le_Moyne,_Sieur_de_Bienville , to establish the fort at Mobile and the base at Dauphin Island. This north to south street is SE of the 3-way stop. This street begins at its intersection with Alabama Avenue and ends south of its intersection with Itasca Place near the Isle Dauphine Golf Course. Find-A-Grave link for Iberville http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=149735676  Find-A-Grave link for Bienville http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10749466

 With the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Navy's destruction of the Negro Fort on the Apalachicola coming up this summer, I have posted on my ZERO, NORTHWEST FLORIDA blog an article I wrote in 2013 about how the Spanish attempted to compensate the Innerarity brothers for their loses incurred due to the Spanish allowing the British in 1814 to build the so-called Negro Fort in Spanish East Florida. I wrote this article for a Panama City magazine but the editor REFUSED to print it. When you look at I.G. Searcy’s 1829 Florida map, the first American map of the Florida Territory, the entire Washington County portion of the map around St. Andrews Bay is labeled “Innerarity’s Claim”.
#40 GRANT STREET
named for John Grant who in 1839 secured permission from the Alabama legislature to dredge the "Cedar Point Channel" and operate it as a toll passage. http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/KNIPPERS-CLARENCE/2006-11/1164033069       This north to south street is NE of the 3-way stop. This street begins on the north near the shore of Little Dauphin Island Bay at Carolyn Circle and ends on the south at its intersection with Bienville Boulevard. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=28227297

#41 HAMILTON PLACE
named for Peter Joseph Hamilton, a great student of Mobile history, author of "Colonial Mobile," one of the best known books on historic Mobile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_J._Hamilton This short east to west dead end street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on its east end at its intersection with Hernando Street and ends on the west at its dead end. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=94069092

#42 HERMES PLACE (pronounced Her-mees)
named for the British warship "Hermes" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermes_(1811) destroyed in an attack on Fort Bowyer (where Fort Morgan now stands) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Bowyer
 when a British fleet of thirty-eight warships attacked Dauphin Island and the fort after the Battle of New Orleans in the "War of 1812." There have been seven other warships in the British Navy carrying this renowned name since then. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Hermes (ed. note: Here's another place where D.I.'s "Founding Fathers" "flubbed the dub." The Hermes was not part of the large British fleet that attacked Fort Bowyer during THE SECOND BATTLE OF FORT BOWYER in February of 1815. The "Hermes" sank during the FIRST BATTLE OF FORT BOWYER in September of 1814 http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3582 ) This short east to west dead end street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on its east end at its intersection with Hernando Street and ends on the west at its dead end.

#43 HERNANDO STREET
named for Hernando de Soto, Spanish explorer who set out to conquer and colonize Florida for Spain, but who instead won fame by the discovery of the Mississippi River. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto This north to south street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with Bienville Boulevard and ends at its intersection with Hernando Place on the south near the shore of Pelican Bay. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7450123

#44 HITCHCOCK PLACE
named for Judge Henry Hitchcock, secretary of the Alabama Territory and acting governor who did much of the work on the first Alabama constitution and was elected its first attorney general, later becoming U.S. attorney for the southern district of Alabama. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hitchcock This short east to west dead end street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on its east end at its intersection with Hernando Street and ends on the west at its dead end. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=49077311

#45 HOUSTON PLACE
named for General Samuel Houston, one of the greatest men in Texas history and a distinguished visitor to Mobile in the years just before the Civil War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston  This short east to west dead end street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on its east end at its intersection with Hernando Street and ends on the west at its dead end. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=510

#46 HUBERT STREET (pronounced Hu-bare)
named for Marc Antoine Hubert, the commissary-general of Louisiana from 1716-1720, who lived on Dauphin Island from 1716 to 1718. https://books.google.com/books?id=0S6n0VOSXE8C&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=%22marc+antoine+hubert%22+1717&source=bl&ots=tGxi3okg2i&sig=4ACcvc92Xt2KaZ90PhmnufMb320&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwA2oVChMIvsGlxICYyQIVTHs-Ch3elQmQ#v=onepage&q=%22marc%20antoine%20hubert%22%201717&f=false This short north to south street is located NE of the 3-way stop. Its north end begins near the shore of Little Dauphin Island Bay and ends on the south at its intersection with Cadillac Avenue. Find-A-Grave link for Hubert was not found.

