"So, kid, if that liberal arts degree doesn't work out for you we can always find a place for you down on the docks.

"We got ships. We got commerce. We got water. There's worse things."

This ad stands alone, referencing nothing else on the page, most probably someone on the Docks Board was an Auburn man and heard the sales pitch, "Sure we'll buy an ad. A.P.I. '28 myself!" Something like that.

You could still recognize the state docks these days, but things have changed. You see the old slogan there, that has been changed just a bit. Sure, tons of commerce come through Mobile Bay, but so do the passengers and the Docks would like you to now think of them as "Gateway to destinations worldwide."

Uh huh. See what they've done there? Very clever.

I pulled that "A.P.I, '28" out of thin air above, but that's actually when the port authority was dedicated. Today they move more than 30 million tons through the docks each year, with an economic impact in the absurd billions, supporting the jobs of far more than 100,000 Alabamians.

Here's the view from Google Maps, if you're so inclined.

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