Mobile question

[davepi2]

I'm finishing up my plan for my Mobile trip (I know, "no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy") and I've found something extra but I can only find one video talking about the Civil War connection. It is called Seaman's Bethel Chapel (also has been a theatre) that is now located on the University of South Alabama campus. The video states that The Hunley was constructed inside the building. Does anyone else know about this and can you confirm this is true? I will make an effort to find it if it is. Trying to find a location either on google or the South Alabama website is difficult. I believe it is being used as the home of USA honors program.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sir, please go to the Naval Forum and do a search for the Hunley - you'll get back 6 pages of threads that have Hunley in the title.

Search results for query: Hunley

civilwartalk.com

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sir, here is a better answer hopefully...

For years, historians have speculated where exactly in Mobile Pioneer II and H. L. Hunley were designed and assembled. Most archival sources agree that both submarines were manufactured at the Park and Lyons machine shop, located on the corner of Water and State Streets. However, post-war recollections from witnesses suggest that, while major components of both craft were manufactured in the Park and Lyons machine shop, their assembly actually took place in one of the two Seamen's Bethels on Water Street in the 1860s. Bethels were non-denominational churches for seamen established in many American maritime communities in the 19th century. The first bethel in Mobile was located between Theatre and Monroe streets, but was sold to Michael Hines in 1860 after a larger plot was acquired one block over, on the corner of Water and Church streets. One witness, Benjamin Cox, claimed that as a child he and his friends used to go to "the old Bethel" on "the west side of Water Street second north of Monroe" to watch "the construction and play about the boat. However, an older, therefore possibly more reliable, witness, Major Pillans, recalled that the new Seamen's Bethel on Church Street was used: The boat was built in the Seamen's Bethel on Church Street, the floor being taken up for the purpose. When the boat was finished it was found that she was too wide to take through the exit of the Bethel, so that pieces had to be cut out of each of the columns to get her out. Pillans's son, Harry, claimed to have accompanied his father in his youth and published a similar article in 1924: The vessel was built in or at least completed in the old Bethel, on Water Street, behind the old soldiers' home at the corner of Church Street. There shortly before its launching, the writer saw and went over it within and without. Given the relative youth of Cox when he witnessed the boat and the number of other errors in his account, it is likely Pillans and his son are more reliable sources. After the war ended, the bethel at 75 Church Street remained largely abandoned due to the economic strife that characterized the post-war South. However, religious services eventually resumed in 1879. In 1901, the church's steeple and columns were removed in an attempt at modernizing the building. It was sold in 1923 to The Little Theatre of Mobile, who had been renting it as a performing arts venue the previous two seasons. In the mid-1930s it was then sold to J. W. Hooge, who used the upper floor for storage and rented out the first floor for meetings. It was acquired by the state of Alabama in the 1960s and moved from its original location to avoid demolition.

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/underwater-archaeology/PDF/HLHunley_RecoveryOperations_20170404_Tagged.pdf

I will post the full paper momentarily on the Naval Forum

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[davepi2]

Sir, please go to the Naval Forum and do a search for the Hunley - you'll get back 6 pages of threads that have Hunley in the title.

Search results for query: Hunley

civilwartalk.com

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

Thank you very much

 

[davepi2]

Sir, here is a better answer hopefully...

