The History Museum of Mobile is where Mobile’s story begins! Three sites - the History Museum of Mobile, Colonial Fort Condé, and the Phoenix Fire Museum - bring Mobile’s past to life for tens of thousands of visitors each year.

Start your visit at the History Museum of Mobile, where over 20,000 square feet of exhibit space interpret Mobile’s history from pre-Colonial contact to the modern Port City. Don’t miss the new children’s discovery room, where families can explore a French ship, play real African drums, try on colonial clothing, practice basket weaving, and more! Special exhibitions are always changing, so be sure to check the schedule. Your admission also covers Colonial Fort Condé, a partial reconstruction of the 1723 fort built when the French founded Mobile. And don’t miss the Phoenix Fire Museum, where horse-drawn steam engines and antique ladder trucks bring to life Mobile’s proud history of volunteer firefighting.

In March of 2020, the History Museum of Mobile announced a partnership with the Mobile County Commission, the City of Mobile, the Alabama Historical Commission, and community leaders in Africatown to create a landmark exhibition at the under-construction Africatown Heritage House. The nationally anticipated Clotilda: The Exhibition will tell the story of the people aboard the last slave ship to the United States. The pieces of the Clotilda that have been recovered from the shipwreck will be on display in the exhibition, on loan from the Alabama Historical Commission. The exhibition has been curated, developed, and designed in conjunction with the local community and the wider descendent community, and in consultation with experts around the country. When it opens, History Museum of Mobile will operate the Africatown Heritage House as a fourth site.

The History Museum of Mobile is the five-time recipient of the “Best Museum” Nappie, Mobile Bay’s people’s choice award. In 2021, the museum received two awards for innovative programming: the Main Street Mobile’s Chairman’s Certificate and Visit Mobile’s MOBie. The History Museum of Mobile is proud to co-host the 2024 American Association of State and Local History conference. For more information and museum updates, see the annual report and subscribe to our newsletter.