"Upon careful inquiry I find that, of the whole number of vessels loaded at this port during last year 53 vessels, with a tonnage of 62,574 tons, were unable to come up to the wharves of the city, and were compelled to load in the lower bay at a heavy increase of expense. The total exports of cotton at this port during the last season amounted to 371,618 bales of average weight of 500 pounds each; and of this quantity, I learn that about 224,000 BALES HAD TO BE LOADED AT THE LOWER ANCHORAGE because the vessels on which they were shipped could not reach the wharves of the city." (AND THIS INDUSTRY EXISTED HERE FOR THE PREVIOUS 65 YEARS OF THE AMERICAN REGIME AND HAD ALREADY EXISTED FOR 124 YEARS BEFORE THAT...)

1876 STATS FOR THE LOWER ANCHORAGE https://books.google.com/books?id=2Z9h_ojUIewC&pg=PA362&lpg=PA362&dq=%22Lower%20anchorage%22%20%22Mobile%20Bay%22&source=bl&ots=2wkycd7UdG&sig=ACfU3U2HqT1lWCsitugrVRrgh6iYC9BGQw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiznq3VqdLiAhWImeAKHbkKDgIQ6AEwAnoECAQQAQ&fbclid=IwAR2b_mtFWFyhFIdsHf0ASqopratlD1c8HRFl1cagU5H9y5dPE7Fwyne0JPw#v=onepage&q=%22Lower%20anchorage%22%20%22Mobile%20Bay%22&f=false