Greater Gulf State Fair Greater Gulf State Fair The Greater Gulf State Fair is an annual fair and agricultural show that is held at the Greater Gulf State Fairgrounds in Mobile, Alabama. It features livestock competitions, rides, concessions, motor contests, and concerts. It has been held every year since 1955, and moved to its current location in 1974. The event's name stems from its serving of people from Lower Alabama, Lower Mississippi, and the Panhandle of Florida. It is the largest fair in the state of Alabama. The Greater Gulf State Fair began as a fund-raising initiative for the Mobile Jaycees, a group of
Department of the Gulf Department of the Gulf The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. The department was constituted on February 23, 1862 when the United States War Department issued General Orders No. 20; the department consisted of "...all of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico west of Pensacola harbor, and so much of the Gulf States as may be occupied by the forces under Major General B.F. Butler." On March 20, 1862, Butler activated his command at Ship Island,