DID Ep 7 - Ghost Town at the Top of the Bay

DID Ep 7 - Ghost Town at the Top of the Bay

200 years ago, there was another city at the head of Mobile Bay. For a brief but remarkable time, Blakeley rivaled Mobile in size, commerce, and ambition. Founded by a Connecticut entrepreneur who believed there was room for another great port on the Gulf Coast, Blakeley seemed destined to become one of the most important cities in the young state of Alabama. But history had other plans. In this episode of Dauphin Island Diaries, we explore the rise and fall of the ghost town just above Mobile Bay. Along the way, we'll look at the optimism of the early American frontier, the opening of the Old Southwest, steamboats, yellow fever, land speculation, and the fierce economic rivalry between Blakeley and Mobile that ultimately shaped the future of Mobile Bay. Today, only the old courthouse foundations, a cemetery, and memories remain. Yet if you stand beneath the live oaks overlooking the Tensaw River, it's still almost  possible to imagine the bustling town that once stood there...and to wonder what might have been had history chosen a different path. Sources Research for this episode was drawn primarily from: * An on-site interview with Mike Bunn, Executive Director of Historic Blakeley State Park Additional information was drawn from: * Peter J. Hamilton, "Some Southern Yankees" (The American Historical Magazine, October 1898) * Story of the Tensaw, Blakely, Spanish Fort, Jackson Oaks, Fort Mims by Prescott A. Parker * Encyclopedia of Alabama * Voices from 1818 * ExploreSouthernHistory.com * UnitedStatesGhostTowns.com * Additional historical and archival resources used for fact-checking, chronology, and background research 🎙️ Credits Hosted by Big John Summers Produced by Summers Media Enterprises Foley/Sound Effects recorded by Big John Summers 📣 Follow & Support Follow Dauphin Island Diaries on Facebook, Instagram, and X for additional content, including on-location videos, historical interpretation, interviews, and stories from across Dauphin Island and the Alabama Gulf Coast. 🔗 Links 🧢 Merch & Apparel: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch] 📘 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/ [https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/] 📘 Check out The Tennessee History Nerd: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Check out the Dauphin Island Diaries Catalog! Check out our merchandise on the SME Website.  New bumper stickers available! Check out The Tennessee History Nerd!   https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Advertise with us!  John.summers@summersmediaenterprises.com Take Dauphin Island Diaries with you wherever you go! If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with someone who loves history, and leave a review—it helps more folks discover the stories of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, and the Gulf Coast.

DID Bonus INTERVIEWSDAY Material - Interview with Jason Herrmann

It's INTERVIEWSDAY! In this Interviewsday edition (Interview Tuesday) of Dauphin Island Diaries, I sit down with Jason Herrmann of the Alabama Marine Resources Division to explore one of the Gulf Coast's most valuable natural resources... oysters. Jason serves as Alabama's Shellfish Aquaculture Program Coordinator and has spent years working to conserve, restore, and expand oyster resources in Alabama waters. His expertise helped provide much of the background research for our recent episode, "The World Is Your Oyster," and in this conversation he explains why oysters have been so important to the Gulf Coast's history, economy, and environment. In this conversation, Jason discusses: • Alabama's oyster industry, past and present • Oyster reefs and their importance to coastal ecosystems • Shellfish aquaculture and how oysters are raised today • Challenges facing oyster populations in Mobile Bay and surrounding waters • Conservation and restoration efforts along Alabama's coast • Why oysters have played such an important role in the history of Dauphin Island and the Alabama Gulf Coast Like many of our Interviewsday conversations, this episode provides the deeper background behind one of our historical stories. While "The World Is Your Oyster" explored the history of Alabama's oyster industry, this interview offers insight from someone who works every day to help ensure that tradition continues for future generations. 🎙️ Credits Hosted by Big John Summers Produced by Summers Media Enterprises Foley/Sound effects recorded by Big John Summers 📣 Follow & Support Follow Dauphin Island Diaries on Facebook, Instagram, and X for additional content, including on-location videos, historical interpretation, and stories from across the Alabama Gulf Coast. 🔗 Links 🧢 Merch & Apparel: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch 📘 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/ 📘 Check out The Tennessee History Nerd: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn Check out the Dauphin Island Diaries Catalog! Check out our merchandise on the SME Website.  New bumper stickers available! Check out The Tennessee History Nerd!   https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Take Dauphin Island Diaries with you wherever you go! If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with someone who loves history, and leave a review—it helps more folks discover the stories of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, and the Gulf Coast.

