It was towed into the delta north of the city, burned, and sunk to escape capture.

Major industries related to shipbuilding and paper mills began to develop along the waterfront, and some workers settled in Prichard.

Social tensions were high in the postwar period as veterans returned and struggled to get jobs.

During World War II, the defense industry and shipbuilding expanded in Mobile, and Prichard became a company town.

The 1940s and 1950s saw phenomenal growth in the Mobile area, which accompanied expansion of the defense and shipbuilding industries during and after World War II.

In the postwar period, federally subsidized highway construction made commuting from suburbs easier and encouraged suburban housing development across the country, including in the Mobile metropolitan area.

Like other cities, Prichard began to see its middle-class residents move out to newer housing, because they could afford to do so.

This was also a period of decline in shipbuilding and related industries and, with the loss of jobs, workers moved elsewhere.

Although most of Prichard's remaining majority-white areas were in this district, many families had put their students into parochial or private schools.

In 1972, the majority-white city of Prichard elected its first black mayor, Algernon Johnson (A.J.)

While Mayor Cooper was popular with both blacks and whites, he had numerous confrontations with the Prichard City Council during his tenure.

[citation needed] In 1994, construction of Interstate 165 was completed, and it produced some economic benefits in East Prichard.

The loss of the paper companies and associated jobs devastated the area and the city struggled to recover.

In November of that year, Mobile County voters narrowly (500 votes out of 100,000 cast on the issue) defeated a local amendment which would have allowed Prichard to set up a special trade zone.

From 2010 to 2012, the city was home to the Restoration Youth Academy, a so-called Christian camp that imposed anti-gay conversion therapy.

[11][12] The enterprise reopened in Mobile, as the Saving Youth Foundation and Solid Rock Ministries, and operated until being shut down in 2015.

It was closed by officials after investigations of abuse of youths and discovery of appallingly harsh conditions at the camp.

[11] The three pastors who ran the place were prosecuted for child abuse; they were convicted and sentenced in February 2017 to 20 years in prison.

[16] It is bordered to the south by Mobile, to the east by Chickasaw, and to the north and northeast by Saraland.

In 2003, the city hired an actuary to analyze and summarize their employees’ pension plan.

He warned the city that at the current rate of government spending the plan would run out of money by the summer of 2009.

[30][31] Some area students attend North Mobile County Middle School.