
Sometime in the eighteenth century, a French colonial plantation became the first non-Indian settlement in the area. In 1814, the riverfront town of Blakeley was founded and chartered by Josiah Blakeley with the intent of it becoming Alabama's premier port city. It quickly became a busy center of commerce for southern Alabama, with a courthouse, hotels, docks, private residences, stores, churches, and warehouses and more than 4,000 residents. The town was Baldwin County's first county seat and at one time was larger than nearby Mobile until yellow fever epidemics in 1822, 1826, and 1828 decimated the populace. By 1828, the Mobile Commercial Register reported that Blakeley had fallen into decay. The county seat was moved to Daphne in 1868.
During the Civil War, the Confederate Army established the earthen Fort Blakeley on the site with entrenchments and nine gun emplacements. On April 9, 1865, six hours after General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, it was the site of one of the last major battles of the Civil War, when 4,000 Confederate troops were attacked and defeated by a force of 16,000 Union soldiers. Each spring, the park hosts a re-enactment or living-history event related to the period.

After the Civil War, the site remained untouched for more than 100 years. In 1976, local civic leaders formed the private nonprofit Historic Blakeley Foundation to acquire land and establish the park. In 1981, the Alabama State Legislature designated Blakeley as a state park and created the Historic Blakeley Authority (HBA), an independent state agency, to operate and manage the park. The HBA is governed by a 21-member board consisting of elected public officials, members of historic organizations and at-large members appointed by the governor. Private land donations and contributions and public funding all aided the initial acquisitions of land for the park. In 1990, International Paper Company donated 1,000 acres to the foundation, and in 1998, 420 additional acres were purchased through the state's Forever Wild program. In 1995, Blakeley was added to the Civil War Discovery Trail, which links more than 300 significant Civil War sites in 16 states.

Visitors may also take advantage of multiple cruises with licensed captains to explore the Mobile-Tensaw Delta as well as historic sites associated with the Civil War's "Mobile Campaign" and the modern Port of Mobile. The park also offers cruises to the Bottle Creek site, the Gulf Coast's largest Mississippian mound complex.
Additional Resources
Walker, Sue. In the Realm of Rivers: Alabama's Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Montgomery, Ala.: NewSouth Books, 2004.
Additional Resources
Walker, Sue. In the Realm of Rivers: Alabama's Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Montgomery, Ala.: NewSouth Books, 2004.