1943 Map of Mobile

About this map

The Mobile River waterfront and its complex of State Docks anchor this wartime survey, showing the city's critical role as a port and rail hub. Just west of the Bankhead Tunnel, the grid of downtown Mobile transitions into historic neighborhoods and industrial centers like Prichard and Plateau. The map documents a dense social infrastructure, from the sprawling Magnolia Cemetery and Oak Hill Golf Course to numerous local institutions such as Murphy High Sch and the Visitation Convent. Beyond the urban core, the landscape gives way to wetlands and bayous including Hog Bayou and the winding course of Three Mile Creek. The presence of the Gulf Mobile and Ohio RR and the Louisville and Nashville RR illustrates how the city’s economy was tightly woven between deep-water shipping lanes and the extensive rail networks of the mid-twentieth century.