For many, the quaint town of Point Clear, Alabama represents the Old South rooted in tradition, charm, and grace. Halfway down the bay and nearly hidden among oaks adorned with Spanish moss, Point Clear was founded in the early 1800s. Today, the city continues to honor its role in the Civil War, perpetuates the memories of its residents, and evolves as a greater and better place.
Following the coast line, early Spanish explores first discovered Point Clear situated on the Bay of the Holy Spirit or as it is known today, Mobile Bay. The town was named "Punta Clara" in 1800 by the Spanish explorers because it was an easily identifiable landmark along the bay that marked the halfway point from the bay's southern edge to Mobile (Havner). In the years following a group of cottages were built by wealthy Baldwin planters and Mobilians. As Mobilians and Southerners continued to vacation in Point Clear the city began to take its shape, and in 1847 with the erection of the Point Clear Hotel by affluent landowner, F.H. Chamberlain, Point Clear became a social center for the South (Sulzby). The Point Clear Hotel, suitably renamed The Grand Hotel, has been the epicenter of the town since its erection and has carried it to the twenty first century.
Point Clear’s part in the Civil War lies within the walls of the Point Clear Hotel and its nearby residence, the Gunnison House. The Point Clear Hotel, celebrated for its hospitality, primarily hosted wounded Confederate soldiers as a hospital throughout the Civil War, and members of Alabama's 15th and 21st Regiments were stationed in Point Clear to protect it. Although it mainly served as a recovery facility, during the Battle of Mobile Bay the Point Clear Hotel and Gunnison House did receiv...
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...any Southern areas but flourished and thrived. Primarily founded as summer escape for the rich in its beginning, Point Clear has continued to uphold its legacy and its roots in tradition. Although Point Clear continually faces new issues and is evolving daily, the city is an eclectic and exquisite place to call home.
Works Cited
2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law (P.L.) 94-171) Summary File—Point Clear CDP/prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, 2011.
Havner, Rena. "Point Clear." Mobile Press-Register 15 June 2003.
Kirby, Brendan. "Point Clear : Shrinking island in a sea of growth ." Mobile Press-Register 26 March 2001.
Sulzby, James F. Historic Alabama Hotels and Resorts . Montgomery, Alabama: University of Alabama Press , 1960.
Walker, Alyce Billings, ed. Alabama, A Guide to the Deep South. The Alabama State Planning Commision , 1941.
Hover, John C., Joseph D. Barnes, and Walter D. Jones. Memoirs of the Miami Valley. Chicago: Robert O’Law Company, 1919. Print.
One half of the story was of a man named Daniel Burnham, who was a famous architect of his time. It’s in this half of the story that can you see the good part of the city. Pride can be seen mainly throughout his story. His life in these pages was based on the construction of the World Columbian Exposition which was a fair held in Chicago in 1893. This magnificent fair was in honor of one of America’s most well known discoverers, Christopher C. Columbus. This was the 400th anniversary of his discovery of the new world. Through Burnham’s pride and his determination, he was able to complete the fair in almost a year. However, it was not truly ready for opening day due to a few construction issues, such as the world’s f...
Calhoun, John C. The Papers of John C. Calhoun. Robert L. Meriweather, W. Edwin Hemphill, et al., eds. 16 vols. Columbia, SC, 195
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Curtin, Philip D: The rise and fall of the plantation complex:essays in Atlantic history (Cambridge, 1990).
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Joseph Taylor, “The Rise and Decline of a Utopian Community, Boley, Oklahoma,” Negro History Bulletin 3 (March 1940), 92; and Joseph Taylor, “Mound Bayou – Past and Present,” Negro History Bulletin 3 (April 1940), 105.
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Heidler, David Stephen, and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a
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United States Census Bureau, (n.d.). U.S. Census Bureau: State and county quickfacts. Data derived from population estimates, American community survey, census of population and housing, county business patterns, economic census, survey of business owners, building permits, census of governments United States Census Bureau.