24
Beach Beacon
F
or generations of beach travelers, Bay
Minee has been a signal that vacations
will soon begin. Other than bathroom
breaks, gasoline fill-ups or cold drinks bought
for the final 47-mile stretch to the white sands of
the Gulf of Mexico, few visitors venture off the
Highway 287/31/59 path that merges in town.
People passed through here for thousands of
years before Bay Minee was first seled in the
early 1860s. Indians lived on the nearby Tensaw
Delta; Spanish conquistador Narvez was the
earliest known explorer in 1528. The surrounding
forests and fertile farmland enticed the town's
first residents, and those natural resources
continue to provide sustenance for many today.
But while the Log Cabin Inn and businesses
along the beach thoroughfare have long been
familiar to families, just off the main route lies a
bustling governmental center, major industries,
a municipal airport, nine-hole city golf course
and quaint downtown square with plenty of free
parking. The older section is easy to spot beneath
the state landmark concrete water tower built in
1915, which remains the city's tallest structure.
BLOSSOMING BAY MINETTE MUCH MORE THAN PATH TO GULF
by Chuck Chandler
