Chickasaw Shipyard Village Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

comprising buildings and areas within

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands. Their traditional territory was in the Southeastern United States of Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee as well in southwestern Kentucky. Their language is classified as ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, which is a northern suburb of

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

Mobile County Mobile County ( ) is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the second most-populous county in the state after Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its po ...

. The site is historically significant due to its role as a

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

for the

Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation is a former shipbuilding corporation in Chickasaw, Alabama a few miles upstream of the Port of Mobile. Following the company's closure, the land became a part of the Chickasaw Shipyard Village Historic District Hist ...

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

during the first half of the twentieth century. In addition, Chickasaw was the subject of a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case, ''

Marsh v. Alabama ''Marsh v. Alabama'', 326 U.S. 501 (1946), was a case decided by the US Supreme Court, which ruled that a state trespassing statute could not be used to prevent the distribution of religious materials on a town's sidewalk even though the sidewalk ...

'' (1946) upholding the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

rights of individuals living in privately owned towns, because the towns were operated as public places. The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on September 3, 2004.

History

Chickasaw Shipyard Village

The company town of Chickasaw was built and owned in the early 20th century by Chickasaw Shipbuilding. In addition to well-built and attractive

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

s, the town included amenities such as a multipurpose

community center Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

health clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

, and stores) and utility services (a

water purification Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, biological contaminants, suspended solids, and gases from water. The goal is to produce water that is fit for specific purposes. Most water is purified and disinfected for hu ...

plant, and

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

plant). One exceptionally well-built building originally served as an ice house. Later it was adapted for use as

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

s and a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

. Some of the

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

s in the town were

sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick ...

s, necessitating use of alleys for vehicular traffic.

Tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s and a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

were also available in the town. when Chickasaw Shipbuilding closed its shipyard, many houses were moved or demolished. Upon the purchase of the shipyard and town by Gulf Shipbuilding in 1940, the existing homes were repaired and modified. Additional city improvements (such as street paving) were made. The business block was a popular shopping area, consisting of numerous buildings connected by a covered concrete sidewalk which ran the length of the block (approximately 250 feet or 75 meters). The establishments included a

drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacis ...

, a

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

, a

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

, and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. By 1943, Gulf Shipbuilding had leased the remaining space to other businesses. Many of the original homes still remain in Chickasaw and form the heart of a historic district. Primarily through the efforts of Gene Ford, an

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

, this area was documented and data was collected about its buildings and history. It was added to the

in 2004. The Chickasaw Historic Preservation Society has created a driving tour featuring the highlights of the area.

Incorporation of Chickasaw

Early in 1946, Leedy Investment Company purchased the entire company town for one million dollars. Current occupants were given the option to purchase the homes they had been renting. Many prior residents also purchased homes and moved back to the town. The city of Chickasaw was incorporated on November 12, 1946. In 1979, Halter Marine reactivated the shipbuilding facility to provide service vessels and

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s to the booming offshore oil industry. The resurgence was short-lived and the facility was closed again in 1983. The former shipyard now serves as a small general cargo facility.

References

External links

* * *{{cite web , url=http://bama.ua.edu/~almaps/aerials/Counties/Mobile/Mobile_Chickasaw_1960.html , title=Aerial Map of Chickasaw in 1960 , accessdate=2007-06-12 , work=Alabama Maps , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526220249/http://bama.ua.edu/~almaps/aerials/Counties/Mobile/Mobile_Chickasaw_1960.html , archivedate=2011-05-26 History of Alabama Historic districts in Mobile County, Alabama National Register of Historic Places in Mobile County, Alabama Populated places established in 1917 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama