Flotte's Notes on Baldwin County, Alabama

· Baldwin County’s Daphne-Fairhope-Foley micropolitan area’s total population is 171,770, and making it the fourth largest micropolitan area in the country

· Baldwin County experienced a population increase of 42.9% from 1990 to 2000, making it the second fastest growing county in Alabama.

· Daphne-Fairhope-Foley micropolitan area ranked number one in the nation for population growth between 2000 and 2007, adding 31,350 new residents.

· 2006 U.S. Census estimates place the county's growth in housing stock at 38th in the nation.

· 1993 Baldwin County Long Range Plan

· AREREC Baldwin County Population and Household Projections 2000-2020

History

· Baldwin County Historical Society

· Baldwin County Genealogical Society

· Pre-Mississippian Native American cultures often referred to as “mound-builders,” flourished in the area. To this day, a variety of burial, ceremonial and residential mounds along with an occasional artifact can be found along Baldwin County's many waterways.

· The Delta interior lays claim to Bottle Creek, a crucial pre-Columbian Indian ceremonial and political center.

o There are a series of earthen mounds, the tallest being about 50 feet high. Scholars have been investigating Bottle Creek since the 1850s, but only in recent years, with extensive excavations by a team from the University of Alabama, has the site received its due as one of the most important in the Southeast

o The current thinking is that leaders of a Mississippian Indian culture lived and ruled atop these mounds in a dynasty that began about 1200 A.D. and lasted some 400 years. By the time the French had settled in the area, Bottle Creek was uninhabited, but was revered the place as sacred. They took Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville to see it in 1702.

· In 1519 Alonzo Alvarez De Pineda sailed into Mobile Bay and named it Espiritu Santo. In 1540 Hernando Desoto is known to have traveled through a portion of Baldwin County. The town of Spanish Fort is known to have been the indefinite site for Spanish occupation. In time, the French and English would occupy Baldwin County

· 1702 The French found Mobile. Bon Secour was founded by a Frenchman from Montreal, and French explorers left such place names as Bayou Volante (Flying Creek, now Fly Creek) in Fairhope and Bycora Swamp from Bayou Coeur (Heartshaped Swamp).

· 1715 Joseph Simon de la Pointe received a grant for land measuring "one league," or three miles, along Fish River near its mouth at Weeks Bay.

· By the 1740s, several homes had been built in an area that came to be known as The Village, or French Village, in what is now Daphne.

· Augustin Rochon, established a plantation in what is now Spanish Fort around 1760.

· 1763 The British take control of West Florida, including present-day Baldwin County, following the French and Indian Wars.

o British Maj. Robert Farmar built a large plantation along the Tensaw, near what is now Stockton.

· 1780 A Spanish army captured Mobile, then proceeded to the Eastern Shore of the bay and built the "Old Spanish Fort" as a defense against counterattacks.

o 1800 Francisco Suarez, a Spaniard, had received thousands of acres in Baldwin County from the kingdom of Spain.

· 1809 Baldwin County was organized as part of the Mississippi Territory until 1817, then the Alabama Territory until 1819 when Alabama became a state.

o Baldwin County takes its name from Abraham Baldwin, a native of Connecticut who had never been to the Alabama. Baldwin moved to Georgia, was elected to the Georgia State Legislature, served as the University of Georgia's first president, signed the United States Constitution, and served in the United States House of Representatives and Senate Many of the county's settlers, who migrated from Georgia, suggested the county be named after Abraham Baldwin.

o McIntosh Bluff (now in Mobile County) on the Tombigbee River was the first County Seat

· 1810 The Town of Blakeley became the County Seat.

o Settled by Josiah Blakeley and others from New England in 1814, the streets and lots were laid out in such fashion with avenues named after Presidents and streets named fruit trees. The Blakeley Sun, published and printed down in the town, was one of Alabama’s earliest newspapers. Blakeley, on the Tensaw River, emerged as a thriving port town. From 1821 to 1828, it had some 4,000 residents, more than Mobile, and served as the seat of Baldwin County. Blakeley had steamboat traffic (via the Delta) with Mobile. Yellow fever and failed land speculations brought Blakeley to ruin by 1828.

o Property owners and developers in the Blakeley area filed a petition in 1996 requesting the dissolution of the inactive town of Blakeley, which was incorporated in 1814 and never dissolved in order to avoind zoning restrictions.

· 1813 The 19th century's largest Indian massacre of white Americans occurred at Fort Mims, on the Delta's northeast edge.

o In July 1813, American militiamen ambushed Creek Indians at Burnt Corn Creek, near today's border between Escambia and Conecuh counties. The Creeks prevailed, but vowed revenge for the attack. The Creek War had begun.

