Mobile, Alabama, has the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, traditionally dated to 1703. French settlers celebrated Carnival at the early settlement of Mobile, then the capital of French Louisiana.
Mobile’s history predates the better-known New Orleans Mardi Gras traditions. The city was founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1702, and the following year French Catholic settlers observed Mardi Gras there. The celebration later developed into a network of mystic societies that organized masked balls, parades, floats, and public “throws.”
Mobile’s first mystic society is generally identified as the Société de Saint Louis, formed in 1704. The Cowbellion de Rakin Society followed much later, staging its landmark parade in 1830. A common mix-up is treating New Orleans as the birthplace of U.S. Mardi Gras; New Orleans is more internationally famous, but Mobile’s organized Carnival claim is earlier.