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 population was 231,767, making it the fourth-most populous county in Alabama. The county seat is Bay Minette. The county is named after the founder of the University of Georgia, Senator Abraham Baldwin.

Baldwin was Alabama's fastest-growing county from 2010 to 2020, with 4 of the top 10 fastest-growing cities in the state in recent years.

The U.S. federal government designates Baldwin County as the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area.

It is the largest county in Alabama by area and is located on the eastern side of Mobile Bay. Part of its western border with Mobile County is formed by the Spanish River, a brackish distributary river.

History

Baldwin County was established on December 21, 1809, ten years before Alabama became a state. Previously, the county had been a part of the Mississippi Territory until 1817, when the area was included in the separate Alabama Territory. Statehood was gained by Alabama in 1819.

There have been numerous border changes to the county as population grew and other counties were formed. Numerous armies have invaded during the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War.

In the first days of Baldwin County, the town of McIntosh Bluff on the Tombigbee River was the county seat. (It is now included in Washington County, northwest of Baldwin County.) The county seat was transferred to the town of Blakeley in 1820, and then to the city of Daphne 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 this relocation.

To achieve the relocation, the men of Bay Minette devised a scheme. They fabricated a murder to lure the sheriff and his deputy out of the city of Daphne. While the law was chasing down the fictitious killer during the late hours, the group of Bay Minette men stealthily traveled the to Daphne, stole the Baldwin County Courthouse records, and delivered them to the city of Bay Minette, where Baldwin County's county seat remains. A New Deal mural, completed by WPA artists during the Great Depression, depicts these events. It hangs in the Bay Minette United States Post Office.

During the American Civil War, 32 men hailing from Baldwin County enlisted with a Union unit mustered in Pensacola, Florida, called the 1st Florida Cavalry Regiment. In 1860, Baldwin County was the least populous of Alabama's 52 counties. Half of the population were enslaved. There was also a large population of Muscogee (Creek) in the northern portion of the county.

During the Cold War, the vice president of Foley-based Gulf Telephone Company, John Mcclure Snook, formed a private militia to resist a potential Communist invasion from the Gulf of Mexico. Due to this militia being armed with automatic weapons from Snook's personal collection, the federal government seized the weapons as part of an order during a 1964 libel proceeding. Although Snook paid the taxes imposed on the manufacture of automatic firearms, he sued for a refund on the basis that his militia served as auxiliary deputies for the Baldwin County Sheriff. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected this argument in a 1971 decision as his militia never performed services where use of those weapons were deemed necessary.

Due to its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, Baldwin County frequently endures tropical weather systems, including hurricanes. Since the late 20th century, the county has been declared a disaster area multiple times. This was due to heavy damages in September 1979 from Hurricane Frederic, July 1997 from Hurricane Danny, September 1998 from Hurricane Georges, September 2004 from Hurricane Ivan, August 2005 from Hurricane Katrina and September 2020 from Hurricane Sally.

2016 flag controversy

Baldwin County attracted national attention after the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting as the only county in the United States to refuse to lower its flags to half-staff. Both President Obama and Alabama governor Robert Bentley had ordered all flags to be lowered immediately following the attack, which was believed to have specifically targeted the LGBTQ community. Citing the U.S. Flag Code, Baldwin County commissioner Tucker Dorsey stated that while his "heart certainly goes out to the victims and their families", the incident "doesn't meet the test of the reason for the flag to be lowered".

Geography

thumb|right|Baldwin County's beaches

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (21.6%) is water.

National protected area

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Transportation

Major highways

20px Interstate 10
20px Interstate 65
20px U.S. Highway 31
20px U.S. Highway 90
20px U.S. Highway 98
20px State Route 59
20px State Route 104
20px State Route 180
20px State Route 181
20px State Route 182
20px State Route 225
20px State Route 287
20px Baldwin Beach Express

Airports

Bay Minette, 1R8, has a single runway 08/26 that is 5,497'
Fairhope, KCQF, has a single runway 01/19 that is 6,604'
Foley, 5R4, has a single runway 18/36 that is 3,700'
Stockton, Hubbard Landing Seaplane Base HL2 has one water runway that is 6,000’
Gulf Shores, Jack Edwards Airport JKA has two runways, 09/27 at 6,962' and 17/35 at 3,596'

There are numerous private airports and heliports in Baldwin County. Considerable military airspace overlies much of the county and adjacent bay and coastal waters.

