February 25, 2023 Walking Tour of the Town of Blakely

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The Town of\nBlakely, Al. is one of the oldest towns in the State. It was chartered in 1814 by the legislature\nof the Mississippi Territory. Its life\nwas short and only survived into the late 1820\u2019s. At its zenith it rivaled the City of\nMobile. The city once had a thriving\nresidential and business district, hotel, a newspaper and a steamboat ship\nbuilder. It\u2019s reason for decline\ncentered around yellow fever epidemics and economic reasons. By the time of the Civil War Blakely did\nremain the county seat of Baldwin County, however its population had dwindled\nto a small number of families."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The Director\nof the Park, Mike Bunn, will lead a walking tour of the park referencing many\nof the sites of the town. He will\ndiscuss Josiah Blakeley, the founder of the town, his origins and plans for the\ndevelopment of the area and town. \nConnections are to be drawn between the decline of Blakeley and the\nshifting of its development to the City of Mobile. By contrast at the height of Blakely\u2019s height\nof development its population was at 4000 while the City of Mobile stood at\n2800. Close parallel\u2019s are Alabama achieving statehood in 1819 and the Town of\nBlakely and its port being officially incorporated in 1820."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The\nhistorical presentation and walking tour is to begin at 9:00 AM on February 25 and\nwill conclude at 12:00 PM at the Whele Nature Center where Lunch will be served."]]]]}