#47 HUITRES PLACE (pronounced Wee-tre)
named for Pointe-aux-Huitres, meaning Oyster Point because of the great abundance of oysters found there by the French, and now called Cedar Point. http://dauphinislandhistory.org/fleur/fleur9-11.pdf  This short east to west dead end street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on its east end at its intersection with Hernando Street and ends on the west at its dead end.

#48 HUNLEY PLACE
named for Horace L. Hunley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Lawson_Hunley , the financier for "THE HUNLEY" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._L._Hunley_(submarine), a submarine built in Mobile and the first one credited with sinking a warship.  This short east to west dead end street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on its east end at its intersection with Hernando Street and ends on the west at its dead end. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10886

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Saturday, November 14, 2015

The annotated THE STREETS OF DAUPHIN ISLAND blog entry is now one third finished with 39 annotations completed. Unfortunately, I have found two major mistakes made by "THE FOUNDING FATHERS" of Dauphin Island. The name FORT GAINES PLACE is attributed to "General George S. Gaines." George S. Gaines was NEVER a general and Ft. Gaines is not named for him. It is named for his brother, General Edmund Pendleton Gaines. The other mistake is a little more serious. GENERAL LEDBETTER PLACE is misspelled. It should read GENERAL LEADBETTER PLACE because it was named after General Danville Leadbetter. Check out our progress at http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com 
#34 GENERAL GAINES PLACE(ed. note: Of all the mistakes in this listing of Dauphin Island street names, THIS IS THE WORST! Corrections to the original text will follow.)
named for General George S. Gaines http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1476 who operated a large Trading House at St. Stephens, an important outpost in the young United States, while Mobile was still held by the Spanish during the early days on the nineteenth century. As a trader, General Gaines was one of the first business men to see the need of the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway as he in 1810 was barging supplies down the Ohio River from Pittsburg, then up the Tennessee River to Calbert's [sic-ed. note: Colbert's] Ferry from where his goods were carried overland to the Tombigbee River (history of Cotton Gin Port, Ms.http://files.usgwarchives.net/ms/monroe/history/cottongp.txt ) and then barged on downstream to St. Stephens. (ed. note: The biographical information on George S. Gaines is correct, howeveer, Gaines was never a general and he is not the namesake for Fort Gaines. That honor goes to his brother, General Edmund Pendleton Gaines http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3063 .
This east to west dead end street begins where its west end intersects with General Gorgas Drive.
Find-A-Grave link for General E.P. Gaines http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10656863 Find-A-Grave link for his brother, George S. Gaines http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26236017

#35 GENERAL GORGAS DRIVE
named for General William Crawford Gorgas http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1048   , the only native Alabamian to be placed in the American Hall of Fame, a Mobilian who destroyed yellow fever in the Canal Zone, thereby making possible the completion of the Panama Canal. This north to south street begins on the north at its intersection with Fort Charlotte Avenue and dead ends just beyond its intersection with  General Wilkinson Place. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=6843719&page=gr

#36 GENERAL LEDBETTER PLACE [sic- ed. note, should read "LEADBETTER"]
named for General Danville Ledbetter http://www.geni.com/people/Brig-General-Danville-Leadbetter-CSA/6000000012567400042 , a West Point graduate who superintended Fort Morgan repairs and the building of Fort Gaines, who was in charge of building of the Mobile Custom House (now a municipally owned building housing the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and other important organizations and institutions[ed. note:demolished in 1963 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Archibald_Campbell_United_States_Courthouse#/media/File:Custom_House_in_Mobile_1894.jpg ] ), and who later became a general in the Confederate Army. This east to west dead end street begins where its west end intersects with General Gorgas Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11008

#37 GENERAL PAGE PLACE
named for General R.L. Page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lucian_Page , heroic commander of Fort Morgan at the time of its surrender to Federal troops during the Civil War. This east to west dead end street begins where its west end intersects with General Gorgas Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://forums.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=11042

