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Old Shell Road is a thoroughfare located in Mobile, a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States.
Old Shell Road is predominantly a two lane road, with a four lane section from Schillinger Road to University Boulevard, which was widened to accommodate traffic from the University of South Alabama.
Old Shell Road begins at Schillinger Road within the city limits of Mobile (annexed in 2007) where it proceeds eastward. West of Schillinger the roadway is known as Tanner Williams Road. Old Shell crosses into the pre-2007 city limits at Cody Road, with major intersections at Hillcrest, University, Bit & Spur, McGregor, Tuthill, Sage, Florida, Upham, Mobile Infirmary (formerly Louiselle)/Kenneth, Catherine, Lafayette, Hallett and Broad. Old Shell Road ends at Broad street, which is the traditional boundary for Downtown Mobile. Old Shell Road is located on the north side of the city of Mobile, as well as within northern Mobile County. Old Shell Road crosses Interstate 65, the traditional dividing line between the east and the west of the city, but does not have an intersection with it.
Old Shell is composed of residential, commercial, and industrial establishments, mixed throughout the road. It has maintained a highly residential character throughout and traverses some of the city's wealthiest areas as well as some of its most economically desperate areas, with these areas often being in close proximity to each other as is the case of wealthy Spring Hill and Ashland Place which have depressed Crichton in between them. Major neighborhoods and subdivisions located along Old Shell Road include: East Drive, Country Club Woods, Country Club Estates/Wimbledon, Ridgelawn, Austill, Village of Spring Hill, Crichton, Ashland Place, and 19th century homes between McGill-Toolen and Broad Street
Old Shell Road has a reputation as being something of an "education highway". Old Shell Road is home to three of four of Mobile's currently operational private high schools, two magnet schools, two private elementary/middle level schools and both of the city's four year colleges. Old Shell is also within a block of Mobile's only Islamic educational facility as well as a public school named for author Augusta Evans Wilson and is within two blocks of two more of the city's private schools.
The following educational institutions are located on (or near) Old Shell Road:
Old Shell Road is represented by five members of the Mobile City Council. It is wholly extant in District 7 between Cody and Hillcrest. It serves as the boundary line between Districts 6 & 7 between Hillcrest and University. It is the boundary line between 5 & 7 between University and Tuthill. It becomes extant with District 7 between Tuthill and I-65 and is wholly contained in District 1 and then District 2 in its territories in the eastern half of the city.
District 1 is represented by Fred Richardson, Council Vice-President, first elected in 1997 to fill the vacancy left by Vivian Davis Figures election to the Alabama Senate.
District 2 is represented by William Carroll, first elected in 2005.
District 5 is represented by Reggie Copeland, city council president, first elected in 1985.
District 6 is represented by Connie Hudson, first elected in 2001.
District 7 is represented by Gina Gregory, first elected in 2005. [2]
Major neighborhoods and subdivisions located along Old Shell Road include:
East Drive, Country Club Woods, Country Club Estates/Wimbledon, Ridgelawn, Austill, Village of Spring Hill, Crichton, Ashland Place, and 19th century homes between McGill-Toolen and Broad Street
Old Shell is also notable for its historic architecture, which is especially evident in the neighborhoods east of Florida Street, with many of the neighborhoods east of Catherine containing architecture that predates the 1880s.
OLD SHELL ROAD, MOBILE, ALABAMA
From Harper’s Weekly Journal of Civilization, New York, Saturday, September 6, 1866:
From its beginnings, c.1824 until 1850, the picturesque and tree lined Isabella Street was one of Mobile’s most popular drives.
During this same time Spring Hill was rapidly becoming Mobile’s fashionable summer resort and refuge from the dread yellow fever epidemics.
About midway through the 19th, century a group of Spring Hill’s wealthy summer residents financed from their own purses the surfacing of the original country road with shells.
To provide for the maintenance of the road, which had to be resurfaced with shells four times a year, an act of legislature, February 13th, 1850, opened Isabella Street to toll and renamed it the “Shell Road”. A toll gate located near Stickney’s Hollow (now known as Fernway) charged 25 and 50 cents per vehicle.
Beginning at Broad Street, the “Shell Road” passed through Stickney’s Hollow, along the fringes of Summerville (now Spring Hill Avenue) skirting Ashland, the home of Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson (now Ashland Place) near Nepoleonville (now Crichton) eventually climbing “The Hill” and ending majestically at Spring Hill College.
On February 10th., 1854, a second act of legislature authorized the construction of another shell road along Mobile Bay. It was at that time, so as to distinguish one from the other, that the original “Shell Road” was renamed “Old Shell Road". [3]
A 1927 Census reveals that some of the last surviving Confederate widows in Alabama resided on Old Shell Road. [4]
Mobile is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobile's population increased to 204,689 residents, making it the second-most populous city in Alabama, after Huntsville. Mobile is the principal municipality of the Mobile metropolitan area, a region of 430,197 residents composed of Mobile and Washington counties; it is the third-largest metropolitan area in the state.
U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. It generally travels near Interstate 10 (I-10) and passes through the southern states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. US 90 also includes part of the DeSoto Trail between Tallahassee and Lake City, Florida.
Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road at Palisades Road. Much of the city's historic and noteworthy architecture is located along the street, and it is often used for annual parades,, as well as one-time parades celebrating events such as the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola in 1986 and the Atlanta Braves' 1995 and 2021 World Series victories.
