Bon Secour, Alabama

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Bon Secour, Alabama (postal zip code 36511) is located along the eastern coastline of Mobile Bay, over 35 miles due east of the Alabama-Mississippi state line, near Gulf Shores, Alabama and over 45 miles 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.[1]

Bon Secour lies on the Bon Secour River. Elevation is 10 feet above sea level.

The population of the town was recorded as 302 (see detailed Demographics below).

Bon Secour is sometimes mentioned in hurricane report statistics, for the region, since Bon Secour is the first town inside the eastern coastline of Mobile Bay when entering the bay from the south, indicating weather and tide conditions for the population at the south 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.

Location of Bon Secour, Alabama
Location of Bon Secour, Alabama

Contents

[edit] Nearby Towns

[edit] Geography

Bon Secour is located at 30°27'56" North, 87°45'13" West (30.465497, -087.753507)GR1.[2]

The town has a total area of 8.7 km² (3.4 mi²): 8.7 km² (3.4 mi²) of it is land and none is water.[2]

[edit] Demographics

The recorded population was 302 people, with 142 male and 160 female, median age 37.0 years, with 148 housing units in the town.[2] The population density was 34.7/km² (88.8/mi²).

The race/culture distribution was recorded as: White: 291 (96.4%), Black or African American: 0 (0.0%), American Indian and Alaska Native: 5 (1.7% ), Asian 0 (0.0%), Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 (0.0%), some other race: 1 (0.3%), two or more races 5(1.7%), Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 3 (1.0%).[2]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Schools

[edit] Secondary schools

[edit] High schools
  • Foley High School (9-12)

[edit] Middle schools
  • Foley Intermediate School (5-6)
  • Foley Middle School (7-8)

[edit] Primary schools

  • Foley Elementary School (K-4)

[edit] 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 of rainfall per year.

The location of Bon Secour on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico makes it especially vulnerable to hurricanes. In September 1979, Bon Secour received the full brunt of category 3 Hurricane Frederic which leveled most of the beachfront of the town. In September 2004, category 3 Hurricane Ivan made landfall only a few miles from Bon Secour, causing extensive wind and flooding damage. Nearby Orange Beach suffered even greater damage from its location east of Ivan's eyewall. Over 800 homes (mainly condominiums) were destroyed by Ivan.

[edit] Regional

Bon Secour is the location of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (NWR).[1] The Bon Secour NWR consists of over 6,700 acres of wildlife habitat lying directly west of Gulf Shores, Alabama, on the Fort Morgan peninsula of southern Alabama. The refuge was established by the US Congress in 1980 to provide habitat for non-game birds migrating south in the fall and north in the spring. The migration paths from Bon Secour lead south to lower Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and to Central America. The Bon Secour refuge also serves as the one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land on the Alabama coast, with sand dunes which are a reminder of the Gulf Coast, as it formerly existed. Consequently, the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge has been named among the ten natural wonders of Alabama.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b "Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge" (2006-08-18), US Fish and Wildlife Service, web: FWS-Gov-BSNWR.
  2. ^ a b c d "36511 zip code - Bon Secour" (2006), BrainyZip.com, web: BrainZip-36511.

[edit] References

The following are reference sources, repeated alphabetically:

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