Mobile

Formed December 18, 1812 (5^th county)

Mobile County (414,812), Mobile (187,048)

A glass and concrete building is the 1994 county courthouse.  Located on Government Street and Joachim, this structure replaced the 1958 courthouse.  United States Highway 90 is Government Street in this part of the city.  Harry Goleman, Mario Bolullo, and Fred Woods were the architects of this Modern style courthouse.  There were also 1825, 1853, 1873, 1893 and 1958 versions of the courthouse all in Mobile.  The county and county seat are named for a Native American tribe.  Mobile County was the birthplace of 1 Alabama Governor, Don E. Siegelman.  The county was created on December 18, 1812 from West Florida as the 5^th county. 

Mobile County government consists of a sheriff, revenue commissioner, and coroner (executive).  It has 3 commissioners (legislative.)  Nine Circuit Judges, Five District Judges, and a Probate Judge, a District Attorney, and a County Clerk serve Mobile County (judicial.)  The county is situated in the far southwest corner of the state bordering Mississippi.  The Mobile River forms its east border.  The Gulf of Mexico is the south border.  The center of the county is in Mobile 7.5 miles West-Northwest of the city center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Washington and Baldwin counties and the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi.  The City of Mobile is in the southeast corner of the county.  Mobile is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 45.1% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced MOE-BEEL. 

The county has an area of 1229.4 square miles.  It ranks 4 out of 67 in size.  It ranks 2 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 334.6 persons per square mile making it 3 out of 67 in the state.  Mobile County has 60.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 crosses the county from east to west, Baldwin County into Mississippi.  Interstate Highway 65 comes in from Baldwin County on the northeast and terminates in Mobile at Interstate Highway 10.  United States Highway 43 enters from Washington County, north, and terminates in Mobile.  United States Highway 45 comes in from the northwest, Washington County, and terminates in Mobile.  United States Highway 90 crosses east to west, paralleling Interstate Highway 10, from Baldwin County to Mississippi.  United States Highway 98 enters joined with United States Highway 90 from Baldwin County, splits in Mobile, and exits to the northwest into Mississippi.  The county overall is a tall rectangle.  The county is in the Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area.