The Conde-Charlotte Museum House in Mobile was built in 1850 by Jonathan and Elizabeth Kirkbride on the site of a jail built in 1822. Having inherited the jail’s two-foot thick brick floor and doors and it being a witness to French, British, Spanish, American, and Confederate occupations of Fort Conde in Mobile (in chronological order); this house sports the mix of five different cultures in one place.
Since 1957, the house has been owned, refurbished, and maintained by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Alabama and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a member of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce, the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, the Alabama Museums Association, the Mobile Arts Council, and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association.
The house contains a French sitting room and bedroom, a British “commandant’s room”, a walled Spanish garden, an American Federal dining room, two 1850’s bedrooms that belong to the Kirkbrides, two Confederate parlors, and a kitchen packed with 19th and 20th century equipment.
A 45-minute guided tour showcases the house and its treasured antiques to visitors from Tuesday to Saturday at 11 am to 3 pm.
The Conde-Charlotte Museum House is located at 104 Theatre Street, Mobile, AL 36602. From the Interstate 10 East Water Street Exit, turn left to the tunnel at Government Street; turn left again to Royal Street by exiting the tunnel; and turn right to Theater Street. The house should be very near Fort Conde.