- Bienville Square
Infobox park
park= Bienville Square
image size=
caption= Bienville Square from Dauphin Street.
type= Public park
location=Mobile, Alabama
coordinates=
size= 1city block
opened= 1850
operator= The City of Mobile
annual visitors=
status= Open all yearBienville Square is a historic city park in the center of downtown
Mobile, Alabama . Bienville Square was named for Mobile’s founder,Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville .Delaney, Caldwell. "The Story of Mobile",page 79. Mobile, Alabama: Gill Press, 1953.] It takes up the entire block bordered by the streets of Dauphin, Saint Joseph, Saint Francis, and North Conception.History
Bienville Square had its beginnings as a public park in 1824 when the
United States Congress passed an act that transferred a large plot of land to the city of Mobile and specified that the property be forever used as a city park. This plot was the site of the old Spanish Hospital on the southwestern corner of the block, at the corner of Dauphin Street and North Conception Street. The city began buying the other lots in the block in 1834 and by 1849 held title to the entire block. The square was a primary gathering place for residents of the city from the 1850s to the 1940s. The late 1960s saw Bienville Square in its most run-down condition as people moved away from downtown to the suburbs. [Thomason, Michael. "Mobile : the new history of Alabama's first city",page 298. Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, 2001. ISBN 0817310657] The revival of downtown starting in the 1980s saw the popularity of the park increase and its upkeep resumed.Notable events
Theodore Roosevelt spoke in the square in 1905 about the importance of thePanama Canal to theport of Mobile . cite web|title="Main Street Mobile"|work="Dauphin Street Virtual Walking Tour"|url=http://www.mainstreetmobile.org/html/guide/walking.html|accessdate=2007-09-26] It was the site of many mass meetings by shipyard workers fromAlabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company duringWorld War II as the company experienced labor disputes. [Thomason, Michael. "Mobile : the new history of Alabama's first city",page 220. Tuscaloosa : University of Alabama Press, 2001. ISBN 0817310657]Features
In the 1850s walkways, a now removed cast iron fence, benches, and
live oak trees were added. The largecast iron fountain with an acanthus leaf motif was added to the center of the square in the 1890s. A new bandstand was added to the park in 1941 to replace one from the Victorian era.Activities
The square is used for many of the city's cultural functions:
*"Jazz in Bienville" by the Gulf Coast Ethnic and Heritage Jazz Festival.
*The annual "Lighting of the Trees" celebration and the lighting of Mobile's official Christmas tree.
*"Kids Day in Bienville Square".
*The square is the epicenter for Mobile's annual "Bayfest Music Festival".References
External links
* [http://www.cityofmobile.org/ City of Mobile]
* [http://www.mainstreetmobile.org/index.html Main Street Mobile]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
