Mobile, Alabama Catholic church traces its origins back to 1703

Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

My wife Crystal and I found ourselves in downtown Mobile on Saturday morning. She’d heard about a dessert shop called Mo’Bay Beignet Co. on Dauphin Street and had been wanting to check it out for several weeks. I was happy to serve as her chauffeur.

When we left there, we strolled down the sidewalk towards Cathedral Square and eventually came upon a historical marker about the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, a large Catholic church located nearby. Here’s what the marker had to say:

“The origin of this Cathedral was established on July 20, 1703 by Jean-Baptiste de La Croix de Chevrieres de Saint Vallier, Bishop of Quebec at Fort Louis de la Mobile, the city’s first permanent settlement. The Bishop also appointed Father M. Henri Roulleaux de La Vente as Pastor of the first formal church along the Mississippi Valley, which extended from the mouth of the Mississippi to Canada. The missionary zeal of the early Catholic Jesuit priests accompanying Mobile’s founder’s brothers, Pierre Le Moyne, d’Iberville and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, de Bienville was intrinsic to the religious development of Mobile, Alabama.

“The Cathedral Archives preserve the records of Mobile’s multicultural and diverse origin. The sacramental records began by the first pastor, M. Henri Roulleaux de La Vente date back to 1704, documenting the first baptisms, marriages and burials of the French, Spanish, British, Native Americans, Africans and Creole de Color in Mobile. Many documents are the only reference to 18^th Century African slaves and are among the oldest on the Gulf Coast. Some documents are signed by Mobile’s founders, Pierre Le Moyne, d’Iberville and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, de Bienville. The ceremonial placement of the Cathedral’s cornerstone took place in the Catholic Graveyard on July 19, 1835.”

Crystal and I continued around to the front of the church and went inside. Prior to this, I had never been inside a Catholic church, much less one of such historic significance. Not surprisingly, there were a number of people inside viewing the beautiful interior of this historic church with its 60-foot ceilings.

Perhaps the most noteworthy feature of this church is its stained-glass windows, which came all the way from Munich, Germany. Workers began installing the windows in 1890 and the last window was installed 20 years later in 1910. The 12 main windows are enormous, being 23 feet tall and eight feet wide. If you have never seen these windows in person, it is well worth the trip to see them for yourself.

As you probably would imagine of any building as old as this cathedral, its grounds are reportedly haunted. Cathedral Square, which is just across Claiborne Street from the church’s front doors, was once the site of Mobile’s first Spanish graveyard, Camp Santo. Sources say that some of the bodies buried here were dug up and reburied in the Church Street Graveyard, about half a mile away. The many that were not continue to lie under the park benches outside of the church.

In the end, if you ever find yourself in Mobile with a little time to kill, check out the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, especially if you like old churches. The stained-glass windows here are world class, and the interior beauty of this church is unmatched in our part of the world. Plus, it’s a short walk from a really good dessert shop, where you can stop before (or after) for refreshments.