DID Ep 6 - The Sentinel at the Mouth of the Bay: The SAD Island Lighthouse

The Sand Island Lighthouse stands three miles south of Dauphin Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay. Today it sits alone on a small ring of granite rip rap, battered by storms, erosion, and time. But it wasn't always that way. In this episode of Dauphin Island Diaries, we trace the remarkable history of Alabama's most iconic lighthouse, from its beginnings as an iron spindle placed on a shifting sand island to the towering brick sentinel that has watched over Mobile Bay for more than 150 years. More than a lighthouse story, this is the story of man's attempt to build something permanent on land that never stopped moving. Today, the Sand Island Lighthouse remains standing, but its future is uncertain. Whether it survives another century or falls in the next great storm, it continues to stand watch at the entrance to Mobile Bay, a silent witness to generations of Gulf Coast history. Sources Research for this episode was drawn primarily from: • Sand Island Lighthouse Chronicles by Warren Lee Additional information was drawn from: • Lighthouse Friends • Lighthouse Digest • United States Coast Guard Historical Archives • Encyclopedia of Alabama • Alabama Heritage • WKRG News 5 • The Lighthouse Hunters • A History of Dauphin Island Under Five Flags by Frances Young • Additional historical and archival resources used for fact-checking, chronology, and photographic research Historic photographs and supporting documentation were consulted from multiple archival collections, including the United States Coast Guard and University of South Alabama archival materials referenced by the sources above. 🎙️ Credits Hosted by Big John Summers Produced by Summers Media Enterprises Foley/Sound effects recorded by Big John Summers 📣 Follow & Support Follow Dauphin Island Diaries on Facebook, Instagram, and X for additional content, including on-location videos, historical interpretation, and stories from across Dauphin Island and the Alabama Gulf Coast. 🔗 Links 🧢 Merch & Apparel: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch] 📘 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/ [https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/] 📘 Check out The Tennessee History Nerd: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Check out the Dauphin Island Diaries Catalog! Check out our merchandise on the SME Website.  New bumper stickers available! Check out The Tennessee History Nerd!   https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Advertise with us!  John.summers@summersmediaenterprises.com Take Dauphin Island Diaries with you wherever you go! If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with someone who loves history, and leave a review—it helps more folks discover the stories of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, and the Gulf Coast.