§ In July 1813, Peter McQueen and a large party of "Red Sticks" proceeded to Pensacola with a letter from a British officer at Fort Malden and four hundred dollars to buy munitions. United States soldiers at Fort Mims, having heard of McQueen's mission, responded by sending a disorganized force to intercept McQueen's party. The Americans ambushed the Red Sticks as they bedded down for the evening at the village of Burnt Corn. The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. From the swamp, the Creeks noticed that the Americans were looting and had dropped their guard. The Creeks re-grouped and launched a surprise attack, which scattered the Americans.

o Delta settlers tried to protect themselves by gathering in wooden stockades, including one owned by Samuel Mims, a wealthy local trader, near Boatyard Lake in the upper eastern Delta. Roughly 120 militiamen guarded some 300 others at Fort Mims, including slaves and friendly Indians. But the militia commander, Daniel Beasley, disregarded warnings of an imminent attack. At noon on Aug. 30, as the settlers ate lunch, hundreds of Creeks led by the mixed-blood William "Red Eagle" Weatherford poured into the fort. They killed Beasley right away, then started killing indiscriminately. Weatherford actually tried to stop the slaughter, but to no avail.

o Historians accept that at least 250 men, women and children were killed at Fort Mims, the largest massacre of whites by Indians in the 19th century. Three weeks later, when a burial party arrived, the sky over Fort Mims was still black with vultures, according to the book "Alabama: The History of a Deep South State."

o The cry "Remember Fort Mims!" took hold, and brought avenging militiamen to Alabama, including Tennesseans commanded by Andrew Jackson. Jackson, who was in and out of the Delta during this time, led the militia in defeating the Creeks at the celebrated Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814. That battle, fought near present-day Wetumpka, crushed the Creeks and effectively ended the Creek War, guaranteeing the tribe's expulsion to the west. It also made Jackson a national hero. In 1830, President Andrew Jackson would remember the Delta by signing legislation to establish the federal Mount Vernon Arsenal three miles west of old Fort Stoddert.

· 1815 During the War of 1812, at Fort Bowyer (now called Fort Morgan), the British attacked the fort prior to the Battle of New Orleans. This attack was repulsed with a number of British casualties and the loss of the HMS Hermes. The fort was attacked again after the British defeat at New Orleans, and was lost to the British on February 12, 1815, but after the Treaty of Ghent was signed the British were forced to relinquish it.

· 1864 In the Battle of Fort Morgan in August, Admiral Farragut entered Baldwin / Mobile Bay to seal off Confederate shipping.

o The Tecumseh, a Federal Ironclad, struck a mine and sank during the fighting in a narrow inlet where it still lies with its entombed crew near Fort Morgan.

o In March 1865, federal forces under Gen. Edward Canby marched north from Fish River and Fort Morgan and surrounded the Confederate’s Eastern Shore positions.

· 1865 Spanish Fort went under siege in March and April 1865, with Confederate Fort McDermott receiving approximately 48 hours of constant bombardment. Federal soldiers overran the site on April 8.

o Union troops dug a ring of trenches and gun positions in a line stretching 4 miles, from near the present site of the Larry D. Cawyer Scenic Overlook on Interstate 10 through Spanish Fort to Bay Minette Creek

o While the battlefield at nearby Blakeley is preserved in a state park, the site of the battle of Spanish Fort has been covered by development. A developer has proposed a new subdivision for 48 acres that includes the site of three Union artillery batteries and earthworks that bombarded Fort McDermott, located across Alabama 225 from Spanish Fort Elementary School – PR 5/4/2007

· 1865 During the Civil War the Confederate Fort Blakely (spelled this way during the Civil War years) was built near to the abandoned town, housing an army camp of upwards to 4,000 soldiers.

o On April 9, 1865, some six hours after Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Union troops defeated Confederates at the Battle of Fort Blakeley. It is estimated that a total of 4,475 soldiers were killed or wounded in this final engagement.

o At least 6,000 of the Union troops were blacks, one of the largest such representations in the war.

o After 1865 Blakeley was deserted for more than 100 years until Historic Blakeley State Park was created in 1981.

o Remnants of two small Confederate batteries - Forts Huger and Tracy - can still be seen in the Apalachee River, on the Delta's lower, eastern side.

· 1868 The County Seat was moved from Blakeley to Daphne.

· 1893 Adherents of the economic theories of Henry George founded a Single Tax Colony called Fairhope; Friends (Quakers) also settled there.

