Tours of LODA

05/26/2026

The Larkins Music Center (located at 257 Dauphin Street) is an incredible building that blends the old and new together! From its 19th century facade, modern performance space, its downtown garden and its connection to the Saenger Theater, it is the perfect home for the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and the Mobile Opera !!

Starting in the late antebellum period, the Larkins Music Center city lot was occupied by 2- and 3-story commercial buildings, with 1- or 2-story storage buildings behind them (253, 257 and 259 Dauphjn Street). In the late 1920s, these buildings were strengthened and expanded into the brand new Saenger Theatre. These buildings served a variety of businesses. Intersestly, in 1925, the orthophonic victrola was invented. It was the first commercially produced phonograph that played electrically recorded music on fancy technology (the vinyl record!). And the first place they sold the orthophonic victrolas in Mobile was in the spot were Larkins Music Center is today! By the late 20th century, these three buildings had fallen into disrepair and decay.

In 2002, the Mobile Opera and the Symphony were looking for a new home, and purchased these buildings. They could have demolished the building and built something entirely modern. Fortunately, they decided to save as much as they could, and build something amazing!

Comparing the pictures between the 1920s and today, the facades of Building 257 and 259 have been retained. In order to have the modern storefront, the first floor of the original facades were removed to strengthen the wall. You can see (from inside the building) the upper walls are thicker and made of brick. The lower walls are steel reinforced and thinner. Along with the facade, the original interior walls are preserved in the hallways and offices. They did not seal or paint the walls, they left them intact....to include any iron work, hooks, wood or cracks left from the original walls! Like the original structures, the Larkins Music Center is also connected backstage to the Saenger!

One of the most beautiful examples of integrating the old with the new is hidden inside the building! During the 2002 renovation, the Symphony and Orchestra added a modern 2-story back wing to the building. The second story of the addition is a small concert hall, used for small performance ensembles, auditions, and practices. Its a gorgeous space, with a large exposed brick wall behind the performers. The lower portion of the wall is significantly older, as it is the roof line of the original one-story storage building! You can even see the slots where the roof joists sat!

Most of the original buildings structure could not be saved, and the building is a modern poured concrete and steel reinforced building. Unfortunately, most of the three-story building at 253 Dauphin Street was demolished. Today, the only thing left is the eastern wall, shared by LoDa Bier Garten. This wall gives an easy-to-see example of how bukldings were built in the 19th century!

Take a walk down Dauphin Street to enjoy the building, and see what amazing performances our Smphony and Orchestra are getting ready to perform!

Send Tours of LODA a message and schedule a tour! We can talk about all the details on every building up and down Dauphin Street! We can defiantely stop and explain the walls from 253 Dauphin Street!

05/14/2026

There are a bunch of ways to get around downtown Mobile: cars, bikes, buses, electric scooters, golf carts, the occasional Mardi Gras float. In years before the internal combustion engine, the streets were crowded with different vehicle: horses, carts, buggies and....electric street cars?

Today, we think of electric street cars on the streets of New Orleans or San Francisco. 100 years ago, Mobile had a system of street cars that rivaled both cities!

Starting in 1860, Mobile built tracklines and infrastructure for its first series of public transport. The original streetcars were horse-drawn or steam powered. These cars were slow and unreliable, and controlled by different competing companies. In 1892, James Wilson was granted permission to build an electric car, ran on tracks set in the road, and powered by overhead electric lines. The first electric streetcars ran from Conti to Royal to New Jersey Street.

The electric street cars was an immediate success and the system grew rapidly! By 1908, the Mobile Light and Railroad Company had 50 miles of track, 20 different lines and over 100 cars. From downtown, you could catch a ride on a streetcar thru Washington St, Goverment St, Springhill, or Davis Ave (now Martin Luther King Jr Ave). Large cars could even get you all the way to Prichard! The trolleys were so popular, the street car company built Monroe Park, complete with a baseball field and roller coaster. Today, Arlington Park sits on a section of land previously occupied by Monroe Park.

