“Jubilee Town”
Daphne is just minutes from downtown Mobile – ten minutes on the Interstate 10 BayWay and you’re in your downtown office. Pensacola is 40 minutes by car traveling east on Interstate 10. Either direction is an easy drive on the interstate and that’s why so many people who work in Pensacola or Mobile choose to live in Daphne. The city sits on the eastern shore of Mobile bay and many homes sit on top of the bluff overlooking the bay. Daphne has experienced tremendous growth but maintained the look and feel of a small town where neighbors are friends and friends are always welcome.
Daphne is consistently ranked in the “Top 100 Best Places to Live” by the CNN/Money Magazine. Daphne has a reputation for great schools, natural beauty, a sense of history, and recreational opportunities on land and water. Sugar white sand beaches are just a short drive away, and this area is a fisherman and hunter’s paradise.
Spanish explorers came through the area as early as 1557, but the town that has become Daphne wasn’t established until 1874. At that time, the eastern shore was already a destination for families from Mobile, with many of the original bay houses already built atop the bluffs over the bay. In the early 1900’s several Italian families settled in Daphne and have built a rich tradition of agriculture and great food. You’ll still see these family names on street signs, businesses, and in the phone book!
The City of Daphne was incorporated in 1927 and was the county seat until the folks from Bay Minette (niow just 20 minutes to the north) stole the courthouse records in the night. Bay Minette remains the seat of Baldwin County government to this day.
When founded in 1927, Daphne‘s population was just 500, but it had grown to over 21,000 in 2010, making it the largest city in Baldwin County.