Things to Do in Dauphin Island, Dauphin Island, Alabama

Dauphin Island is an Alabama town located on a barrier island of the same name. The town is part of the Mobile metropolitan area, and the island helps define the mouth of Mobile Bay. Dauphin Island is reached by the scenic, three-mile Gordon Persons Bridge.

Originally known as Massacre Island, it was renamed to Dauphin Island in honor of Louis XIV of France’s great-grandson and heir, known as the dauphin for the dolphin on his family crest. While dauphin means dolphin in French, dauphin was the title given to the heir apparent of France, Louis XV.

Though the Spanish first discovered and mapped the island in 1519, the French were the ones who mistakenly named it Massacre Island in 1699 after finding a large pile of human skeletons which was actually an Indian burial mound.

At the end of the French and Indian War, Dauphin Island was ceded to the British in 1763. After the American Revolutionary War, Dauphin Island became part of the Province of West Florida, controlled by the Spanish. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).