#38 GENERAL WILKINSON PLACE
named for General James Wilkinson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wilkinson  who occupied Mobile, seizing it from the Spanish during the War of 1812 because of Spain's alliance with England. This east to west dead end street begins where its west end intersects with General Gorgas Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14093089 (ed. note: The estate of General Wilkinson made a claim to having been deeded Dauphin Island during the Spanish regime but it was denied by the Private Land Claims Commission of Alabama in about 1838)

#39 GORDON PERSONS OVERSEAS HIGHWAY
named for Gordon Persons who was Governor of Alabama when the Dauphin Island Bridge was built. (Encyclopedia of Alabama entry for Gordon Persons http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1911 Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7419419 )

Friday, November 13, 2015

#26 FORT GAINES TRAIL
named for Fort Gaines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Gaines_(Alabama) built on the eastern tip of Dauphin Island to protect the bay and any ships taking refuge there after President Monroe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Monroe protested Europe's interference with affairs in the United States. Prior to the bridge being built in the early 1950s, the main road on the island was the FORT GAINES TRAIL. There is no Fort Gaines Trail on present-day Dauphin Island.

#27 FORT LOUIS COURT
named for Fort Louis de la Mobile http://fortwiki.com/Fort_Louis_de_la_Louisiane   , built in 1702 at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Mobile_Site on the Mobile River and established as the capital of French Louisiana. This north to south street is SE of the 3-way stop and runs only one block south of its intersection with Bienville Boulevard near Cadillac Square.

#28 FORT MIMS PLACE
named for Fort Mims https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Mims_massacre on the Alabama River near present-day Stockton, scene of a massacre by the Creek Indians in 1813, a barbaric act that aroused the entire nation. This east to west dead end street begins on the east at its intersection with Forney Johnston Drive.

#29 FORT ROSALIE PLACE
named for Fort Rosalie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Rosalie , now the city of Natchez, a French fort on the Mississippi River built by Bienville in 1715 and named in honor of the wife of Pontchartrain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A9r%C3%B4me_Ph%C3%A9lypeaux . This east to west dead end street begins on the east at its intersection with Forney Johnston Drive.

#30 FORT STODDERT
named for Fort Stoddert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Stoddert built on Mobile River just above Ellicott's Stone (near Mount Vernon, Alabama) as a stronghold for the United States as this country watched the Spaniards who then held Mobile. This east to west dead end street begins on the east at its intersection with Forney Johnston Drive.

#31 FORT TENSAS PLACE (pronounced Tensaw)
named for the fortifications on Tensas River which for many years was the most important navigable stream leading to Mobile Bay from the inland areas.This east to west dead end street begins on the east at its intersection with Forney Johnston Drive.

#32 FORT TOMBECBE PLACE
named for Fort Tombecbe http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3080 which was built by Bienville in 1735 on the Tombigbee River.This east to west dead end street begins on the east at its intersection with Forney Johnston Drive.

#33 GENERAL ANDERSON PLACE
named for General Charles D. Anderson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_DeWitt_Anderson  , commander of Fort Gaines at the time it was lost to the Federal forces in battles preliminary to the capture of Mobile near the end of the Civil War. This west to east dead end street begins on its western end at its intersection with General Gorgas Drive. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=42498696
The accompanying link is a powerful window into Dauphin Island's past because it contains the entire Library of Congress file for the pilot schooner ALABAMA which served the Mobile Bay Bar Pilots from 1925 until 1966. The AMAZING thing about all this is that THIS SCHOONER STILL SAILS out of Martha's Vineyard in 2015. This link contains 39 photos, 13 of which are of the schooner on duty in Mobile Bay in the 1930s. It also PDF files of historical text and 12 measured drawings. Of special interest is photo #27 which includes the ALABAMA's tender, ANNIE RUTH, a fifty footer which burned on April 18, 1941 with no lives lost. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ma1326/

Thursday, November 12, 2015

#24 FORT CHARLOTTE AVENUE
named for Fort Charlotte https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Charlotte       
, the English name given in 1763 to the newly acquired Fort Conde https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Conde in Mobile as an honor to Queen Charlotte https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_of_Mecklenburg-Strelitz    , the wife of King George III https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom
 of England. This east to west street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on Bienville Boulevard and curves southwest to its intersection with Hernando Street.

