Bon Secour, Alabama
| Bon Secour, Alabama | |
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| Unincorporated community | |
Looking west over Bon Secour Bay
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 Bon Secour, Alabama
Bon Secour, Alabama
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| Coordinates: 30°18′54″N 87°43′44″W / 30.31500°N 87.72889°WCoordinates: 30°18′54″N 87°43′44″W / 30.31500°N 87.72889°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alabama |
| County | Baldwin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.4 sq mi (8.7 km2) |
| • Land | 3.4 sq mi (8.7 km2) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 743 |
| • Density | 220/sq mi (85/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 36511 |
Bon Secour (postal zip code 36511) is an unincorporated community 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 Alabama–Mississippi 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.
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.
The estimated population of the town is 743 in 2010, up from 302 in 2000 (see detailed Demographics below). However, since Hurricane Ivan, single-family housing developments and the population have continued to grow. It is part of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley micropolitan area.
Bon Secour is sometimes mentioned in hurricane report statistics, for the region, since Bon Secour is the eastern-most 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.
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 Southern Gothic, waterfront community that serves as a safe harbor to a current 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.
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