In the first days of Baldwin County, the town of McIntosh Bluff on the Tombigbee River 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 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. A mural for the new post office built in 1937 was commissioned by the WPA and painted by Hilton Leech, 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 to substitute imprisonment with mandatory church attendance for one year. However, this program was challenged due to violating separation of church and state, 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 at . It is sited on high ground east of the Mobile River/Tensaw River valley and west of the Florida border formed by the Perdido River. U.S. Route 31 passes through the center of the city, leading south to Spanish Fort and northeast to Atmore. Interstate 65 passes about north of the city, with access from exit 34 and exit 37. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and, or 0.75%, is water.
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,040 people, 2,744 households, and 1,884 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 3,586 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 60.4% White, 35.3% Black or African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 1.8% of the population were Hispanic 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 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 for the city was $16,897. About 17.1% of families and 26.4% of the population were below the poverty line, 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.
Portions of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind were filmed near the town's Louisville and Nashville Railroad depot, and was filmed in rural portions of Baldwin County near Bay Minette.