#25 FORT CONDE PLACE
named for Fort Conde de la Mobile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Conde which was the name given to the enlarged Mobile fortress in 1720 and which at that time occupied the entire area between Royal, St. Emanuel, Church and Theatre Streets. This north to south street is NE of the 3-way street. It begins north of its intersection with Conde Avenue and goes south to Bienville Boulevard.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

#19 DELUNA STREET
named for Tristan de Luna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trist%C3%A1n_de_Luna_y_Arellano  , commander of a group of Vera Cruz colonists who in 1559 laid out a city on Mobile Bay that would have been the first city to be established with the present limits of the United States if it had lived. This street does not exist in the present-day on Dauphin Island and its original location, if any, is unknown. DeLuna returned to the Yucatan where he served as governor until his death in 1571. Link to the discovery of a DeLuna shipwreck near Pensacola http://uwf.edu/cassh/departments/anthropology-and-archaeology/research/faculty-and-staff-projects/maritime/emanuel-point-shipwreck/

#20 DESOTO AVENUE
named for Hernando de Soto https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto, Spanish governor of Cuba, the most famous of the explorers of the American South and conqueror of the Mobile Indians at Mauvilla. This east to west street is north of the 3-way stop on both sides of LeMoyne Drive. It begins at DeSoto Drive on the east and goes west past its intersection with LeVert Street. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7450123

#21 DEWBERRY STREET
named for J.M. Dewberry who was one of the pioneers in efforts to connect Dauphin Island with the mainland of Mobile County. This north to south street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with Apalache Avenue and runs south to Admiral Semmes Avenue. In 1914 the Dauphin Island Improvement Co., J.M. Dewberry, President, contracted with Holabird & Roche Architects of Chicago to prepare plans for a 200 room fireproof hotel to be erected on Dauphin Island. The following link is to a PDF file from the Dauphin Island History Archive of the October 25, 1957 DAUPHIN ISLAND NEWS. On page 5 is an article about Miss Leola Dewberry, Mr. Dewberry's daughter. She talks about visiting the island in the early 1900s and her father's three attempts to build a bridge to the island. http://dauphinislandhistory.org/dinews/din10251957_8pgs.pdf

#22 EPINET STREET (pronounced Ep-i-nay)
named for L'Epinet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_de_Lepinay, successor to Cadillac as governor of Louisiana, who immediately began to repair the damage of Cadillac's governorship by making friends of  the twenty-four Indian tribes which visited him at Dauphin Island.   This north to south street is SE of the 3-way stop. It begins on the north at its intersection with Apalache Avenue and runs south to Admiral Semmes Avenue. After leaving Mobile Bay in 1718, L'Epinet was appointed Governor of Grenada. While visiting the Governor of the West Indies on Martinique in January of 1721, L'Epinet died.http://www.knowla.org/entry/1464/

#23 FORNEY JOHNSTON DRIVE
named for Forney Johnston http://socialarchive.iath.virginia.edu/ark:/99166/w6641xz5 , the son of Alabama's twice governor Joseph F. Johnston https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_F._Johnston , and the able and patient leader of the group which for half a century retained composite title to Dauphin Island as a requisite for its development as on of America's leading seashore recreational destinations.
This north to south street is east of the 3-way stop on both sides of Bienville Boulevard. It begins north of D'Olive Avenue and runs south to past Admiral Semmes Avenue. Find-A-Grave link for Joseph F. Johnston http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=7342162&page=gr

