Fairhope’s pier is a quarter mile of town square, drawing those with fishing poles, bread for a pelican or just a stroll to watch the sun tell the bay goodnight.

Fairhope was only accessible by water at its founding in the late 1800’s, so the pier served as dock for the bayboats venturing from Mobile. The “People’s Railroad” ran tracks along the pier up to the bluff, near the giant wooden waterslide dubbed “The Thriller” in the 1920’s. The pier and surrounding beachfront park all fell to the city’s care by the 1930’s– a legacy of the founder’s commitment to public green space. The concrete version of the pier was built in 1968, then devastated and replaced after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In the morning you’ll find fitness trainers leading workouts, folks walking dogs, and fishing rods hitting the water. Nights find sailboats coming in after a breezy afternoon, couples headed to dinner at restaurant on the pier, and purple martins scooping up mosquitos on their way home to the dozens of birdhouses that dot the Bayfront.

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