Summerdale, AL

Summerdale is a town in south-central Baldwin County, a few miles from the coastal road network around Robertsdale and Foley. Alabama Route 59 runs along the town's west side, while Naval Outlying Landing Field Summerdale gives the place an unusual aviation landmark. The town's older center gathers around Pioneer Park, where a brick walking trail, gazebo, town clock, and shade trees sit among early twentieth-century buildings such as the old tobacco warehouse and Jurkiewicz Hardware Store.

ATTRSummerdaleGirl / CC BY-SA 4.0

Summerdale School serves students through eighth grade, with Elberta High School taking over for the upper grades. The town's present-day map is compact: Pioneer Park and downtown near the center, Route 59 to the west, and the landing field in the surrounding Baldwin County landscape. Pioneer Park's trail is just under a mile, giving the old center an easy loop. Summerdale has the feel of a crossroads town that kept its historic center visible while making room for schools, local events, and a nearby aviation field.