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Magnolia Springs, five miles west of Foley, Alabama, near the Gulf of Mexico, offers the weekend traveler a trip back in time. Founded in the early 1800s by a Spanish land grant, it is the last town in the United States where mail is delivered year-round by boat. The springs which give the town its name burble up from the bottom of the Magnolia River. The water was alleged to have curative properties; by the early 1900s hundreds of visitors a year came to the area seeking to recover their health by drinking the waters. Today the main legacy of Magnolia Springs’ heyday as a resort is the canopy of oak trees which arch over the main street. The town has become a popular weekend getaway for harried residents of nearby Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida. They come for the sense of history as much as the low-key beauty of the surrounding area. Magnolia Springs has preserved its historic buildings, some of which have been converted to new uses. The picturesque St. Paul’s Episcopal Chapel on Oak Street, consecrated in 1902, holds services every Sunday. Next door, the hundred year old community center is still the site for meetings—and the regular community covered dish dinner—but the old post office, right across the street, has been transformed into Jesse’s, an upscale restaurant serving lunch and dinner. In the same building is the Moore Brothers’ Village Market, a gourmet grocery, wine store and deli occupying space which used to be the Moore Brothers Store. Jesse’s, in fact, was named for Jesse King who worked at Moore Brothers for sixty years.
Just down Oak Street, the Magnolia Springs Bed and Breakfast occupies a stately two-story building once known as the Sunnyside Hotel, which housed prospective land buyers in the twenties and thirties. The building ceased being a hotel during the 1940s but continued to serve as a community meeting place, serving Sunday dinner. In 1980, the house was restored to its original appearance with the aid of old photographs. David Worthington bought the property in December, 1996, and after a frenzied bout of refinishing the beautiful floors and woodwork, opened as a bed and breakfast in March, 1997. The elegant old building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is surrounded by large canopy oak trees, and the
heart-pine porch, which extends along the front and side of the house, provides a spacious spot to relax. The five guest rooms all feature private baths (including one with a clawfooted tub rescued from the back yard and something called an elephant trunk toilet, which should be seen to be
believed), telephone and television. Breakfast is included in the room rate; house specialties include French toast and garlic cheese
grits. During my stay, Breakfast Pizza won rave reviews—a quichelike
The large oak trees (one of which can be seen as a mere sapling in an early-1900s photo) shading the lawn form an arch over Oak Street. An impressive glass-paneled front door opens into the great hall whose walls and ceiling are beaded yellow pine. Guests can help themselves to a stocked refrigerator during the day, and a dessert, such as oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, is served every night. The Magnolia River, 1 1/2 blocks away, provides ample opportunity for recreation; and the Gulf beaches are only nine miles away, down
Highway 59. Many travelers stay in the area to shop. South Baldwin County has been called the "Antique Mecca of the Gulf Coast." Nearby Foley features five antique malls, including the GasWorks Mall (the somewhat alarming name deriving from its former function) and the "Ole Crush" (named for a soft drink), both on McKenzie Street in the heart of town. The 3,000 acre Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, five miles west, is a popular spot for hikers and birdwatchers and features a boardwalk through its woods, marshes and lowlands, an interpretative center and butterfly garden. A few more miles away is Point Clear, site of the elegant old Grand Hotel, and just past that is Fairhope, an historic Mobile Bay town brimming with history, shops and restaurants. Magnolia Springs is located five miles west of Foley, Alabama, just off Highway 98 on Highway 49
South. For more information about visiting the area, check the website of the Foley Convention and Visitors Bureau
at www.foleycvb.com. The Magnolia Springs Bed and Breakfast is located at 14469 Oak Street. Rates begin at $101 double for a weeknight stay; $134 on weekends, with special packages available. For more information on the Magnolia Springs Bed and Breakfast, call
1-800-965-7321, or visit the website at www.magnoliasprings.com |
