Joe Cain’s Life in Oakleigh Walking Tour

Joe Cain grew up in his family’s home one block east of Broad St and Spring Hill, now Ryan Park. A few years after his marriage to Elizabeth Alabama Rabby and just before the start of the Civil War, the couple purchased a block of land further down Broad St. at the corner of what is now Augusta. This became their home for the next 20 years. 

Joe and Elizabeth both had large, close-knit families, many of whom also moved to the same area, which is now the eastern end of the Oakleigh Garden District. Many family members lived together in extended family residences here, primarily during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The years that Joe Cain lived on Augusta St. were also his most active years as a member of several social and volunteer organizations. These were, for example, the years he paraded on Mardi Gras as “Chief Slacobamarinico” with the Lost Cause Minstrels. For many of these years, he held a prominent position as “clerk,” or general manager, of the city’s Southern Market, but for a portion of this time, he owned and operated a resort on Mobile Bay. 

On the tour, we will discuss Joe’s daily life and how he split his time between family, work, civic duties, and recreation, and how he traveled, mostly by railcar, to these locations from his home on what was then the city’s western boundary. But we will focus mainly on Joe’s personality, answering the question: “What inspired Joe to become known by some as the founder of Mardi Gras in Mobile?”

Counting down to Mardi Gras 2026, this tour takes place at the halfway mark. We will begin and end at  Callaghan’s Irish Social Club on the corner of Charleston and Marine Streets, with an option to stay and continue the celebration afterwards. 

The 90-minute tour includes a stop for refreshments at the home where Joe and Elizabeth lived and raised their children. It also includes stops at each of the locations where family and close friends lived close by, with intriguing and little-known stories about their lives and occupations.