U.S. Route 43 (US 43) is a 410-mile-long (660 km) north–south United States Highway in the Southern states of Alabama and Tennessee. It travels from Prichard, Alabama, to Columbia, Tennessee. The highway's southern terminus is in Prichard, at an intersection with US 90, and its northern terminus is in Columbia at an intersection with US 31/US 412/US 412 Bus.
The Millionaires' Mile, Millionaires' Row, Billionaires Row, Golden Mile or Alpha Street are the exclusive residential neighborhoods of various cities, often along one scenic strip such as a riverside or hilltop drive, or a wide city boulevard.
Former names: Apostolic Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas (1825-1829), Diocese of Mobile, Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham (1954-1969).
McGill–Toolen Catholic High School, founded as the McGill Institute and sometimes called "McT" for short, is a private co-educational high school operated by the educational system of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile in Mobile, Alabama.
State Road 51 is a north–south state highway in north Florida. Its northern terminus is along the overlap of US 41 and US 129. It runs southwards as the "secret" designation of US 129 to Live Oak, where it splits off and runs independently south to Steinhatchee. The Hal W. Adams Bridge carries it across the Suwannee River three miles (5 km) north of Mayo.
Thomas Joseph Toolen was an American clergyman of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of Mobile from 1927 to 1969, and was given the personal title of Archbishop in 1954.
U.S. Route 1 (US 1) is a major north–south U.S. Route that serves the East Coast of the United States. In the U.S. state of Virginia, US 1 runs north–south through South Hill, Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Alexandria on its way from North Carolina to the 14th Street bridges into the District of Columbia. It is completely paralleled by Interstate Highways in Virginia—Interstate 85 (I-85) south of Petersburg, I-95 north to Alexandria, and I-395 into the District of Columbia—and now serves mainly local traffic. At its north end, on the approach to the 14th Street bridges, US 1 is concurrent with I-395; the rest of US 1 is on surface roads.
U.S. Route 29 (US 29), internally designated by the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) as State Route 15 (SR 15), is a southwest–northeast state highway across the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. US 29 and SR 15 traverse Alabama in a general northeast–southwest slope. It has never been a major route in the state; its significance was completely overshadowed with the completion of Interstate 65 (I-65) and I-85 during the 1970s. Today, US 29 and SR 15 serve primarily to connect numerous smaller towns and cities in the southwest, south-central, and eastern parts of Alabama.
U.S. Route 90 (US 90) in the state of Florida is the northernmost east–west United States Numbered Highway in the state. US 90 passes through the county seats of all 15 counties on its course in Florida, and it is also the road upon which many of the county courthouses are located. It is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from Interstate 10 (I-10) throughout the state. It runs as a two-lane highway through most of the sparsely populated inland areas of the Florida Panhandle, widening to four lanes through and near several towns. The speed limit is 55 mph (89 km/h) for all rural points west of Monticello, and it is 60 mph (97 km/h) on all rural points from where it enters Madison County as far as Glen St. Mary.
The Old Dauphin Way Historic District is a historic district in the city of Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was named for Dauphin Way, now known as Dauphin Street, which bisects the center of the district from east to west. The district is roughly bounded by Broad Street on the east, Springhill Avenue on the north, Government Street on the south, and Houston Avenue on the west. Covering 766 acres (3.10 km2) and containing 1466 contributing buildings, Old Dauphin Way is the largest historic district in Mobile.
The Ashland Place Historic District is a historic district in the city of Mobile, Alabama, United States. The neighborhood gained its name from a Greek Revival antebellum house called Ashland that once stood on Lanier Avenue. Ashland was famous as the home of Augusta Evans Wilson. The house burned in 1926. The Ashland Place Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 23, 1987. It is roughly bounded by Spring Hill Avenue, Ryan Avenue, Old Shell Road, and Levert Avenue. The district covers 400 acres (1.6 km2) and contains 93 contributing buildings. The majority of the buildings date to the early 20th century and cover a variety of historical architectural styles ranging from late Victorian to the Craftsman styles.
Airport Boulevard is one of the main thoroughfares in Mobile County, Alabama. It is an east–west highway between Mobile County at the Mississippi state line and the city of Mobile.
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Arthur Robert Outlaw was a Mobile- area businessman, community leader, and politician, who served as Public Safety Commissioner (1965-1969) on the City Commission, and co-terminous as President of the Commission and Mayor of Mobile in 1967-1968. At that time, the mayor's title was co-extensive with the presidency of the City Commission, and was rotated for one-year terms among the three city commissioners. In 1984 he was elected as Finance Commissioner.
U.S. Route 441 (US 441) in the U.S. state of Georgia is a 354.2-mile-long (570.0 km) north–south United States Highway through the east-central portion of the state. It travels from the Florida state line near the Fargo city area to the North Carolina state line, in the northern part of Dillard. It is a spur route of US 41, although it has no intersections with its "parent" route within the state. It does have an intersection with another spur route of US 41 however, specifically US 341 in McRae–Helena.
Spring Hill is a neighborhood of Mobile, in Mobile County, Alabama. Located on a tall broad hill 6 miles (10 km) to the west of downtown Mobile, it has one of the highest elevations in the area. Originally a summer retreat community, it was eventually encompassed and annexed by the City of Mobile after 1820. It gained its name from a number of natural springs at the site.