· 1901 By an Act of the State Legislature, the County Seat was authorized for relocation to the City of Bay Minette, however, the City of Daphne resisted relocation. In order to relocate the County Seat, the men of Bay Minette prefabricated a murder. While the law was chasing down the fictitious killer, the group of Bay Minette men retrieved the Baldwin County Courthouse records, and delivered them to the City of Bay Minette - where Baldwin County's County Seat remains to this day. A New Deal mural hanging in the Bay Minette post office depicts the removal of the county seat. Hooker Mennonites (Amish) found their way to Bay Minette.

· Around the turn of the century, immigrants from many regions of the United States and from other countries began populating Baldwin County: Italians settled in Daphne, Scandinavians in Silverhill, Germans in Elberta, Poles in Summerdale, Greeks in Malbis Plantation, and Bohemians in Robertsdale, Summerdale, and Silverhill.

· 1911 Daphne held its first May Day celebration which became a county-wide celebration held the first Saturday in May. Each community in Baldwin County sent queens and courts dressed in colorful antebellum dresses to compete for the queen of May Day. This tradition fell by the wayside and ended in 1970.

· 1916 The first black school, the Eastern Shore Industrial School, was built in Daphne. Its name was changed to Baldwin County Training School. This school served as the elementary and high school for all the black children in the county until segregation ended in 1969

· 1927 The Mobile Bay Causeway opened along the Old Spanish Trail. This resulted in a drastic change in the economy, location of businesses and the mode of life. The Eastern Shore wharves and docks deteriorated.

· The oldest surviving church in the county, Montgomery Hill Baptist Church, was built on Montgomery Hill near Tensaw in 1853-1854. This simple Greek Revival structure is typical of the nineteenth-century rural churches with its frame construction and one-room sanctuary. Yet its resemblance to a Greek temple and use of interior graining and paneling set it far above any of the homes built in the area at that time. In addition, the slave gallery is a historic statement of the social arrangements of a slave-owning society. Gothic Revival stylistic influences are visible in the Latham Methodist Church (Latham, 1906), St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Magnolia Springs, 1901), and Swift Presbyterian Church (Miflin, 1907). By the 1920's, ornamental concrete blocks had become a popular building material. Three churches built of this material are the Lebanon Chapel A.M.E. Church (1923) and Twin Beach A.M.E Zion Church (1925), both in Fairhope, and the St. Raphael's Roman Catholic Church (1924) in Loxley, now being used as the Loxley Public Library. The Lebanon Chapel A.M.E. Church is the finest example of concrete construction in a religious context in Baldwin County. Its central tower, quoins, denticulations and belt course distinguish it as the highest-style building in a predominately African-American neighborhood. For wealthier congregations, brick became the material of choice. The First Baptist Church of Bay Minette (1914) and St. Mark's Lutheran Church of Elberta (1927) both use this material to a positive effect. The Baptist church, no longer in use, features a recessed portico with tall white Tuscan columns, whereas the Lutheran church mimics medieval building traditions with its squat tower, buttresses, and gothic windows. The Stockton Methodist Church (1929) was built from an old school torn down on the site, and this use of older materials may have influenced its design. The church's massive square brick columns and pedimented front gable are reminiscent of the Classical Revival style of an earlier era.

Government

· The Baldwin County Commission unanimously adopted a $204 million 2007-2008 budget -- a record high which was increased 30 percent compared to the prior year.

· The pay-as-you-go program would allow Baldwin to increase property taxes to help cover costs to build roads, bridges and drainage projects. The program requires a voter-approved constitutional amendment, set to be on the ballot in June. The program would allow the county to collect up to an additional 4 mills on property to pay for the projects that would also have to be approved by voters. – PR 9/18/07

· Jacksonville, Fla.-based Genesis Group was hired to compile a comprehensive plan for Baldwin County, estimated to cost $280,000, to be finished by early 2008. The Planning and Zoning Commission and the County Commission will take final action on approving, altering or turning down the plan. www.GenesisGroup.com/BaldwinCounty

Economics

Baldwin Business Organizations

· Baldwin Economic Development Alliance (BCEDA)

o The BCEDA Small Business Incubator Network Feasibility Study proposed an incubator network of five new facilities of 12,000 square feet each in Daphne, Gulf Shores, Foley, Robertsdale and Bay Minette. The ideas were presented to local leaders but there were concerns of the substantial funds required. While not totally shelving the idea of typical incubator “brick and mortar” facilities, the Alliance investigated a Virtual Business Incubator (VBI).

