Mobile in Mobile County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
Catholic Cemetery
Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 10, 2017
1. Catholic Cemetery Marker
Inscription.
Catholic Cemetery, established in 1848 by Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile, with purchase of five acres on Stone St., now Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Significant for its circular pattern original section has three concentric rings of graves oriented with feet toward center plot of Daughters of Charity. Annexation of land in 1866 added 15 acres to Old Catholic Cemetery, known for its high style of funerary art, graves of Admiral Raphael Semmes and priest-poet Abram J. Ryan. Original gates (c.1850) to Spring Hill College, also founded by Portier, stand at entrance to section opened in 1948 totaling 150 acres. Site of annual All Souls' Day Mass for Dead since 1929. Listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Catholic Cemetery, established in 1848 by Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile, with purchase of five acres on Stone St., now Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Significant for its circular pattern original section has three concentric rings of graves oriented with feet toward center plot of Daughters of Charity. Annexation of land in 1866 added 15 acres to Old Catholic Cemetery, known for its high style of funerary art, graves of Admiral Raphael Semmes and priest-poet Abram J. Ryan. Original gates (c.1850) to Spring Hill College, also founded by Portier, stand at entrance to section opened in 1948 totaling 150 acres. Site of annual All Souls' Day Mass for Dead since 1929. Listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
Erected 2009 by Historic Mobile Preservation Society and the Friends of the Catholic Cemetery.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Cemeteries & Burial Sites. A significant historical year for this entry is 1848.
Location. 30° 42.508′ N, 88° 4.527′ W. Marker is in Mobile, Alabama, in Mobile County. It is at the intersection of Dr Martin Luther King Jr Avenue and Cassidy Street, on the right when traveling north on Dr Martin Luther King Jr Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1710 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Avenue, Mobile AL 36617, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Alabama’s Gulf Coast and in Mobile Bay. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Viceroyalty of New France, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
3. Grave of Admiral Raphael Semmes (served in U.S. Navy and Confederate Navy)
Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 10, 2017
4. Grave of priest-poet Father Abram J. Ryan.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 7, 2018. It was originally submitted on December 11, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 738 times since then and 28 times this year. Last updated on January 3, 2018, by Byron Hooks of Sandy Springs, Georgia. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on December 11, 2017, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
