Malbis, Alabama | |
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— Community — | |
Malbis, Alabama
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Coordinates: | |
Country | United States |
State | Alabama |
County | Baldwin |
Elevation | 197 ft (60 m) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 36526 |
Area code(s) | 251 |
GNIS feature ID | 0156648 |
Malbis is an unincorporated settlement in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. The community lies at the crossroads of U.S. 90 and Alabama State Route 181 just south of I-10. Portions of the settlement are today within the city limits of Daphne. The incorporated city of Loxley lies to the east, and Spanish Fort to the north.
Malbis is considered a community or populated place but is not identified in the United States Census. It is part of the Daphne–Fairhope–Foley Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The Malbis Plantation was inducted into the National Register of Historic Places in May 2011.
Known originally as the Malbis Plantation, the settlement was begun in 1906 by founder Jason Malbis. Malbis was a Greek philanthropist who was born in Doumena, Greece as Antonius Markopoulos. Malbis had been an Orthodox monk[1] before coming to the United States to investigate the condition of fellow Greeks who had immigrated to the US.[2] He changed his name to Jason Malbis and came south.
While traveling through Alabama, Malbis became enamored with Baldwin County and purchased the land that would become the Greek colony.[3] The community was populated for many years mostly by those either secular or religious Greek heritage.[4] The Malbis Memorial Church, a Greek Orthodox church was built by the settlers and still stands today.
The community once included a bakery, an ice plant, a plant nursery and many acres of farmland. During the peak of the colony's success its economy was largely based upon providing table food to nearby Mobile, Alabama.[3] Today much of the land has been sold for commercial development including a 500-acre (2.0 km2) soybean field which is today covered by a large retail shopping mall.[5][6]
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