Coastal Alabama Economic History

This book is written as a compilation of the history of Coastal Alabama. Vintage photos are used to illustrate the occurrences that depict the economic history of Coastal Alabama. It is intended to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the rich history of Coastal Alabama and to preserve and perpetuate its history. The contents for this book began from efforts to document what Coastal Alabama offered retirees. History of an area is becoming increasingly important and useful in the decision of where to live. Historical knowledge of attractions in an area can make visiting those attractions more satisfying. This book features the historical development of Coastal Alabama including its geography and municipalities. The geographical features of Coastal Alabama and how they shaped its economic history is the basic theme of this book. Contents by Chapter This book features the historical development of Coastal Alabama including its geography and municipalities. Below is a description of each chapter. Overview of Coastal Alabama A general description of Coastal Alabama is provided. Locational and demographic information for Mobile and Baldwin Counties is presented. It also includes a brief description of each municipality in Coastal Alabama. Geographical Features of Coastal Alabama This chapter focuses on the geographical features around Baldwin County and Mobile County which include the Gulf of Mexico, bays, delta, rivers, lagoons, creeks, and bayous. It also focuses on the social development and transportation development in Coastal Alabama. History of Mobile County This chapter focuses on the history of the county including a history of each municipality. It provides information about the many historic structures, the Mobile River, and the Port of Mobile. History of Baldwin County This chapter focuses on the historical development of Baldwin County. It provides detailed information about North Baldwin County, the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, and South Baldwin County along the Gulf of Mexico. It gives a brief history of each municipality. Coastal Alabama's Current Economic Activity This chapter has summarizing information about the economic history of Coastal Alabama. Details of the current economic activity in Coastal Alabama are provided. Bibliography/References Books, articles, websites, and other literature used during data collection for this book are shown here. There is also a list of links to the websites of the entities (not listed in the chapters) mentioned in this book. Intended Readers for This Book People Who Love History This book is written for the interest of those that really enjoy history. It can also be used as an educational resource on the history of Coastal Alabama. Tourists This book can serve as a guide to Historical Tourism in Coastal Alabama. These people are the summer and winter vacationers to Coastal Alabama. These tourists could use this book to help them choose varying activities for their time in Baldwin and Mobile Counties. It can also serve as a planning guide for visiting Coastal Alabama. There are many organizations that have annual conferences in Baldwin County and Mobile County. These visitors could use this book for ideas on how to spend their free time during their attendance at conferences. Seasonal Residents Thousands of snowbirds spend January through March on the beaches in Coastal Alabama. These snowbirds have a good deal of free time and could use this book to decide about activities during their stay. People Interested in Retiring to Coastal Alabama This book is tailor-made for those who find history extremely interesting. They can use this book to consider retiring to Coastal Alabama. This book provides background information to Coastal Alabama Retirement Guide by Mark Fagan. Although both books have general information about Coastal Alabama, this book focuses on the historical background for the information presented in the retirement guide.
About the Author: Mark Fagan earned his doctorate in Social Policy, Planning, and Administration at The University of Alabama in 1981. He is Department Head Emeritus for the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Jacksonville State University in Alabama where he taught from 1981-2014. He has researched retiree migration and retirement communities for 32 years. He is the author of Attracting Retirees for Economic Development; Retirement Development: A How-To Guidebook; The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail: Its History and Economic Impact with a Foreword by David G. Bronner; and Coastal Alabama Retirement Guide. Most of his 111 publications, media articles, and technical writings along with his hundreds of lectures and presentations around the nation since 1981 have focused on the economic impact of retirees and retirement communities. He has lived in Coastal Alabama since 2012. He received an undergraduate minor in economics. He developed an interest in long-term care for active and inactive retirees. He gained knowledge of what economic impact these retirees had on communities. Through the years, he merged these interests and focused them on economic development activity for rural areas needing community development. He began analyzing communities and comparing their assets with the amenities attracting retirees. In 1983, he began researching and developing literature on the economic impact of retirees on communities. His research was designed to assist any community or state that wanted to attract retirees for economic development. His research topics included the economic impact of retirees, organizing for retiree attraction efforts, community assessment, marketing communities to potential retirees, and the mature market. He also began writing about community efforts to develop amenities for retirees as a form of economic development. He followed these activities with lectures, presentations, consulting, and program development around Alabama and the nation. His interest in retirement development in Alabama and his efforts to establish the first statewide program in the nation to attract retirees for economic development led him to Coastal Alabama. Coastal Alabama had a history of attracting tourists and retirees. His efforts also got him involved with the conception and development of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. These activities sharpened his interest in economic history, economic impacts and projected economic impacts. He has received publicity on 38 television programs, in 88 magazines and periodicals and 249 newspaper articles around the nation. He has been consulted by CBS News, NBC News, CNN News, ABC News, "Good Morning America," U.S. News and World Report, Governing magazine, Time magazine, The AARP Bulletin, New Choices for Retirement Living magazine, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, Money magazine, Business Week, Mature Outlook magazine, Golf Digest magazine, Smart Money magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, and Stars and Stripes for news stories. He has been visiting Baldwin County since the mid-1960s. He has researched, written about, and worked on economic development projects in Coastal Alabama since 1988. His professional activities have focused on the tourism and retirement industries in Baldwin County and Mobile County. He has extensively researched and followed the redevelopment of downtown Mobile by The Retirement Systems of Alabama since the early 2000s. He has focused many of his efforts on tourism and retirement on The Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. All of Fagan's research and involvement in Coastal Alabama increased his interest in economic development and economic history. This interest sustained his efforts to thoroughly research the economic history of Coastal Alabama.