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Wanted to let you know that we plan to be back on the island come January and that one of my goals is to get a Dauphin Island Trivia Game started based upon the D.I. street names. I've started annotating McNeely's list from THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAUPHIN ISLAND, ALABAMA. Please let anyone who may be interested, especially public school teachers, that I've annotated 18 of the 115 listed streets and that my completed annotation will include comments, Internet links for the street's namesake, the street location based upon the 4-way stop and a Find-A-Grave link if applicable. Please check it out at http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com
#10 CADILLAC AVENUE
named for Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, appointed  by the French government to succeed Bienville as second Governor of Louisiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_la_Mothe_Cadillac
This east to west street is located two sections north of the 4-way stop on both sides of LeMoyne Drive. The eastern secton runs from Grant Street on the east to Narvaez Street on the west. West of Salt Creek Cadillac begins again on the east of Pascagoula Street and continues west to the canals south of Druhan Island. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113583180

#11 CALUMET PARK
named in honor of America's greatest Indian "pow-wows" or peace conferences which was held on Dauphin Island by twenty-four Indian tribes who met for sixty days with French Governor L'Epinet and who smoked with him the calumet of peace. This great congress of Indian Nations was of far-reaching importance throughout the entire Mississippi Valley.https://books.google.com/books?id=XJ9phjBhQyQC&pg=PR14&lpg=PR14&dq=%22dauphin+island%22++CALUMET&source=bl&ots=y6rlm4tm9L&sig=WzjOYloqyyP53XbZc_pRBJG1yUU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBGoVChMIzJe-uPKDyQIVh_M-Ch3stg5B#v=onepage&q=%22dauphin%20island%22%20%20CALUMET&f=false Calumet Park is the official name of the park that surrounds the Water Tower at the 4-way stop.

#12 CHATEAUGUE POINT (pronounced Shatto-gay)
it is here that the Bridge first touches Dauphin Island. Sieur de Chateaugue was one of the LeMoyne brothers and devoted much of his effort to the transfer of supplies from the King's Warehouse on Dauphin Island to the capital fort at Mobile. Time and new accents have reduced this geographical name on Dauphin Island to "Point Chugae" (pronounced Chu-gi) . The northern section of LeMoyne Drive ends at the present-day bridge on Point Chugae.https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Le_Moyne_de_Ch%C3%A2teauguay

Antoine Le Moyne de Châteauguay died March 21, 1747 in Rochefort, France.


#13 CHAUMONT AVENUE
named for Mme. Chaumont of France who owned a large plantation near Moss Point and who in 1720 was one of seven plantation owners who brought over more than 4,000 persons from Europe in seven ships and established them in the Louisiana province.                   T
 This street is north of the 4-way stop on both sides of LeMoyne. It begins at Key Street on the east and runs west to Omega Street.(according to this link the Chaumont Plantation was located up the Pascagoula River 37 miles from its mouth and one mile south of the present-day Wade Bridge http://www.jchgs-ms.org/PDF%20files/Jackson%20County%20timeline%20from%201812.pdf ) Madame Chaumont was Marie-Catherine Barre (1673-1762) . She was married to  Antoine Chaumont. http://daniel.burgot.perso.neuf.fr/html/deportation/chaumont.htm

#14 CHENAULT AVENUE
an ancestral name of French significance in the development of Dauphin Island. (This writer has been told that this street was actually named for WWII hero Claire Chennault. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Lee_Chennault Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=194 ) This east to west street is NE of the 4-way stop. It begins on the east at Cavalier Circle and ends on the west at Fort Conde Street.

#15 CLUBHOUSE AVENUE
named for the Fort Gaines Clubhouse which is situated midway along this roadway. http://www.dauphinislandhistory.org/photos_pcards/ft_gaines_club_expand.htm (this is no longer a Dauphin Island street name)

#16 CONDE AVENUE
named for the French military leader who was known as the Great Conde and who LaSalle and Tonty much needed support in France and help in maintaining supplies for their extensive expeditions. Louis II de Bourbon, Duc d’Enghien , Prince de Conde https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis,_Grand_Cond%C3%A9 This east to west street is NE of the 4-way stop. It begins on the east at Cavalier Circle and ends on the west at Fort Conde Street. He was buried in the Église at Valery, the traditional burial place of the Princes of Condé. The following link describes the tomb of THE GREAT CONDE http://www.tombes-sepultures.com/crbst_1024.html

