Bon Secour, Alabama

Coordinates: 30°18′54″N 87°43′44″W / 30.31500°N 87.72889°W / 30.31500; -87.72889
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bon Secour, Alabama
FIPS code
01-08272

Bon Secour /bɑːn səˈkjr/ is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. It lies along the eastern coastline of Bon Secour Bay (a contiguous bay that sits along the eastern edge of Mobile Bay). Bon Secour is over 35 miles (56 km) due east of the AlabamaMississippi state line, near Gulf Shores, and over 45 miles (72 km) west of Pensacola, Florida. The name "Bon Secour" derives from the French phrase meaning "safe harbor" due to the secluded location on the inside coast of the Fort Morgan peninsula of southern Alabama.[2]

Bon Secour lies on the Bon Secour River. Elevation is 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level. The estuarial river system empties into Bon Secour Bay at Mobile Bay.[3]

It is part of the

Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolitan area
.

It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 Census.

Bon Secour is sometimes mentioned in

hurricane report statistics, for the region, since Bon Secour is the easternmost town inside the coastline of Mobile Bay when entering the bay from the south, indicating weather and tide conditions for the population at the southeast end of Mobile Bay, nearest the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. By contrast, Mobile, Alabama
is located near the (diagonally opposite) north end of Mobile Bay, much farther from the Gulf tide and hurricane storm surges.

History

Bon Secour has a rich history. It was originally a French fishing village settlement dating back to the late 19th century. Currently it is a waterfront community that serves as a safe harbor to a commercial fishing fleet. Named by Jacques Cook, a French Canadian from Montreal, a member of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville's colonizing expedition of 1699. He was a participant in the founding of Mobile in 1702. There are several major seafood industry businesses currently operating out of the Bon Secour estuary. Bon Secour Fisheries, Safe Harbor Seafood, Aquilla Seafood and Billy's Seafood all ship large quantities of Gulf of Mexico seafood to all areas of the United States. Bon Secour Fisheries is the oldest and biggest of them all, having been operating since the 1890s. The primary catch for the Bon Secour fishing fleet ranges from Mobile Bay shrimp to deep water "Royal Red" shrimp. Large shrimp boats line the shores of the Bon Secour River, docked at processing plants for packaging and shipment to all of America. One main point of pride within the community is the "Alabama Wild Shrimp Program". Because wild shrimp caught by the local fleet must compete with farmed shrimp from overseas, economic pressures have driven many, multi-generational shimpers out of the business. As a result, the local shimpers, along with shrimpers out of the Mobile area have formed an alliance, increased their marketing, public relations knowledge and efforts to brand Alabama, Wild Caught Shrimp. Their efforts have paid off. Marine science has indeed proven that wild-caught shrimp from local waters are in fact less likely to contain contaminates than the farm-raised shrimp that have been imported from other countries. Still, the commercial shrimping industry in Bon Secour is hanging on by a very thin line.[citation needed]

Bon Secour is characterized by a coastal, Southern Gothic scenery with huge water oak trees covered in Spanish moss, great blue herons, brown pelicans, ever present bottle-nosed dolphin pods and the potent smell of salty gulf waters everywhere. The local commercial fisherman that make their living from the Gulf are no less salty but also friendly. Other than the relatively small, family owned, seafood processing plants, Bon Secour is primarily made up of many rural neighborhoods, most of which enjoy beautiful vistas of the Bon Secour River and Bon Secour Bay. Brown Pelicans are everywhere and locals often see alligators from time to time, plying the waters of the estuarial system from the head waters of the Bon Secour River to the bay. One can see baby bottle-nosed dolphins playing near the mouth of the river at any time. In Bon Secour one can catch bass, bream, fresh-water catfish, then travel a few miles down river, to the bay and catch all manner of salt water fish, shrimp, and oysters in the same day.[citation needed]

Homes in the Bon Secour area are some of the oldest along the eastern Alabama Gulf Coast. With the arrival of the current development boom, post

Cancún, etc.[citation needed
]

Many seabirds, tree frogs and other natural fauna still live in the area of the pristine environment that is Bon Secour.[2]

Hurricanes

The location of Bon Secour on the northern coast of the

hurricanes
:

2010 Gulf Oil Spill

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill drastically reduced the availability of Gulf shrimp, so many people lost their jobs with the fishing industry. In June 2010, oil globs and submerged oil began washing ashore on the beaches of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, killing many fish and crabs.

