Alabama Gulf Coast · AL
Dauphin Island
A barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay, first landfall for migrating birds.
- Population
- 1,778 (2020 census)
- Fort Gaines
- 1821–1848
- Bird sanctuary
- 164 acres
Then
- 1699
Iberville anchors here on January 31 and names it Massacre Island for a pile of bones, actually from a burial mound opened by a hurricane.
- 1821–1848
Fort Gaines is built on the island's east end.
- 1864
Union forces take Fort Gaines in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Farragut's “Damn the torpedoes” is supposedly shouted a few hundred yards offshore.
- 2005
Hurricane Katrina cuts the island in two at the Katrina Cut.
Now
The Audubon Bird Sanctuary shelters migrants that make landfall here from South America. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab is on the east end, and a ferry crosses to Fort Morgan.
2 tide stations around Dauphin Island
- Dauphin Island Hydro1.8 mi
- Dauphin Island2.1 mi