Commercial, scheduled service is from Mobile Regional Airport, Mobile Downtown Airport, or Pensacola International Airport.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Baldwin County, Alabama – Racial and ethnic composition

!Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!% 2000

!% 2010

|White alone (NH)

|120,868

|152,200

|style='background: #ffffe6; |186,495

|86.08%

|83.50%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |80.47%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|14,357

|16,966

|style='background: #ffffe6; |18,001

|10.22%

|9.31%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.77%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|753

|1,146

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,291

|0.54%

|0.63%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.56%

|Asian alone (NH)

|531

|1,340

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,029

|0.38%

|0.74%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.88%

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|37

|79

|style='background: #ffffe6; |122

|0.03%

|0.04%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.05%

|Other race alone (NH)

|104

|245

|style='background: #ffffe6; |775

|0.07%

|0.13%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.33%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|1,299

|2,297

|style='background: #ffffe6; |10,368

|0.93%

|1.26%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.47%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|2,466

|7,992

|style='background: #ffffe6; |12,686

|1.76%

|4.38%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.47%

|Total

|140,415

|182,265

|style='background: #ffffe6; |231,767

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

Baldwin County was one of the earliest counties in Alabama in which the old-line Southern Democrats began splitting their tickets, even going so far as to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1956 re-election bid. Today, it is one of the most solidly Republican counties in Alabama. No Republican has failed to win a majority in the county since 1968, when it was easily carried by George Wallace running on a segregationist third-party ticket. The county has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1960.

The county is governed by a four-member county commission, elected from single-member districts. A sheriff, coroner, and revenue commissioner are elected in at-large positions countywide.

The sheriff of Baldwin County is Hoss Mack (R).

The commissioners are as follows:

District 1: James E. Ball (R)

District 2: Joseph Davis III (R)

District 3: Billie Jo Underwood (R)

District 4: Charles F. Gruber (R)

The coroner is Brian Pierce (R) and the district attorney is Robert Wilters (R).

Emergency Services

The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency for unincorporated areas of Baldwin County. The current sheriff is Huey H. Mack, who joined the Sheriff's Office in 1989 as a criminal investigator. The first sheriff, Benjamin Baldwin, was appointed on December 21, 1809.

Several local police departments are the primary law enforcement agencies in their respective jurisdictions, as well as fire protection in Baldwin County is provided by various local fire departments.

Emergency medical services are provided by MedStar, with the exception of some cities, where the local fire department staffs ambulances.

Media

Print

Robertsdale's The Independent is the primary newspaper read by the locals. The paper focuses on the Central Baldwin region.

Commerce

Most of the businesses in Central Baldwin make a profit from tourists traveling to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach via Highway 59. This region is also where the Baldwin County Fair takes place.

Communities

Cities

Bay Minette (county seat)
Daphne
Fairhope
Foley
Gulf Shores
Loxley
Orange Beach
Robertsdale (includes Rosinton)
Spanish Fort

Towns

Elberta
Magnolia Springs
Perdido Beach
Silverhill
Summerdale

Census-designated place

Bon Secour
Lillian
Perdido
Point Clear
Stapleton
Stockton

Unincorporated areas

Barnwell
Battles Wharf
Blacksher
Bromley
Carpenter's Station
Clay City
Crossroads
Elsanor
Fort Morgan
Gateswood
Hurricane
Josephine
Latham
Little River
Malbis
Marlow
Miflin
Montrose
Ono Island
Oyster Bay
Rabun
Seminole
Tensaw

Ghost town

Belle Fontaine
Blakeley

County subdivisions

The United States Census Bureau divides counties into county subdivisions. In Baldwin County, these are currently in to form of census county divisions. The county's historical subdivisions and their populations in the decennial censuses are as follows:

1870

{| class="wikitable sortable col2right"

!Subdivision

!1870

|Township 1 south||160

|Township 2 south||278

|Township 3 south||480

|Township 4 south||480

|Township 5 south||640

|Township 6 south||1,120

|Township 7 south||640

|Township 8 south||320

|Township 9 south||320

|Township 1 north||320

|Township 2 north||480

|Township 3 north||320

|Township 4 north||446

|County total||6,004

1880

{| class="wikitable sortable col2right"

