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Mobile County Extension Office
Meet the Staff & Directions
Office Hours: 7:30-12:00; 12:30-4:00
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Jimmy G. Todd
County Extension Coordinator
Jon Archer Agricultural Center
1070 Schillinger Rd., N.
Mobile, AL 36608-5298
Phone: (251) 574-8445
Fax: (251) 574-3245
Email Us
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About Mobile County
Mobile County was created by proclamation of Gov. Holmes of the Mississippi Territory on Dec. 18, 1812. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state and is bordered by Mississippi on the west, Washington County on the north, Baldwin County and Mobile Bay on the east and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. Mobile Bay was the first body of water in the New World to be accurately charted. This was done by Pineda in 1519.
The city of Mobile is the county seat. Both the city and the county derive their name from Fort Louis de la Mobile, a French fortification erected near Mount Vernon in 1702. The word "Mobile" is believed to come from a Choctaw Indian word for "paddlers." The area was occupied by the French in 1702-63, by the British in 1763-80, and by the Spanish in 1780-1813. Courthouse fires occurred in 1823, 1840 and 1872. Other towns and communities include Citronelle, Bayou LeBatre and Theodore.
Mobile is known as the "azalea city," thanks to Fifise Langlois who first brought the bright pink blossoms to the city from his father's garden in Toulouse, France, in 1754. It is also known as the Azalea Capital of the World, displaying more than 50 varieties in colors from paper white to pink, red and translucent lavender.
Mobile County's population is 387,431 and is about 81 percent urban and 19 percent rural. About 67 percent of the population is white and 33 percent is black, hispanic and other. There are more than 140 educational outlets in the county. Educational levels of residents 25 years and older range from 10.8 percent with a 9th grade education to 20.3 percent with four or more years of college.
Modern Mobile derives more than half of its annual wealth from industries dependent upon and directly allied with waterborne commerce. Major industries include Atlantic Marine, ship repair, Kimberly Clark, Ciba-Geigy Corp., Degussa Corp., Teledyne Continental Motors, OMS Inc., aircraft engines, aircraft refurbishing, printing and speciality papers and other paper products, chemicals, and computer software and hardware.
Tourist attractions include Bellingrath Gardens, USS Alabama Battleship Park, Dauphin Island Estuarium, Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Museum, Mobile Bay, Fort Gaines, Delchamps Senior Bowl, Azalea Trail Run, and America's Junior Miss Pageant. It is also the home of notables Jimmy Buffett, entertainer; Hank Aaron, Baseball Hall of Famer; and Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump.
The Mobile County Extension Office has 15 full-time and two part-time employees. Some of the more popular Extension programs include Master Gardener, Classroom in the Forest--Forest in the Classroom, which has more than 1,200 youth and 73 volunteers involved, Urban Family Summit, food safety for day-care providers, forage test plot and demonstrations, Milk from the Cow to the Table, and the fruit and vegetable growers demonstration and tour. Extension open house and farm day brings the farm to more than 900 Mobile city and county youth. They literally, see, hear, touch and smell Mobile County agriculture. More than 2,400 youth are involved in 4-H.
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