· Alabama Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce

· Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

· Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce

o The ESCC is holding a series of monthly business training workshops beginning in February as part of the chamber's Blueprint for Tomorrow initiative

· North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

· South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce

· 2006 Visitor Profile

· Baldwin County SCORE

· The Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau is a quasi-governmental agency funded by a portion of the state's lodgings tax

· Envision Coastal Alabama is a regional development organization.

Baldwin Economic Growth

· Baldwin officials reported capital investment of $71 million in 2006, with 20 companies either locating to the county or expanding existing facilities, according to alliance data. Some 970 new jobs were created.

· Baldwin's micropolitan economic strength ranking was 34^th in 2007, 8^th in 2006, 37th in 2005 and 11th in 2004, according to POLICOM Corp. Baldwin is in the top 5 percent among 693 counties nationally. The county's ranking was the highest of any in states along the Gulf Coast as well as Tennessee, Georgia and Arkansas. Much of the data used in the study for the 2007 report was from 2004 or earlier.

· Don Epley at the University of South Alabama Center for Real Estate Studies estimates that between 2003 and 2007, Baldwin’s economy grew 22.9%. – Jeff Amy, PR, 10/28/07, 4/12/08

o Baldwin County’s economy increased 5.93% in 2006 and 4.77% in 2007.

o Epley said Baldwin's decrease at the end of 2007 mainly stemmed from a drop in construction and real estate employment.

· Baldwin County's low unemployment rate, under 3 percent, is evidence of a labor shortage

o A Gulf Shores company, Tropical Services, supplies college-age foreign exchange students to employers. Tropical Services plans to expand from about 300 students this year to more than 1,000 next year.

Baldwin Industries and Businesses

· Throughout most of the twentieth century, Baldwin County’s economy was made up heavily of farming, forestry, and seafood.

· In the 1970s, some South Baldwin farmers turned to sod farming, including Woerner and Craft Farms.

· In the 1980s and 1990s, tourism and real estate became a large part of the economy.

· L-3 Crestview Aerospace Corp.'s announced the closure of its Fairhope plant in December 2007.

· Standard Furniture of Bay Minette in year 2003 did over $250 million in gross business, with 1250 employees, making wood bedroom furniture. W. M. Hodgson, Sr., with four or five friends, started the company in the 1940s and later he purchased the interests of the others. In the 1950s, W. M. Jr., and Bob Hodgson took over the operations.

· U.S. immigration officials have shut down Skyline Services, a Baldwin County labor firm that authorities contend was supplying hundreds of illegal workers to area job sites. Criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Mobile allege that Skyline, operating out of a pair of convenience stores in Foley and Gulf Shores, ferried as many as 300 illegal immigrants to various lawn-care companies, construction contractors, cleaning services and other businesses along the coast. Gerald Jones, who owns Skyline, said undocumented workers are a pervasive problem in Baldwin County, where demand for labor in the service and construction industries has outstripped the supply of U.S. workers. He told the Press-Register that he never knowingly hired an illegal immigrant. – PR 2/8/08

Baldwin County Infrastructure

· BRATS is the Baldwin Rural Area Transportation System

· A recent Baldwin task force study gave evidence of a transportation crisis. Although more middle-income workers will be needed in the county, they will have a harder time finding homes they can afford because of spiraling land prices. Baldwin is going to have to look beyond its borders to fill its job openings - an estimated 4,000 at any given time

· BRATS and its Escambia counterpart, ECATS, attempt to fill the transportation void in a cooperative fashion.

o BRATS has talked with Mobile's WAVE Transit officials about hooking a Baldwin route into the central transportation center at the GM&O Building in downtown Mobile.

o Baldwin's low unemployment rate, under 3 percent, may be driving transportation discussions, but Mobile stands to benefit from Baldwin County’s tourists.

o The goal is to link Mobile and Baldwin counties by ferry by the end of 2007, with the ferry purchased using money from a federal grant connected to the planned maritime museum on Mobile's downtown riverfront.

· Alabama 59 constituted the route between Uriah and Bay Minette in 1940. By 1957 Alabama 59 grew to its current length extending southward to Gulf Shores over the former Alabama 3 routing.² Alabama 3 is the hidden counterpart for U.S. 31 in Baldwin County now. Four laning of the stretch between Gulf Shores and Interstate 10 was completed by 1996 to provide additional capacity for the tourist season and hurricane evacuation situations. – www.southeastroads.com

· Alabama 31

· Alabama 180 runs from Fort Morgan to Orange Beach

· Alabama 182 runs from Pine Beach (west of Gulf Shores) to the Florida state line

· Alabama 225 runs north from Spanish Fort

· US Highway 90

· US Highway 98