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Mobile, Alabama, circa 1901. "Battle House." Whose name has lengthened over the years to "Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel and Spa by Marriott." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
I have stayed at The Battlehouse several times. It is simply beautiful; much more than is in this picture! The whispering arches are a big draw. Thanks for sharing this great picture.
I've just spent most of today enjoyably going through the Library of Congress pictures of Mobile, Alabama, my free-range boyhood home. Two Shorpy-relevant finds:
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SAME CORNER, Royal and Conti Streets, looking north, in 1901, and circa 1910.
What a difference a few years makes, huh? And note man on pole.
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Royal Street, looking south.
I do believe that's the Klosky's banner in the distance. And on the left here, the seven-story building is the Battle House hotel (look at the writing in the Z on the sign), but a different one from the 1901 one shown in the Shorpy post above. Wikipedia says the previous (1901) Battle House burned down in 1905, was rebuilt, and reopened in 1908. Which would date these two photographs no earlier than 1908.
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Around 1950 it snowed one day in Mobile. Noteworthy enough to include in a movie newsreel (remember those?). The newsreel showed the falling snow with the front of the Battle House in the background. (I've not been able to find this newsreel online.)
Thanks for the memories, Shorpy!
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[Edited 12:33 PM 11/27/2011 to repair and update links. -lesle]
What I find so interesting about these pictures, aside from the obvious, is all the wires. So many of them have disappeared from sight now - either bundled together to reduce dozens of lines to two or three, or buried underneath the streets. I bet the pigeons were delighted (and possibly electrocuted) by the introduction of electricity and telephones.
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