#17 CONTI AVENUE
named for Prince de Conti, a French leader and also King of Poland, who actively supported the new Louisiana Province. He was especially loved in France because of his considerate personality and admired because of his courage and leadership.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Louis,_Prince_of_Conti This street is located NE of the 4-way stop and dead-ends only about one block west from its intersection with its intersection at the north end of Grant Street. Link to the burial place of Louis, Prince of Conti http://www.landrucimetieres.fr/spip/spip.php?article2763

#18 DELCHAMPS DRIVE
named for Oliver H. Delchamps(1900-1987), President of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce when the Gordon Persons Overseas Highway and the Dauphin Island Bridge were built. This street is NE of the 4-way stop. It is the last street intersecting with the west side of LeMoyne Drive before the bridge that takes you off the island. Mr. Delchamps and his brother founded the Delchamps Supermarket chain. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=50550074

Monday, November 09, 2015

#10 CADILLAC AVENUE
named for Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, appointed  by the French government to succeed Bienville as second Governor of Louisiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_la_Mothe_Cadillac
This east to west street is located two sections north of the 4-way stop on both sides of LeMoyne Drive. The eastern secton runs from Grant Street on the east to Narvaez Street on the west. West of Salt Creek Cadillac begins again on the east of Pascagoula Street and continues west to the canals south of Druhan Island. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113583180

#11 CALUMET PARK
named in honor of America's greatest Indian "pow-wows" or peace conferences which was held on Dauphin Island by twenty-four Indian tribes who met for sixty days with French Governor L'Epinet and who smoked with him the calumet of peace. This great congress of Indian Nations was of far-reaching importance throughout the entire Mississippi Valley.https://books.google.com/books?id=XJ9phjBhQyQC&pg=PR14&lpg=PR14&dq=%22dauphin+island%22++CALUMET&source=bl&ots=y6rlm4tm9L&sig=WzjOYloqyyP53XbZc_pRBJG1yUU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBGoVChMIzJe-uPKDyQIVh_M-Ch3stg5B#v=onepage&q=%22dauphin%20island%22%20%20CALUMET&f=false Calumet Park is the official name of the park that surrounds the Water Tower at the 4-way stop.
#6 BEAUREGARD STREET
named for Pierre G.T. Beauregard, an engineer officer in the U.S. Army who as a captain was in charge of Gulf Coast defenses when Fort Gaines was built and who later became one of the ranking generals in the Confederate Army.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._T._Beauregard This north to south street is located SE of the 4-way stop. In begins on the north at Apalache Avenue and ends on the south at  Admiral Semmes Avenue. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4417

#7 BIENVILLE BOULEVARD
named for Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, the founder of Mobile, who spent much of his time at his Dauphin Island headquarters, Dauphin Island being the port of entry from France to the New World. Bienville is said to have had extraordinary charm and real genius for diplomatic relations with the Indian Nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Le_Moyne,_Sieur_de_Bienville This main east to west street begins at Ft. Gaines and ends at the West End Park. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=10749466

#8 BILOXI AVENUE
named for the Biloxi Indians, a tribe living at the location Iberville chose on arrival from France as his first base for the exploration of the Mississippi River area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biloxi_people This east to west street is NW of the 4-way stop and begins at Major Farmer Street on the east and ends at Narvaez Street.

#9 BUCHANAN DRIVE
named for Admiral Franklin Buchanan, the first commander of the U.S. Military Academy at Annapolis, the highest ranking officer in the Confederate Navy, commander of the naval defenses of Mobile, director of the task of organizing a fleet of ironclad  warships built in Selma for an attack on the Federal fleet blockading Mobile Bay.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Buchanan This north to south street is east of the 4-way stop on both sides of Bienville. It begins on the north near the shore of Little Dauphin Island Bay and runs south to Admiral Semmes Avenue. Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?GRid=11124&page=gr