Nearby towns

Geography

Bon Secour is located at 30°27'56" North, 87°45'13" West (30.465497, -087.753507).[4][5]

The town has a total area of 3.4 square miles (8.7 km2), all land,[5] although it lies along the Bon Secour River and bay.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note
20201,754
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
1850[7] 1860[8] 1870[9]
1880[10] 1890-1900[11]
1910[12] 1920[13] 1930[14]
1940[15] 1950[16] 1960[17]
1970[18] 1980[19] 1990[20]
2000[21] 2010[22] 2020[23]

Bon Secour was first listed as a

2020 U.S. Census.[23][22]

2020 census

Bon Secour CDP, Alabama – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) Pop 2020[23] % 2020
White
alone (NH)
1,428 81.41%
Black or African American
alone (NH)
63 3.49%
Alaska Native
alone (NH)
11 0.63%
Asian alone (NH) 6 0.34%
Pacific Islander alone (NH) 1 0.06%
Some Other Race alone (NH) 8 0.46%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial (NH) 59 3.36%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 178 10.15%
Total 1,754 100.00%

Education

Bon Secour is served by the

Baldwin County Public Schools system, in the nearby town of Foley
. An elementary school, an intermediate school, a middle school, and a high school serve Foley.

  • Foley High School (grades 9-12)
  • Foley Intermediate School (grades 5-6)
  • Foley Middle School (grades 7-8)
  • Foley Elementary School (grades K-4)
  • Swift Elementary School (grades PreK-6) - Located in Bon Secour.

Climate

Bon Secour enjoys a very mild climate throughout the year. High temperatures in the winter average around 65 degrees; summer-time high temperatures average around 87. Bon Secour also averages 61 inches (1,500 mm) of rainfall per year.

Regional

The

Gulf Coast
, as it formerly existed. Consequently, the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge has been named among the ten natural wonders of Alabama. It has become a birding Mecca.

Notes

  1. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
  2. ^
    US Fish and Wildlife Service, web: FWS-Gov-BSNWR
    .
  3. ^ "ADEM: Bon Secour River Watershed" (U.S. Gov't report), U.S. NOAA, July 1996, page 12 of 59, webpage (PDF): NOAA-cedbbd.pdf.
  4. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "36511 zip code - Bon Secour" (2006), BrainyZip.com, web: BrainZip-36511.
  6. ^ "Decennial Census of Population and Housing by Decade" (PDF). United States Census Bureau.
  7. ^ "1850 Census of Population - Alabama - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1850.
  8. ^ "1860 Census of Population - Alabama - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1860.
  9. ^ "1870 Census of Population - Alabama - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1870.
  10. ^ "1880 Census of Population - Alabama - Population of Civil Divisions less than Counties" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1880.
  11. ^ "1900 Census of Population - Alabama". United States Census Bureau. 1900.
  12. ^ "1910 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1910.
  13. ^ "1920 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1920. p. 178-179.
  14. ^ "1930 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1930. p. 139.
  15. ^ "1940 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1940.
  16. ^ "1950 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1950.
  17. ^ "1960 Census of Population - Population of all incorporated places; and all unincorporated places of 1,000 or more - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1960.
  18. ^ "1970 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1970.
  19. ^ "1980 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1980.
  20. ^ "1990 Census of Population - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 1990.
  21. ^ "2000 Census of Population - Summary Population and Housing Characteristics - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2000.
  22. ^ a b "2010 Census of Population - General Population Characteristics - Alabama" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. 2010.
  23. ^ a b c "P2 Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) - Bon Secour CDP, Alabama". United States Census Bureau.

References

The following are reference sources, repeated alphabetically: