In 1813, Blakeley, Alabama was founded by Josiah Blakeley, “an entrepreneur and adventurer from Connecticut” who moved to Mobile in 1806. He purchased 7,000 acres of land in the northeastern portion of Mobile Bay. In 1813 he hired a surveyor to lay out the town of Blakeley and sold the first 10 lots. Eventually, the town of Blakeley would become the county seat of Baldwin County.
