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Dauphin Island is a barrier island lying just off the Alabama coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The island's eastern end helps to define the mouth of Mobile Bay. The eastern, wider portion of the island is shaded by thick stands of pine trees, but the narrow, western part of the island features scrub growth and few trees.
Dauphin Island, Alabama is the name of the incorporated community situated on the island. The island has a permanent population of about 1,200. It is home to a marine sciences laboratory, The Estuarium, and numerous private homes. Beaches attract some tourism, and fishing is a popular activity in the waters around the island.It was named after Louis XIV's great-grandson and heir, the Dauphin.
The island has a bird sanctuary ; Dauphin Island is the first landfall encountered by many birds as they migrate north from South America, and as a consequence many species can be found resting there before continuing their journey.
Serpentine shell middens, perhaps 1500 years old, attest to at least seasonal occupation by the Native American Mound Builder culture. Shell Mound Park, along the Island's northern shore, is administered by Alabama Marine Resources Division.
In 1519, the Spanish explorer Alonzo Pineda was the first documented European to visit, staying long enough to map the island with remarkable accuracy.
The island's French history began on January 31, 1699, when the explorer Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d'Iberville, virtually the founder of French Louisiana , arrived at Mobile Bay, and anchored near the island on his way to explore the mouth of the Mississippi River.
The first permanent settlement on the island, called "Massacre Isle" for heaps of skulls that had been found there, was a trading depot , unloading goods from Santo Domingo and France, and collecting furs in a short-lived fur tradeThe fur trade was a huge part in the early economic development of North America. European traders and trappers explored the continent and established relationships with local Native American communities in order to obtain the best pelts. Beaver was espec. Mobile Bay itself, before it was dredged, was too shallow, and its sand bars too shifting and treacherous, for ocean-going vessels.
Dauphin Island was captured by the British in 1766 during the Seven Years War, but retaken by the Spanish in 1780 during the American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War ( 1775 1783), also known as the American War of Independence was a war fought between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. The war, which eventually widened far beyond British Nor. During the War of 1812The North American War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom is one of several wars associated with that year. It is more normally known in British texts as the British-American War to distinguish it from Napoleon's war against Russia w, American forces captured the island (1813) to prevent British forces from using it.
Fort Gaines on the eastern tip of the island was built between 1821 and 1848. It was occupied by Confederate forces in 1861, and captured by Federal troops during the Battle of Mobile BayThe Battle of Mobile Bay was a naval battle of the American Civil War that occurred on 5 August 1864. Commanding the Union forces was Admiral David Farragut, while Admiral Franklin Buchanan led the Confederate fleet. The battle took place at the mouth of. The phrase, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead," was spoken by U. S. Admiral David FarragutDavid Glasgow Farragut ( July 5, 1801 August 14, 1870) was an admiral of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Farragut was born at Campbell's Station, near Knoxville, Tennessee, to George and Elizabeth Farragut. At the time, his father wa just a few hundred yards from Dauphin Island's shore.The first Sand Island Lighthouse, authorized in 1834, was replaced by a structure 150 feet high, at a cost of $35,000, that was dynamited by Confederate forces. The present lighthouse (1873; in use until 1970), now belongs to the Department of Interior and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.