Like so many towns, Loxley was built with lumber.
We first got our name around 1900, when Michigan native John Loxley established a lumber camp here among the virgin pine forests of south Alabama. The camp included a sawmill and a small-gauge railroad to haul the timber, and it quickly gained a larger workforce. Loxley and his family left when the lumber was depleted, but the name remained – along with many other workers who became permanent citizens.
After that, the town blossomed. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad ran a line through Loxley, creating easier access to other areas of the county. The present post office was opened in 1906 by Octavia Sauer, who was the postmistress and the town depot agent. The first Loxley schoolhouse was built in 1908, followed by a three-room building in 1911. And by 1920, the town boasted retail shops, offices, tradesmen, a bank, and a number of other businesses that built the foundation for modern-day Loxley.
The Town of Loxley was incorporated into Baldwin County in 1957. And after a period of rapid growth in the early 21st century, the City of Loxley was officially named in 2022.
Fun Facts
In 1920, U.S. Highway 90 was the main road in town – but it wasn’t paved.
In the early part of the 20th century, high school students traveled by train to Bay Minette for their education. Every few miles, the train would stop and students would have to disembark to gather pine knots to fire the wood-burning engine. Locals – and students – dubbed the train the Pine Knot Special.
A fire destroyed the train depot in 1965, marking an end to the railroad era in Loxley.