Mobile is an ideal location for GulfQuest. Located within one-day’s drive from virtually every Gulf Coast metro area, GulfQuest will be well-positioned to serve the needs of coastal residents and visitors.

Mobile’s rich maritime history and culture further underscore its value as a host city. Mobile has played a central role in world events for well over 300 years, from the first arrival of Spanish explorers, through the Civil War and World War II, to the present day.

Mobile is one of the oldest cities in the U.S., founded in 1702 when the French colony of Louisiana was established on the Mobile River. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, Mobile thrived under French, British and American rule. From 1815-1861, Mobile enjoyed a half-century of enviable prosperity as the second largest international seaport on the Gulf Coast. It was in the Battle of Mobile Bay that Union Admiral David Farragut made his historic exclamation, “Damn the torpedoes – full speed ahead!”

Even today, Mobile is defined by maritime commerce and industry. Mobile derives more than half of its annual income from waterborne commerce. The Port of Mobile is one of the busiest on the Gulf Coast, and the 10th largest port in the nation. Major shipyards line the waterfront, continuing a long-standing tradition.

What’s more, Mobile plays an integral role in the marine environment of the Gulf. The Mobile-Tensaw River Delta is the second largest river delta in the U.S., providing a critical habitat for plants and animals, and filtering impurities from 20% of the nation’s fresh water. Mobile Bay is the nation’s fourth largest estuary, providing a transition between the fresh water wetlands of the Delta and the marine environment of the Gulf.