Bragg-Mitchell Mansion

Built in 1855 by Judge John Bragg, the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion is a 13,000 square foot Greek Revival facing Springhill Avenue in Mobile, Alabama. Judge Bragg built the home for his wife and family to enjoy Mobile’s social season, Thanksgiving through Mardi Gras. The Bragg family split their time between the Mansion and their cotton plantation in Lowndes County outside of Montgomery. Judge Bragg died in 1878, and four additional families have owned the home since his passing. The last private owner of the Mansion was the A.S. Mitchell family who purchased the home and property in 1931 for $20,000. They occupied the Mansion until 1965 and took great care in maintaining the home. It was during this time that the Mansion became such an icon of the city of Mobile. Bragg-Mitchell Mansion was generously donated to the Explore Center by the A.S. Mitchell foundation in the late 1970s to be the home of an interactive science museum. Instead of adapting the home for this purpose and potentially destroying the historic integrity of the Mansion, The Explore Center built a separate science museum, The Gulf Coast Exploreum, and began work to restore the Mansion to its antebellum grandeur.