DID Bonus iNTERVIEWSDAY Material: Interview with Ms. Anita Phillips

In this Interviewsday edition of Dauphin Island Diaries, I sit down with longtime Dauphin Island resident Anita Phillips to talk about life on the island, how it has changed over the years, and some of the people and places that have helped shape its unique character. Anita is a familiar face to many visitors. She has spent years serving as a docent at the Dauphin Island Welcome Center, helping residents and tourists alike learn more about the island's history, culture, and attractions. She is also the widow of the late architect and artist Gene Phillips, whose colorful condominium designs along LeMoyne Drive have become one of the island's most recognizable landmarks. In this conversation, Anita shares memories of: • First date on Dauphin Island • The changes she has witnessed on the island over the decades • Tourism and community life on Dauphin Island • The work of the Dauphin Island Welcome Center • Local traditions and island culture • Her husband Bill Phillips and the story behind the colorful "birdhouse" condominiums on LeMoyne Drive • Some of the people who have helped shape modern Dauphin Island Like many of our Interviewsday conversations, this episode offers a personal perspective that complements the historical stories we tell on Dauphin Island Diaries. History is ultimately about people, and few people know the island and its community better than Anita Phillips. 🎙️ Credits Hosted by Big John Summers  Produced by Summers Media Enterprises  Foley/Sound effects recorded by Big John Summers 📣 Follow & Support Follow Dauphin Island Diaries on Facebook, Instagram, and X for additional content, including on-location videos, historical interpretation, and stories from across the Alabama Gulf Coast. 🔗 Links 🧢 Merch & Apparel: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch] 📘 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/ [https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/] 📘 Check out The Tennessee History Nerd: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Check out the Dauphin Island Diaries Catalog! Check out our merchandise on the SME Website.  New bumper stickers available! Check out The Tennessee History Nerd!   https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Advertise with us!  John.summers@summersmediaenterprises.com Take Dauphin Island Diaries with you wherever you go! If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with someone who loves history, and leave a review—it helps more folks discover the stories of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, and the Gulf Coast.

DID Ep 5 - The Lost Republic

For 74 days in 1810, there was a country on the Gulf Coast that most Americans have never heard of. It had a flag, a government, a governor, and a claim to territory stretching from modern-day Louisiana toward Mobile Bay and the Perdido River. Then, almost as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. In this episode of Dauphin Island Diaries, we explore the story of the Republic of West Florida, a short-lived nation born from the collision of Spanish colonial rule, American expansion, frontier settlement, and international intrigue during the age of Napoleon. Along the way, we'll visit: * Spanish West Florida and its disputed boundaries * The Louisiana Purchase and competing territorial claims * The Federal Road and Fort Stoddert * Reuben Kemper and the early filibuster movements * The capture of Fort San Carlos at Baton Rouge * Governor Fulwar Skipwith and the Republic of West Florida * Mobile Bay's place in the struggle for control of the Gulf Coast * The annexation of West Florida by the United States We'll also examine the roles played by James Madison, William Claiborne, Harry Toulmin, James Wilkinson, and others whose decisions helped shape the future of the Gulf Coast. Though the Republic of West Florida existed for only 74 days, the events surrounding its rise and fall helped determine the future of modern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Sources Research for this episode was drawn primarily from: * The Rogue Republic: How Would-Be Patriots Waged the Shortest Revolution in American History by William C. Davis * Fort Stoddert: American Sentinel on the Mobile River, 1799-1814 by Mike Bunn and Susie Hartman Additional information was drawn from: * Alabama Encyclopedia * Dictionary.com * Historical reference materials used for fact-checking and chronology Special thanks to historian Mike Bunn for insights shared during an interview conducted on June 9, 2026, which provided additional context for several aspects of this story. 🎙️ Credits Hosted by Big John Summers Produced by Summers Media Enterprises Foley/Sound effects recorded by Big John Summers 📣 Follow & Support Follow Dauphin Island Diaries on Facebook, Instagram, and X for additional content, including on-location videos, historical interpretation, and stories from across Tennessee. Support the show on Patreon for: • Early access to episodes • Ad-free listening • Exclusive bonus content, including full-length interviews 🔗 Links 🧢 Merch & Apparel: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/merch] 📘 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DauphinIslandDiaries/ [https://www.facebook.com/TheTennesseeHistoryNerd/] 📘 Check out The Tennessee History Nerd: https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Check out the Dauphin Island Diaries Catalog! Check out our merchandise on the SME Website.  New bumper stickers available! Check out The Tennessee History Nerd!   https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn [https://www.summersmediaenterprises.com/podcasts/tthn] Advertise with us!  John.summers@summersmediaenterprises.com Take Dauphin Island Diaries with you wherever you go! If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with someone who loves history, and leave a review—it helps more folks discover the stories of Dauphin Island, Mobile Bay, and the Gulf Coast.