Coastal Alabama Economic History

This book is written as a compilation of the history of Coastal Alabama with a detailed history of Baldwin County and Mobile County and their municipalities. Vintage photos are used to illustrate the occurrences that depict the economic history of Coastal Alabama. It is intended to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the rich history of Coastal Alabama and to preserve and perpetuate its history.

People who love history will enjoy this book, especially those that love Coastal Alabama. It can be used as an educational resource on the history of Coastal Alabama. This book can serve as a guide to Historical Tourism in Coastal Alabama. People who vacation in Coastal Alabama will find this book helpful in choosing varying activities for their time in Baldwin and Mobile Counties.

It all begins with a history of Mobile Bay. The geographical features of Coastal Alabama and how they shaped its economic history is the basic theme of this book. The developmental history includes the social development and transportation development in Coastal Alabama. There is information about the many historic structures and the Port of Mobile.

A general description of Coastal Alabama is provided. Current economic activity is presented from the perspective of its historical development through the years in Coastal Alabama. Books, articles, websites, and other literature used during data collection for this book are listed for more detailed data.

The contents for this book began from efforts to document what Coastal Alabama offered retirees. History of an area is becoming increasingly important and useful in the decision of where to live. Historical knowledge of attractions in an area can make visiting those attractions more satisfying.   

This book features the historical development of Coastal Alabama including its geography and municipalities. Below is the Table of Contents.

1. Introduction to Coastal Alabama. This is an overview of the location and demographic information and includes a description of each municipality.

2. Coastal Alabama’s Geographical Features. These include the Gulf of Mexico, bays, delta, rivers, lagoons, creeks, and bayous. It also focuses on the social development and transportation development in Coastal Alabama.                               

3. History of Mobile County. This includes a history of each municipality, many historic structures, the Mobile River, and the Port of Mobile.                                         

4. History of Baldwin County. This covers the historical development of Baldwin County with detailed information about North Baldwin County, the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, and South Baldwin County along with a history of each municipality.       

5. Coastal Alabama’s Current Economic Conditions. This presents Current Economic Activity, the economic history, and details of the main industries. 

Bibliography/References/Resources   

Index      

This book is written for the interest of those that really enjoy history. It can also be used as an educational resource on the history of Coastal Alabama. It can serve as a guide to Historical Tourism in Coastal Alabama for vacationers, seasonal residents, and current residents. It can be used to help choose varying activities for their time in Baldwin and Mobile Counties.

This book is tailor-made for retired people in Coastal Alabama who find history extremely interesting. It can also be used to consider retiring to Coastal Alabama.

This book provides background information to Coastal Alabama Retirement Guide by Mark Fagan. Although both books have general information about Coastal Alabama, this book focuses on the historical background for the information presented in the retirement guide.

In 1983, I began researching and developing literature on the economic impact of retirees on communities. My research was designed to assist any community or state that wanted to attract retirees for economic development. My research topics included the economic impact of retirees, organizing for retiree attraction efforts, community assessment, marketing communities to potential retirees, and the mature market. I also began writing about community efforts to develop amenities for retirees as a form of economic development. I followed these activities with lectures, presentations, consulting, and program development around Alabama and the nation. My interest in retirement development in Alabama and my efforts to establish the first statewide program in the nation to attract retirees for economic development led me to Coastal Alabama.

Coastal Alabama has a history of attracting tourists and retirees. My efforts also got me involved with the conception and development of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. These activities sharpened my interest in economic history, economic impacts and projected economic impacts.

My professional activities have focused on the tourism and retirement industries in Baldwin County and Mobile County. I have extensively researched and followed the redevelopment of downtown Mobile by The Retirement Systems of Alabama since the early 2000s. I have focused many of my efforts on tourism and retirement on The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. All of my research and involvement in Coastal Alabama increased my interest in economic development and economic history. This interest sustained my efforts to thoroughly research the economic history of Coastal Alabama.

I have been visiting Baldwin County since the mid-1960s. I have lived in Coastal Alabama since 2012.

I earned a degree in psychology and economics at Jacksonville State University (JSU), then received his Master's and Doctoral degrees in social policy along with a doctoral minor in Human Resources Management at the University of Alabama. I retired from JSU as Professor Emeritus in 2012 with 32 years teaching and managing the Department of Sociology and Social Work. I have assisted in efforts for economic development in Alabama, and has written extensively about economic impacts, economic history, and retirement development for 39 years. my research on migrating retirees was used to establish the Alabama program to attract retirees. 

My work on attracting retirees was used as partial justification for developing The Trail. Beginning in 1991, my work on The Trail included: assisting negotiations for three of the golf complexes; completing projected economic impact studies for five of the golf complexes; providing justification for State funding for access roads for four of the golf complexes; assisting with housing development at four of the golf complexes; assisting JSU to launch the first website for The Trail in 1995; writing 35 articles, 17 encyclopedia entries, and making 11 presentations about The Trail; receiving publicity in 24 publications for work on The Trail; being interviewed by The Golf Channel with the story broadcast worldwide during of The Barbasol Championship in 2017 (at Grand National); and appearing on 16 television programs and four radio programs discussing The Trail.

I have now published 10 books and have been a consistent resource for national news media outlets concerning retirees and retirement strategies.