Thru the 19th century, the streetcars were not segregated by city ordinances: intimidation and social customs segregated the street cars. In 1902, the city enacted an ordinance that required segregation and triggered a city wide boycott by African-American citizens. At first, it was so effective that the trolley car president told his employees to ignore the city ordinance. Unfortunately, the boycott eventually failed and Mobile public transport remained segregated unchallenged until the 1950s.

The development of the personal automobile and bus ultimately ended the street cars in Mobile. By 1939, the Mobile Light and Railroad Company had been sold to National City Line, who phased out the street trolleys by 1940.

All of these pictures are found in the The Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library . For more information about streetcars, check out this aeticle from the University of South Alabama:

https://www.southalabama.edu/org/archaeology/news/streetcar-history.html

05/01/2026

Go experience one of the best museums on the Gulf Coast!

04/28/2026

One of the most unusual and dramatic buildings in downtown Mobile is the Temple, located at 351 St Francis Street

Constructed in 1921, the building is an example of Egyptian Revival architecture and was designed by noted Mobile architect George B. Rogers for the Scottish Rite Masionic Lodge. Rising 65 feet from the sidewalk, its sheer facade and miniture obelisk does everyrhing it can to project the image of an ancient Egyptian temple. Two sphinx guard the oversized doors and the giant auditorium space inside.

Originally, the space also included club rooms and meeting spaces on the second floor, as well as a alter room tucked away on the third story.

Today, its first floor features a grand ballroom with seating capacity for roughly 1,000 people, while upper floors include a mix of offices, meeting rooms, storage areas and support spaces. A large temple room and auditorium occupy the top level.

A few fun facts:
In 1850, the St Francis Street Baptist Church was build along the same footprint as the Scottish Rite Temple. In 1921, the church was sold and was demolished. Hiwever, the western wall of the Baptist church was saved to be incorporated into the Scottish Rites temple. The Sanborn Maps and the insert from the book "From Fort to Port" by Elizabeth Gould show exactly how the buildings are intertwined. You can also walk behind the Temple, and see the Baptist Church walls for yourself!

During WWII, the US Army Aviation Interceptor Center used the auditorium of the Temple to spread out maps to track air traffic in the southeastern, as well as the Gulf.

Send us a message on Facebook to schedule a tour! There are so many amazing buildings and history, hiding in downtown Mobile!

04/24/2026

The Masionic Temple Building, formerly at 8 St Joseph Street, was one of Mobile's first steps into the 20th century and the significant architectural development and change that would take place over the next 126 years.

Constructed in 1902, this five-story building was the first one in downtown Mobile to utilize steel frame construction. Up until 1902, buildings were constructed of brick, and used bricks for the decorative AND structural integrity of the building. The Masionic Building used concrete and rebar to build a frame, allowing for different architectural choices. The building's design is from the early Chicago School: the elevation is marked by a break from the ground floor and the upper floors. The plasters between the giant windows pulls the eye upward towards the details at the top of the building. The picture here was taken in the early 1980s...even though the building had been changed, you can still appreciate all the details!

This building was a mixed use building. The lower three floors were for businesses (the original ground floor tenants was the E. E. Forbes Piano Company) The upper two floors were for a variety of fraternal organizations, including the Blue Lodge, Knights Templar, and Royal Mason's. Originally, there were globes on the front of the building that would be lit whenever these organizations were in session in the building.

It was a very popular building thru the first half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, as downtown changed in the 1960s, the building fell into disrepair. By 1970, the building was mostly deserted. In 1998, there was a concerted effort by the city to save and renovate this building. However, before the building could be saved, it caught fire and was demolished in the early 2000s. It is ironic, as this steel framed construction was heralded as being "fire proof" in the early 1900s.

Today, the building is mostly parking lot, with new construction occupying a small portion of the buildings footprint.

If you want to learn more about turn of the century Mobile architecture and history, send us a message and schedule a tour!!!

04/21/2026

Can you find both brothers in Bienville Square?

Bienville Square is one of the best spots to visit in Mobile: gorgeous mature oak trees, wrought benches and easy walking paths, a four-tiered cast iron fountain, nestled in the heart of downtown and surrounded by some of the most striking architecture on the Gulf Coast. It is a gathering place for people, whether they are escaping the summer heat, gathering together for a concert or ArtWalk or renting after a Mardi Gras parade!