Sunday, November 08, 2015

As some of you know, I have for some time attempted to put together a DAUPHIN ISLAND TRIVIA CONTEST based upon the names of Dauphin Island's streets. To that end I decided to annotate the listing of Dauphin Island's streets that is found in S. Blake McNeely's book, THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAUPHIN ISLAND, ALABAMA. My goal is to copy the work of Dauphin Island's Committee of Nomenclature from McNeely's book and to add the streets' locations in relation to the four-way-stop at LeMoyne and Bienville , an Internet link for the street's namesake , a Find-A-Grave link for the namesake if it applies plus any comments that help you to understand the street name's significance to Dauphin Island's history. I've finished the "A"s and have posted them on the DAUPHIN ISLAND: AMERICA'S MOST HISTORIC GULF ISLAND blog. http://dauphinislandhistory.blogspot.com

Saturday, November 07, 2015

THE STREETS OF DAUPHIN ISLAND
(the following listing of Dauphin Island's streets is found in S. Blake McNeely's book, THE DEVELOPMENT OF DAUPHIN ISLAND, ALABAMA.http://www.southalabama.edu/mccallarchives/guides_to_collections/mcneely/mcneely.shtml
 I have added the streets' locations in relation to the four-way-stop at LeMoyne and Bienville , a Wikipedia link for the street's namesake and a Find-A-Grave link for the namesake if it applies.)
A Committee on Nomenclature of which Mr. Stephens G. Croom 
(Stephens G. Croom (Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113268370) was born in 1906. Initially, Croom was active in the utility industry, but ultimately devoted forty years of his life to building a successful career in the insurance business. As a key member of the USS Alabama Development Committee Board, Stephens played a pivotal role in bringing the South Dakota-class battleship USS Alabama to Mobile and developing the site into a major tourist attraction. Both Stephens and his wife, Velma Lassiter Croom(Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=113271720 ), were politically and civically active in Mobile society. Velma served as the president of the Junior League of Mobile, Inc., from 1950 to 1951. Stephens G. Croom died in 1992.) was Chairman, carefully selected names which are significant in the long, romantic and colorful history of this Island which played a vital part in the settlement of North America and which is being developed as one of America's greatest resort, retirement and recreational areas.

The Boulevards, Avenues, Lanes and Places run east and west. Drives, Streets and Courts run north and south. All names are arranged alphabetically, beginning at the Fort Gaines Park on the East and at the Sand Dunes on the South. The names of Places and Lanes begin with the same letter as the names of the streets with which they intersect- such names are arranged alphabetically southward from Bienville Boulevard. Names selected are significant to Dauphin Island.

A house numbering system was also developed whereby lots on the Avenues, Lanes and Places are given numbers corresponding with the overall numbering on Bienville Boulevard. The lots on the Drives, Streets and Courts will be numbered in accord with the numbering system on LeMoyne Drive.

#1: ADMIRAL SEMMES AVENUE
named for Admiral Raphael Semmes, one of America's best known American naval officers, a respected citizen of Mobile who commanded the renowned Confederate ship, ALABAMA. This east-to-west street is located SE of the 4-way stop between Audubon Street on the east and Forney Johnston Drive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Semmes
Find-a-grave link for Admiral Semmes http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21356

#2: ALABAMA AVENUE
named for the sovereign State of Alabama whose Governor Gordon Persons(Encyclopedia of Alabama entry for Gordon Persons http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1911 Find-A-Grave link http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7419419 )
 made the decision to build the Dauphin Island Bridge providing a substantial investment in the bridge was made by property purchasers on the Island making this development possible. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alabama
This east-to-west street is located south of the 4-way stop. It begins just east of its intersection with Iberville Drive and continues west to Narvaez Street.

#3: ANNANDALE STREET
named for the ancestral home of one of those who spent years of service on behalf of Isle Dauphine.(It is the opinion of this writer that this refers to Forney Johnston. The Johnston family claims that they originated in Annandale, Scotland http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=Johnston )This north-to-south street is SE of the 4-way stop and runs between Apalache Avenue on the north and Admiral Semmes on the south.  

