Mobile in Mobile County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Africatown

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2020

1. Africatown Marker

Inscription. Near here in circa 1860, Timothy Meaher unloaded approximately 110 smuggled Africans of Yoruba ethnicity from the schooner Clotilda, the last known documented slave ship to force enslaved people of African descent to the United States. He shared his illicit human cargo with his brothers and sold the rest to upstate plantations. The ship was torched to the hull and sunk by its owners to prevent discovery. After the Civil War, many freed Clotilda captives traveled to Magazine Point, and founded their own settlement, known today as Africatown. The settlement was isolated at first and gave the survivors a haven to continue practicing their traditional African culture. The people of Africatown elected their own officials, established their own church, purchased land collectively, and maintained traditional familial ties. According to oral tradition, the survivors returned to their point of origin, in Africatown, with hopes that they would return to their homeland. Never able to, they remembered their languages, customs, social structures, and taught their children about Africa. The following generations maintained the customs

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passed down to them, while slowly integrating themselves with Mobile's African-American society. Eventually, Africatown was annexed by the City of Mobile. The last recognized survivors of the Clotilda, Kazoola (Cudjo Lewis) and Redoshi (Sally Smith) died in 1935 and 1937, respectively. In 2019, the Clotilda was found near this site in the Mobile River delta, where the vessel currently rests.

Erected 2019 by Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail of Mobile. (Marker Number 2.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail of Mobile series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1860.

Location. 30° 43.942′ N, 88° 3.424′ W. Marker is in Mobile, Alabama, in Mobile County. It is at the intersection of Bay Bridge Road (Alternate U.S. 90) and Magazine Road South, on the right when traveling east on Bay Bridge Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mobile AL 36610, United States

View east from marker towards the Bay Bridge over the Mobile River. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2020

2. View east from marker towards the Bay Bridge over the Mobile River.

of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Gulf Coast

and in the Mobile Bay area.

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.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Union Baptist Church / Founders of Union Baptist Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Cudjoe “Kazoola” Lewis (approx. 0.2 miles away); Old Plateau Cemetery (approx. 0.2 miles away); Lewis Quarters (approx. 1.1 miles away); Africatown, Alabama / The UNESCO Routes of Enslaved Peoples: Resistance, Liberty and Heritage (approx. 1.1 miles away); Oaklawn Cemetery (approx. 1.7 miles away); Catholic Cemetery (approx. 2 miles away); Gen. William C. Gorgas (approx. 2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all

Looking west towards Plateau Cemetery, Union Baptist Church & Africatown Welcome Center. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, December 5, 2020

3. Looking west towards Plateau Cemetery, Union Baptist Church & Africatown Welcome Center.

markers in Mobile.

Regarding Africatown. The Dora Franklin Finley African-American Heritage Trail, in Mobile, is a 5-mile trail that traces the city’s multicultural heritage by linking significant contributions and events with sites that preserve the contributions of African Americans in Mobile since the city’s founding more than 300 years ago.

Also see . . . Wikipedia article on Africatown. (Submitted on December 5, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Credits. This page was last revised on August 1, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 5, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 1,839 times since then and 154 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 5, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.

Editor’s want-list for this marker. A link to the National Register of Historic Places nomination form with a citation of the district's historical significance. • Can you help?