As many people know, the park is named after Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the French Canadian naval officer and explorer who founded Mobile. He is so important in Mobile history that the city named the park after him in the 19th century. The Colonial Dames of Alabama erected a large stone cross to Bienville in 1906, commemorating his life and contributions to the city. His monument is easily seen from across the street, and commands a lot of space on the southwest corner of the square.

What fewer people remeber is that Jean-Baptiste co-founded the first settlement in 1702 with his older brother, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville!

Pierre was an experienced sailor, having fought in several wars between French and British colonists in the 1680s and 1690s, when he was charged with finding the mouth of the Mississippi in 1698. He sailed around Florida and established the first French settlement in what would become French Louisiana. In 1702, he was was on his thrid voyage, having taken his younger brother, Jean, as his Lieutinent. (We assume Mama Le Moyne said Pierre could go back to the Gulf, but had to take his little brother!). After bulding a wooden fort that became Mobile, Pierre sailed away, and would die of malaria in Havana a few years later. Jean-Baptiste (only 22 when Mobile was founded) would go on to found several more cities (including New Orleans) and become governor of the Louisiana colony his brother Pierre founded four times!

Bienville Square commemorates both brothers: Jean-Baptiste with a giant cross, and Pierre with a bronze plaque set into a rock! Pierre's plaque was placed in 1937 by the Committee of French-Americans. The plaque is in French, with the Translation as:

To the glory of
Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville,
the hero of Hudson Bay,
of Newfoundland and of Nevís,
who founded in 1702
Mobile first city of French Louisiana.
————
Born in Montréal in 1661
Died in Havana in 1706

Take a walk around Bienville Square and see if you can find both brothers!

If you need help finding both brothers, or want to learn all the interesting facts in and around the square, send us a message and schedule a tour!

04/17/2026

We hate when people miss a great deal at a store in downtown Mobile! Unfortunately, we are a little late telling you about the Broom Sale at the International Furniture Company at 563 Dauphin Street!

This picture (taken around 1934) shows a series of one-story buildings constructed together as a single facade at the corner of Warren and Dauphin Street. In 1924, this single facade represented 5 individual shops. Each shop still had its own unique facade, including the facade of the International Furinture Company The International Furniture Company must have been successful, because (by 1955) they had combine most of these buildings into a single store! Over the course of the late 20th century, several different businesses operated out of this space, including Catholic Social Services. In 2022, GRACE on Dauphin updated the structure of the building, to allow roof top seating for their resturant.

Ultimately, with all the changes, renovations and updates, very little of the "original" building remains. One of the few similarities in the picture today vs 1934 comes from the 2-story Wintergerst Building beside Grace on Dauphin: originally built in 1891 as an Italiante-styled building, it originally had pyramid decorations along its roof line. Today, you can see where they used to be, just above the Grace on Dauphin sign.

While you did miss the Broom Sale, you did not miss an amazing resturant in Grace on Dauphin! Stop by, look for all these architectural details, and discuss them over dinner and drinks in Grace by Dauphin!

If you want to see all that downtown Mobile has to offer (in history, architecture, and amazing places to eat!) Send us a message and schedule a tour!

04/13/2026

The Crawford Building (417 Dauphin Street) has been the cornerstone of the southeast corner of Dauphin and Hamilton in downtown Mobile since 1900!

This building is a gorgeous example of neoclassical styling that swept theu Mobile in the early 20th century. While obscured with a tree today, the building has all the important details of a new century in Mobile: clean cut cornice, decorated stone in-between arched windows, textual variations across the facade, and the big display windows. The year it was built is still visible at the top of the building.

The facade facing Dauphin Street remains largely unchanged from 1900. However, its interior has gone thru several changes! In its originally configuration, the building held two different businesses. The door between the two display windows shows its original configuration. Over the 20th century, the Crawfors Building was slowly incorporated into the building beside it, ultimately being owned and occupied by the Hoffman Furniture Company. The Hoffman sign is still visible in the building today!