For years, historians have speculated where exactly in Mobile Pioneer II and H. L. Hunley were designed and assembled. Most archival sources agree that both submarines were manufactured at the Park and Lyons machine shop, located on the corner of Water and State Streets. However, post-war recollections from witnesses suggest that, while major components of both craft were manufactured in the Park and Lyons machine shop, their assembly actually took place in one of the two Seamen's Bethels on Water Street in the 1860s. Bethels were non-denominational churches for seamen established in many American maritime communities in the 19th century. The first bethel in Mobile was located between Theatre and Monroe streets, but was sold to Michael Hines in 1860 after a larger plot was acquired one block over, on the corner of Water and Church streets. One witness, Benjamin Cox, claimed that as a child he and his friends used to go to "the old Bethel" on "the west side of Water Street second north of Monroe" to watch "the construction and play about the boat. However, an older, therefore possibly more reliable, witness, Major Pillans, recalled that the new Seamen's Bethel on Church Street was used: The boat was built in the Seamen's Bethel on Church Street, the floor being taken up for the purpose. When the boat was finished it was found that she was too wide to take through the exit of the Bethel, so that pieces had to be cut out of each of the columns to get her out. Pillans's son, Harry, claimed to have accompanied his father in his youth and published a similar article in 1924: The vessel was built in or at least completed in the old Bethel, on Water Street, behind the old soldiers' home at the corner of Church Street. There shortly before its launching, the writer saw and went over it within and without. Given the relative youth of Cox when he witnessed the boat and the number of other errors in his account, it is likely Pillans and his son are more reliable sources. After the war ended, the bethel at 75 Church Street remained largely abandoned due to the economic strife that characterized the post-war South. However, religious services eventually resumed in 1879. In 1901, the church's steeple and columns were removed in an attempt at modernizing the building. It was sold in 1923 to The Little Theatre of Mobile, who had been renting it as a performing arts venue the previous two seasons. In the mid-1930s it was then sold to J. W. Hooge, who used the upper floor for storage and rented out the first floor for meetings. It was acquired by the state of Alabama in the 1960s and moved from its original location to avoid demolition.

View attachment 534627

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/underwater-archaeology/PDF/HLHunley_RecoveryOperations_20170404_Tagged.pdf

I will post the full paper momentarily on the Naval Forum

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

Thank you once again.

Sir, here is a better answer hopefully...

For years, historians have speculated where exactly in Mobile Pioneer II and H. L. Hunley were designed and assembled. Most archival sources agree that both submarines were manufactured at the Park and Lyons machine shop, located on the corner of Water and State Streets. However, post-war recollections from witnesses suggest that, while major components of both craft were manufactured in the Park and Lyons machine shop, their assembly actually took place in one of the two Seamen's Bethels on Water Street in the 1860s. Bethels were non-denominational churches for seamen established in many American maritime communities in the 19th century. The first bethel in Mobile was located between Theatre and Monroe streets, but was sold to Michael Hines in 1860 after a larger plot was acquired one block over, on the corner of Water and Church streets. One witness, Benjamin Cox, claimed that as a child he and his friends used to go to "the old Bethel" on "the west side of Water Street second north of Monroe" to watch "the construction and play about the boat. However, an older, therefore possibly more reliable, witness, Major Pillans, recalled that the new Seamen's Bethel on Church Street was used: The boat was built in the Seamen's Bethel on Church Street, the floor being taken up for the purpose. When the boat was finished it was found that she was too wide to take through the exit of the Bethel, so that pieces had to be cut out of each of the columns to get her out. Pillans's son, Harry, claimed to have accompanied his father in his youth and published a similar article in 1924: The vessel was built in or at least completed in the old Bethel, on Water Street, behind the old soldiers' home at the corner of Church Street. There shortly before its launching, the writer saw and went over it within and without. Given the relative youth of Cox when he witnessed the boat and the number of other errors in his account, it is likely Pillans and his son are more reliable sources. After the war ended, the bethel at 75 Church Street remained largely abandoned due to the economic strife that characterized the post-war South. However, religious services eventually resumed in 1879. In 1901, the church's steeple and columns were removed in an attempt at modernizing the building. It was sold in 1923 to The Little Theatre of Mobile, who had been renting it as a performing arts venue the previous two seasons. In the mid-1930s it was then sold to J. W. Hooge, who used the upper floor for storage and rented out the first floor for meetings. It was acquired by the state of Alabama in the 1960s and moved from its original location to avoid demolition.

View attachment 534627

https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/underwater-archaeology/PDF/HLHunley_RecoveryOperations_20170404_Tagged.pdf

I will post the full paper momentarily on the Naval Forum

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

Thanks so much again for the information. The youtube channel I saw the video on was "The Gulf Coast Civil War Channel". It mentioned the Hunley being too large to get out the doors as well.