!Subdivision

!1880

|Beat 1||1,489

|Beat 2||5,976

|Beat 3||1,138

|County total||8,603

1890–1900

{| class="wikitable sortable col2right col3right"

!Subdivision

!1890

!1900

|Precinct 1, Montgomery Hill||2,035||2,268

|Precinct 2, Stockton||943||1,387

|Precinct 3, Perdido Station||470||1,075

|Precinct 4, Bay Minette||1,022||1,593

|Precinct 5, ||492||632

|Precinct 6, Sibleys Mill||294||939

|Precinct 7, Courthouse (including Daphne)||641||1,099

|Precinct 8, Battles Wharf||1,314||1,837

|Precinct 9, Lowell||506||696

|Precinct 10, Helton||346||490

|Precinct 11, Shell Banks||310||769

|Precinct 12, Camp Powell||568||409

|County total||8,941||13,194

1910–1950

{| class="wikitable sortable col2right col3right col4right col5right col6right"

!Subdivision

!1910

!1920

!1930

!1940

!1950

|Precinct 1, ||1,293||1,076||945||1,042||643

|Precinct 2, Montgomery Hill and Latham||764||864||704||692||638

|Precinct 3, Stockton and Deans||1,432||1,880||1,870||1,782||2,140

|Precinct 4, Bay Minette||2,336||2,693||4,271||4,723||6,264

|Precinct 5, Perdido and Lottie||1,012||1,710||1,834||2,024||1,832

|Precinct 6, Stapleton and Ducks (1910–1920) Precinct 6, Stapleton (1930–1950)||900||1,021||1,045||1,330||1,437

|Precinct 7, Holmans and Gateswood||757||1,011||519||585||489

|Precinct 8, Daphne||1,507||1,608||2,131||2,723||3,814

|Precinct 9, Loxley and Robertsdale (including Silverhill)||1,785||2,301||4,380||4,981||6,655

|Precinct 10, Fairhope and Zundels||2,025||1,963||3,681||3,917||6,505

|Precinct 11, Summerdale and Marlow||856||993||1,766||1,808||1,879

|Precinct 12, Seminole and Lillian||437||356||605||1,049||964

|Precinct 13, Elberta and Josephine||715||1,025||1,272||1,239||1,384

|Precinct 14, Foley and Magnolia Springs ||1,019||1,214||2,370||3,081||4,715

|Precinct 15, Bon Secour and Palmetto Beach (1910–1940) Precinct 15, Bon Secour and Canal (1950)||1,340||1,015||896||1,348||1,638

|County total||18,178||20,730||28,289||32,324||40,997

1960–present

{| class="wikitable sortable col2right col3right col4right col5right col6right col7right col8right"

!Subdivision

!1960

!1970

!1980

!1990

!2000

!2010

!2020

|Bay Minette CCD||10,788||13,347||17,040||18,058||21,877||23,604||25,186

|Daphne CCD (including Spanish Fort)||5,402||8,461||13,563||19,135||28,904||41,295||55,767

|Elberta CCD (including Perdido Beach)||2,385||3,076||4,230||6,341||10,473||10,957||13,668

|Fairhope CCD||8,745||10,562||13,782||16,331||20,780||25,894||33,920

|Foley CCD (including Gulf Shores, Magnolia Springs, and most of Orange Beach)||7,788||10,416||14,133||20,687||31,271||48,089||64,862

|Perdido CCD||1,675||—||—||—||—||—||—

|Robertsdale CCD (including Loxley and Silverhill)||7,847||8,257||9,993||11,849||18,854||24,317||29,160

|Stockton CCD||2,899||3,470||3,704||3,565||4,161||3,804||3,745

|Summerdale CCD||1,559||1,793||2,111||2,314||4,095||4,305||5,459

|County total||49,088||59,382||78,556||98,280||140,415||182,265||231,767

References

External links

Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance
Baldwin County Alabama Genealogy
Baldwin County Alabama Free Census Records
Baldwin County Alabama Archives and Libraries
Baldwin County Alabama Cemeteries
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism Board
South Alabama Community Website
Baldwin County NOW

History

2016 flag controversy

Geography

National protected area

Transportation

Major highways

Airports

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition

Emergency Services

Media

Print

Commerce

Communities

Cities

Towns

Census-designated place

Unincorporated areas

Ghost town

County subdivisions

1870

1880

1890–1900

1910–1950

1960–present

See also

References

External links