As shown thru the Sanborn Maps, the building was originally a square building. Sometime before 1924, a one-story addition was added onto the building. Ultimately the entire building complex was incorporated into its neighbor.

When it was occupied by the Hoffman store, several interior changes were made to make the building blend in with the rest of the store. Today, as the building is being renovated by Porchlight the renovations reveal the history or the building!

For much of the early 20th century, the building was occupied by a drugstore (as seem in the picture). The floor of the building today shows the round circles where the stools at the drugstore counter stood.

Standing on the outside of the building, you can easily identify the original structure and its early 20th century one-story. More interestingly inside, the removal of sections of drywall reveal the original southern exit of the building, complete with rounded window above the exit door.

Most notably from the exterior, there is a large "Southern Business College" printed on the side of the building. As far as we can tell, the "Southern Business College" never occupied the Crawford Building. The "Southern Business College" (also known as the "Mobile Business College") was located at 169 Dauphin Street. This institution was the training institution that trained typist and shorthand students.

Stick around for more updates on the Crawford Building! There are amazing things happening with the renovation! We are doing additional research to determine additional renovation updates!

If you want to see this building (and many many others!) Send Tours of LODA a message! We can schedule a tour!!

04/09/2026

Tomorrow April 10th is Artwalk!

It looks like its going to be gorgeous weather to walk around downtown Mobile! Enjoy the art, the people, and the atmosphere in one of the best downtown areas on the Gulf Coast!

LODA ArtWalk is this Friday! This April, we're celebrating National Arts, Culture and Creativity Month! 🎨

Join us to explore local vendors, nonprofits, live music, and captivating art from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 10. There will be fun, hands-on activities for all ages, and Kids Zone will feature hands-on craft projects and face painting. Plus, there will be live performances and music.

Learn more: https://www.cityofmobile.org/events/

04/07/2026

201 years ago, the Marquis de Lafayette visited the Mayor Samuel H. Garrow's house in downtown Mobile!

According to the Encylopedia of Alabama (https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/lafayettes-visit-to-alabama/):

On April 7th, 1825, the Marquis arrived in Mobile to much fanfare. The former aide to Gen. George Washington was in the midst of a tour of all of the U.S. states in honor of the nation's 50th anniversary in 1824-25. Lafayette had first come to America from France 47 years earlier to support America's war for independence from Great Britain. At the age of 20, Lafayette was made a major general and served with distinction on Washington's staff, fighting in important battles at Brandywine in Pennsylvania and Yorktown in Virginia.

After the Revolutionary War, the Marquis traveled back to France and spent the better part of the next 40 years trying to persuade the French Government to align with the ideals he fought for in the American Revolution. Lafayette served in the 1787 Assembly of Notables, an advisory group to the king of France that worked for governmental reform, and served as commander-in-chief of the French National Guard from 1789 to 1791. After raising the ire of the French government, Lafayette attempted to escape to the United States but was captured by Austrian authorities and imprisoned until September 1797. Lafayette returned to France in 1800. In 1818, he was elected to the French Parliament, where he served until 1824 as a leader of the opposition party and promoted such liberal measures as freedom of the press and religious tolerance. After losing his seat in Parliament, Lafayette accepted an invitation from Pres. James Monroe in 1824 to make a grand tour of what were then the 24 U.S. states. After his visit, he returned to France and engaged in politics until his death at age 76.

Fun Facts:
The site where Mayor Garrow's house stood is currently occupied by a large, circular 17-story hotel, built in 1975

The Marquis de Lafayette's full name was "Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de la Lafayette". Imagine having to learn to spell that when you learned your letters in kindergarten!

There are two great portraits of the Marquis: the first is when he was younger and a member of the Washington's staff. The other (painted by Samuel Morse) was made in 1825. It shows a much older man, one that had fought for many years.

The Marquis' family was well connected in French society. When he was born, the great families would have their sons commissioned in the King's Muskateers. (Yes! The real life military organization that appears in Alexander Dumas "Three Muskateers"). The Marquis was commissioned as a Lieutinent in the Muskateers at age 14. Its interesting to think an actual Muskateer walked up Government Street!