#4: APALACHE AVENUE named for the Apalache Indian tribe living in the neighborhood of Mobile, which sent its chief to Isle Dauphine along with twenty-three other Indian Nations to sing their calumet of peace to Monsieur de L'Epinet, Governor General of Louisiana.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_de_Lepinay ( ed. note: The Apalaches were originally from the vicinity of present-day Tallahassee but were victims of the greatest known Indian slave raid ever conducted in North America in 1702. They were enslaved by the English from Charleston and their Indian allies. Those that escaped,being converts to Roman Catholicism, sought sanctuary from the French on Mobile Bay and received refuge. The Apalache River in the Mobile Delta takes its name from this East Florida tribe.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apalachee#Spanish_missions_and_18th-century_war ) This east-to-west street is SE of the 4-way stop and runs between Audubon Street on the east and Forney Johnston Drive on the west.

#5: Audubon Street
named for the great artist, John James Audubon, who is said to have painted the hummingbird https://www.audubon.org/news/what-mr-audubon-thought-hummingbirds
 in the famous Birds of America while visiting in Mobile.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_James_Audubon This north-to-south street is east of the 4-way stop and runs from Cavalier Circle on Colony Cove north of Bienville to Audubon Place on the south. Find-A-Grave link for Audubon http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6102721
J:
My visits this last Tuesday to the Congressional Cemetery and the Washington Navy Yard really got me stoked about the D.I. Heritage Project. I'm still going to finish my detailed descriptions of each of the 19 armed amphibious invasions of Dauphin Island (I'm also going to add Andrew Ellicott's voyage from N.O. to D.I. in 1799, the 1837 Creek Indians' Ft. Morgan encampment prior to the horrendous steamboat MONMOUTH disaster and the 1846 U.S. Naval Invasion of Mexico which came out of Mobile and New Orleans) but I've hit a delay on getting a book from a lending library. Let me assure you that the "#10 Invasion: Galvez' Siege of Mobile" which is DAUPHIN ISLAND'S STORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION is a work in progress and will be finished soon. Anyway, when I finish the descriptions of over TWENTY ARMED AMPHIBIOUS INVASIONS OF DAUPHIN ISLAND, it will be easy for anyone to see that any military or nautical school from ANY BRANCH OF SERVICE from ANY COUNTRY on the face of the Earth should be interested in taking their students on a field trip to D.I.

The project I plan to begin today will be to place on the blog a listing of all D.I. streets found in S. Blake McNeely's book along with their location, a Wikipedia link for its namesake and a Find-A-Grave link for the namesake if it applies. Here's an example of what I'm talking about for #1.

#1. Admiral Raphael Semmes Avenue: named for Admiral Raphael Semmes, one of America's best known American naval officers, a respected citizen of Mobile who commanded the renowned Confederate ship, ALABAMA. This avenue is located SE of the 4-way stop between Forney Johnston Drive  and Audubon Street. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Semmes
Findagrave site for Admiral Raphael Semmes http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=21356

What I saw at the Congressional Cemetery really got my attention. In 2012 a guy named Peter Ekman chaired a committee for the cemetery called the QR CODE PROJECT. It was the first time that a cemetery posted QR codes (those little "ink blot" looking-boxes that activate an Iphone app to find websites.) They attached QR codes on little metal stakes and placed them by the graves of important people. I was thinking we could do the same thing with historic markers and street signs on Dauphin Island.

The other thing I thought about was building a huge billboard with a street map of D.I. and placing it somewhere on LeMoyne where people could park and look at it. You could dispense the Chamber of Commerce maps at this location. Include both Pelican Island and West End as EXTENSIONS of the billboard and emphasize that people can visit these abandoned beaches at their own risk and include safety precautions including carrying water. So many visitors come onto the island and have no idea how really huge it is and how they could explore the area FOR A LIFETIME and still want to learn more.

Go ahead and warn Gene that I'll be back at Fins come January bugging him about starting the D.I. Trivia Contest based on D.I. street names. I also want to make 2016 the first year that the DAUPHIN ISLAND ARMCHAIR ADMIRAL TROPHY is awarded to the winner of the trivia contest.

O.K. That's it for now. Just wanted to let you know what I'm up to. Have a happy holiday and I hope to see you in January, 2016.