 

[USS ALASKA]

Where was the Hunley Built?
Jack O'Brien Jr.

On August 8, 2000, salvage crews carefully raised the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in combat, the H. L. Hunley, from the anoxic waters outside Charleston Harbor where she had lain for almost a century and a half. Escorted by a colorful flotilla of local watercraft, a barge carried the Confederate submarine to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center where archaeologists began painstaking efforts to excavate, identify, and conserve her relics and the remains of her crew. Six hundred miles to the west, Mobile, Alabama, was preparing its tricentennial celebration, and Hunley stories were headline news. It was here that the submarine had been designed, built, and tested, and where families remembered ancestors who had participated in the Hunley saga. This investigation will attempt to resolve some ninety years of confusion concerning where in Mobile the revolutionary underwater war-machine had been assembled. One possibility is a building presently located on the campus of the University of South Alabama now housing that institution's honors program.

https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/biology/resources/wherewasthehunleybuilt.pdf

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[USS ALASKA]

Park and Lyons Foundry (or machine shop) that was located on the corner of State and Water streets in Mobile.
https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/biology/resources/wherewasthehunleybuilt.pdf

...so where the marker is here...

...and Bethel Church on Water Street between Theatre and Monroe streets...so somewhere around here...

Close to some cool museums. Both 'building' locations about 1 mile apart.

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[davepi2]

Park and Lyons Foundry (or machine shop) that was located on the corner of State and Water streets in Mobile.
https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/biology/resources/wherewasthehunleybuilt.pdf

...so where the marker is here...

View attachment 534670

View attachment 534671

View attachment 534672

...and Bethel Church on Water Street between Theatre and Monroe streets...so somewhere around here...

View attachment 534673

View attachment 534674

View attachment 534675

Close to some cool museums. Both 'building' locations about 1 mile apart.

View attachment 534676

View attachment 534677

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

Great info, I will be touring the neighborhood checking out the various parks & historic sites so this should fit in nicely.

Park and Lyons Foundry (or machine shop) that was located on the corner of State and Water streets in Mobile.
https://www.southalabama.edu/colleges/artsandsci/biology/resources/wherewasthehunleybuilt.pdf

...so where the marker is here...

View attachment 534670

View attachment 534671

View attachment 534672

...and Bethel Church on Water Street between Theatre and Monroe streets...so somewhere around here...

View attachment 534673

View attachment 534674

View attachment 534675

Close to some cool museums. Both 'building' locations about 1 mile apart.

View attachment 534676

View attachment 534677

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

One more question for you since you know the Mobile area. How much time would you recommend to plan for touring the USS Alabama Battleship Park and also Fort Blakeley?

 

[USS ALASKA]

Sir, those questions would be much better answered by board members @redbob , @UCVRelics , and the rest of the 'Alabama Gang' (apologies to Bobby Allison for appropriating his group's moniker)

I've been called a 'rivet counter' (or in the case of the fort, 'brick counter') so I'm not very good with times. Please see the below treads on others trips to the Mobile area...

Mobile Muster October 2024 Going LIVE!!! | Traveler's Companion - Visit Historic Sites

civilwartalk.com

Mobile | Traveler's Companion - Visit Historic Sites

After two trips that had nothing to do with the Civil War (The Upper P and Pittsburgh) I have decided on what will most likely be my last battlefield trip this January, Mobile. This really looks like a great trip. However I was looking for suggestions on places maybe most might not think of. The...

civilwartalk.com

Official Muster - Official CWT 2024 Fall Muster: Mobile, Alabama. Oct. 11 - 13 | Traveler's Companion - Visit Historic Sites

This year the Western Theater is Hosting the CWT 2024 Fall Muster. We will be in Mobile, Alabama October 11th - 13th. We have an awesome weekend planned. The base schedule is below. We also have a Cracker Jack Staff to include 2 locals who are also CWT members. I will be adding updates and other...

civilwartalk.com

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[UCVRelics]

Fort Blakeley

I would allow at least 4 - 5 hours