Bay Minette is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Baldwin County, Alabama Baldwin County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama, on the Gulf coast. It is one of only two counties in Alabama that border the Gulf of Mexico, along with Mobile County. As of the 2020 census, the popul ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,107.

History

In the first days of Baldwin County, the town of McIntosh Bluff (now in

Mobile County Mobile County ( ) is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the third-most populous county in the state after Jefferson and Madison counties. As of the 2020 census, its population was 414,809. Its co ...

, west of Baldwin County) on the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties i ...

was the county seat. After being transferred to the town of Blakeley in 1810, the county seat was later moved to the city of

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

in 1868. In 1900, by an act of the legislature of Alabama, the county seat was authorized for relocation to the city of Bay Minette; however, the city of Daphne resisted relocation. The citizens of Bay Minette moved the county records from Daphne in the middle of the night on October 11–12, 1901 and delivered them to the city of Bay Minette, where the Baldwin County seat remains to this day. Bay Minette was not incorporated as a city until 1907. A mural for the new post office built in 1937 was commissioned by the WPA and painted by

Hilton Leech The Hilton Leech House and Amagansett Art School is a historic school in Sarasota, Florida. Named for artist Hilton Leech (Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1906 - Died in Virginia City, Montana 1969), it is located at 1666 Hillview Street. On ...

to commemorate this event. In September 2011, the town attempted to enact a program called "Operation Restore Our Community". It would have allowed those convicted of a

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...

to substitute

imprisonment Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered " false imprisonment". Impri ...

with mandatory church attendance for one year. However, this program was challenged due to violating

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...

, and the program's start was delayed for judicial review. It appears to have been scrapped.

Geography

Bay Minette is located near the center of Baldwin County in southern Alabama. It is sited on high ground east of the

Mobile River The Mobile River is located in southern Alabama in the United States. Formed out of the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, the approximately river drains an area of of Alabama, with a watershed extending into Mississippi, Georg ...

Tensaw River The Tensaw River is a river in Baldwin County, Alabama. The name "Tensaw" is derived from the historic indigenous Taensa people. Overview It is a distributary of the Mobile River, about long. It is formed as a bayou of the Mobile roughly south ...

valley and west of the

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

border formed by the

Perdido River The Perdido River, also historically known as Rio Perdido or by its native name of Cassaba, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. states ...

U.S. Route 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. I ...

passes through the center of the city. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.75%, is water.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Bay Minette has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

Demographics

Bay Minette is part of the

–

Fairhope Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The population was 22,477 at the 2020 census. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area, which inc ...

– Foley Micropolitan Statistical Area.

2020 Census data

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 8,107 people, 2,812 households, and 1,690 families residing in the city.

2010 Census data

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 8,040 people, 2,744 households, and 1,884 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 3,586 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 60.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 35.3%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.0% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.0%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.8% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 1.8% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. There were 2,744 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 21.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.08. In the city, the population was 23.6% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $32,389, and the median income for a family was $44,573. Males had a median income of $37,623 versus $23,125 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $16,897. About 17.1% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 18.8% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Bay Minette uses a mayor council government. The mayor is elected at large. The city council consists of five members who are elected from one of five districts.

Education

Public schools

Bay Minette is a part of the Baldwin County Public Schools system. High schools: * Baldwin County High School (grades 9 through 12, BCHS, new) * North Baldwin Center for Technology (grades 9 through 12) Middle school: * Bay Minette Middle School (grades 7 and 8, BMMS) Elementary school: * Bay Minette Elementary School (grades K through 6, BMES)

Higher education

Coastal Alabama Community College Coastal Alabama Community College (also known as Coastal Alabama Community College – South) is a Public college, public Community colleges in the United States, community college with campuses in southern Alabama. Coastal Alabama was formed thr ...

Media

Portions of the movie ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film, science fiction drama film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François ...

'' were filmed near the town's

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...

depot, and '' Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood'' was filmed in rural portions of Baldwin County near Bay Minette.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Bay Minette Municipal Airport (1R8) is located 3 nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of Bay Minette. Intercity bus service is provided by

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of Intercity bus service, intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as interci ...

. Countywide

dial-a-ride Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...

transit service is provided by BRATS, the Baldwin Regional Area Transit System. Routes passing through the city include

US 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. I ...

and

Alabama State Route 59 State Route 59 (SR 59) is a state highway in Baldwin and Monroe counties in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. The highway extends from Gulf Shores on the Gulf of Mexico coast to Uriah in rural southwestern Ala ...

Emergency Services

Fire protection is provided by the Bay Minette Fire Department. Emergency Medical Services are provided by MedStar. Law enforcement agency is the Bay Minette Police Department.

Notable people

* Wallace Gilberry, defensive end for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

Todd Grisham Todd Grisham (born January 9, 1976) is an American sports reporter for DAZN and Glory kickboxing. Prior to his departure from ESPN at the end of 2016, his duties for the network included being the in-studio host for '' Friday Night Fights'' as w ...

, sports announcer for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

* Ellis Hooks, soul blues singer and songwriter was born here * John McMillan, State Treasurer of Alabama * Anthony Mix, former

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

and NFL player * Joe M. Rodgers,

United States Ambassador to France The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations w ...

References

External links

U.S.Census . gov / quick facts
City of Bay Minette

Bay Minette Airport
{{authority control Populated coastal places in Alabama Cities in Alabama Cities in Baldwin County, Alabama County seats in Alabama