A Quick Visit to Mobile, Alabama (2)

Back in July we visited Mobile for a family gathering. We stayed at the Battle House Hotel and ventured up and down Dauphin Street when we had a chance and despite the heat. I covered some of what we saw in an earlier post. Here are some more of the sites along one of the city's iconic streets.

Cathedral Square is a city park across the street from the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which was built between 1850 and 1884. The Square was once a Catholic Cemetery but most graves were moved in 1819.

Located across another street from Cathedral Square is the Bishop Portier House. Mobile's first Roman Catholic Bishop Michael Portier lived here from 1834 until 1859.

 

These two institutions are across the street from Cathedral Square. I found the juxtaposition interesting. More information can be found at the Mobile Arts Council web site and a 2009 article about the Police Museum. 

 

 

We could not resist getting something salty and something sweet from this business in operation since 1947.

 

 

I'm always ready to visit local bookstores, and several of us made it to Bienville Books just across from the Square on Dauphin Street. Book lovers can spend some serious browsing time in this two-story haven. I especially enjoyed the local history section.

 

 

 

 

 

We were all excited to come across this classic American icon from the film A Christmas Story in the barber shop across the street from the Battle House.

 

 

More than 25 sites now make up the Alabama Oyster Trail. Painted by local artists, the statues are meant to highlight restoration efforts in Mobile Bay.  

 

 

Beautiful Bienville Square is near the hotel. The entire block is now the park, but it started out as a plot of land deeded by the U.S. government to the city if used as a park. Over the years the city purchased the remaining land in the block and owned it all by 1849. At one time the Spanish Hospital stood in this block. The Square is named for the city's founder.

Even the squirrels seemed to be feeling the heat that day

 

This building near the hotel is another example of the wonderful architecture being restored in that part of Mobile.

 

 

 

Opened in January 1927, the Saenger Theatre was the 61st facility in a chain throughout the South started by two brothers in New Orleans. The theater was built to resemble opera houses in Europe. Like so many theaters built in that era, the Saenger had many uses over the years and faced imminent destruction in 1970. Luckily the Saenger survived to entertain another day.

Bookmarks for Some Alabama Bookstores (2)

In October 2014 I posted the first installment of a series on bookmarks with some sort of Alabama connection. That post covered some of my collection from bookstores; this one covers the rest. A third post will include bookmarks related to libraries.

I've made some comments on individual bookmarks below.

Now the Alabama Booksmith

The Homewood location is still in business, with the same phone number

They added a fax number to this bookmark.

This bookstore opened in late 2004, according to its still-operating web site. Sadly, the store closed a year or two ago. I visited several times; by the end, the bookstore was more or less gone and only a coffee shop and cafe were left. The last calender available on the site is February 2013. 

The Books-A-Million chain began in 1917 as a newsstand in Florence, Alabama, and by the early 1960's expanded into a group of bookstores known as Bookland. Eventually there were 72 of those stores, mostly in the Southeast. I remember one in the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover until January 2007. There are still a few of these stores operating as a subsidiary of BAM. 

Books-A-Million, the Alabama-based chain now often known as BAM, has used bookmarks for job ads.

Apparently this store is no longer operating. 

This store, no longer in business, listed numerous services on their bookmark.

Lodestar was included on a site devoted to independent bookstores: "They feature books that support diversity, healing, and political change. The focus areas include world religions, women's studies, studies, psychology, recovery, alternative health and the literary arts." 

The Haunted Book Shop that operated in Mobile for many years is one of Alabama's legendary bookstores. The store is probably the only one in the state that has inspired TWO memoirs:

 Mobile's Haunted Book Shop : a sentimental reminiscence by Caldwell Delaney [1986] 

 The Spirit of the Haunted Book Shop : a history celebrating the 50th anniversary by Jack Pendarvis [1991]

Inside the Haunted Book Shop, date unknown

Mostly a used paperback store, Betty's Books opened sometime in the 1990's. I remember visiting once before the store relocated to a small commercial area across U.S. 31. The store has changed ownership and several years ago became Books Etc. I've visited the current incarnation several times and always find something. The place is small but packed with goodies. 

[Added in August 2015]

On a recent trip to Mobile I visited Bienville Books on Dauphin Street. I recommended the place highly. There are two stories of old and new books and many other goodies. I especially enjoyed the selection of titles related to Mobile and the rest of Alabama.

Bookmarks for Some Alabama Bookstores

This post displays a few items from my modest collection of bookmarks related to Alabama bookstores. I'll make a few comments along the way and intend to offer other selections in a future post or two featuring bookmarks for libraries and more.

First up are four different bookmarks from a Birmingham store thankfully still in operation, the wonderful establishment of Jim Reed. The first bookmark notes the store's current location on Third Avenue North; the other three date from the previous location on 1st Avenue South where 20th and 21st anniversaries were celebrated. 

I can recommend this store to anyone with the least interest in any kind of printed book. But others may enjoy it as well, since the shelves are filled with items beyond books--magazines, toys, and many other goodies from days gone by. Those of us lamenting the passage of print culture down the great digital black hole can renew our spirits here.

The bookmarks below represent stores once thriving but no longer with us. 

Shaver's was a very nice bookstore located near Huntsville Hospital. The store carried a combination of new and used titles and had a great selection of books related to Huntsville and Alabama history and culture. A profile of owner John Shaver and a photo inside the store can be found here. My brother and I always enjoyed a visit when we were in town and bought many books here over the years. Shaver's closed several years ago, and I believe he opened a booth in a local antique mall. 

I assume the bookmark below relates to the downtown Birmingham Loveman's store and is a reminder of how far books could penetrate our mass market culture back in the day. In addition to bookstores, book selections could be found at department stores and drug stores. The book racks in places like Wal-Mart and Target and some larger grocery chains such as Publix are the last vestiges and will probably disappear soon as well. 

This bookmark and business card advertise A Good Bookstore, which was a Huntsville institution for many years. The address given is the courthouse square downtown, the second location that I really don't remember ever visiting. I did go many times when the store was located in a small strip of stores just outside the Five Points Historic District where California Avenue becomes Andrew Jackson Way. The place was a beacon of culture in the late sixties for several friends and myself.  

The final three bookmarks are from two locations of one of Birmingham's legendary bookstores, Smith & Hardwick founded in 1934. The first item shows the North 20th Street address; the other two are the Clairmont Avenue address in Forest Park, across the street from the Silvertron Cafe. I visited that location a couple of times before the store closed a few years ago. Allen Dean Shaffer was one of the final owners; he died in 2012. He had retired as owner following a stroke in 2004. Shaffer had moved the store to Forest Park in 1990.

One thing we can conclude from these few samples is that many bookstores across the country must have ordered their bookmarks from the same source!

An article about another legendary Huntsville bookstore, Books as Seeds, can be found here.

A history of Birmingham bookstores is available here.

Bookmark histories can be found here and here.

Some interesting things booksellers have found in used books are described here.