Communities
Perhaps the most outstanding non-physical feature of the Panhandle is the attitude of its residents toward visitors. While other parts of Florida get more attention as tourist destinations, no other region will make you feel more welcome than you will here. Service people and tradesmen will go out of their way to accommodate your wishes or needs, yet they don't think they are doing a thing but being decent. Couple this with the outstanding scenery, plentiful good food, and an almost overwhelming sense of history, and you'll see why we say this is a cruising area not to be missed."
Pristine bay on Florida's northwest coast in southern Gulf County between Port St. Joe and Cape San Blas
The charming coastal city of Port St. Joe is now a great place for exploring not only the history of Old St. Joseph, but also some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in Florida. Located in Gulf County between Panama City and Apalachicola, Port St. Joe has revitalized itself from a fading industrial town to one of the newest and best planned vacation and residential areas on the Florida Gulf Coast.
The area that modern day Gulf County encompasses has been home to notable events in this states history. The City of St. Joseph, itself, was home to the first state constitution convention. St. Joe itself was known as a Tourist Town! Over a relatively short period of time much of this area's history has, however, been decimated due to the effects of saw mills, hurricanes, plagues, massive wild fires, and other natural disasters. But that's not the history of Gulf County... that's the history of Calhoun County.
Gulf County Florida began when it was incorporated in 1925 from a portion of what was a gigantic Calhoun County... the era many recall from history as our nations "Great Depression" which followed a short time later. It was during this time that an opportunist born to a country lawyer in Virginia and a school drop out by the age
of 13, came to Florida in search of "Fortune and Opportunity". To those of us in Gulf County we know this iconic figure who still has a presence in our county today as "Ed Ball".
Ed ball, along with his brother-in-law and employer, Alfred DuPont, came to Florida and began purchasing tracts of land, and bankrupt companies, including a railroad and telephone company. To provide revenue for the floundering railroad, Ball on behalf of DuPont founded the St. Joe Paper Company in 1936. "In 1933 well prior to the construction of the Paper Mill, a guest house was built (just for Mrs. DuPont) in Port st. Joe and was called "The Château"... a directional compass was laid in the cement of the front yard. Later, during the construction of the mill, workers would use this fixed directional compass in order to set true headings for their own compasses. That directional compass is still in place today! The building which was known only as "The Château" for most of my life, is today, the home of Coastal Community Bank. Mr. DuPont never actually lived to see the paper mill open it's doors. His widow, Jesse Ball DuPont would actually be the Company's first Chairman along with the assistance of her Brother, Ed Ball. The Paper mill actually opened on St. Patrick's Day, March 16, 1938. From its opening, the Mead Corporation came in to operate the mill for some time until the St. Joe employees could become acclimated with the paper making process.
Alfred DuPont, who had actually run the DuPont Company of Delaware for his family, initially came to Florida to start the Florida National Bank. Years later, St. Joe paper Company would sell off its interest in Florida First National Bank to First Union Bank. Today, locally, you see that bank as the Capital City Bank in Port St. Joe.
As much as Gulf County's Destiny is likely to be concentrated with tourism and development, it's legacy still has its hands in our modern day affairs, in the
Company that still closely bears its name.....
Pristine bay on Florida's northwest coast in southern Gulf County between Port St. Joe and Cape San Blas
The charming coastal city of Port St. Joe is now a great place for exploring not only the history of Old St. Joseph, but also some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in Florida. Located in Gulf County between Panama City and Apalachicola, Port St. Joe has revitalized itself from a fading industrial town to one of the newest and best planned vacation and residential areas on the Florida Gulf Coast.
The area that modern day Gulf County encompasses has been home to notable events in this states history. The City of St. Joseph, itself, was home to the first state constitution convention. St. Joe itself was known as a Tourist Town! Over a relatively short period of time much of this area's history has, however, been decimated due to the effects of saw mills, hurricanes, plagues, massive wild fires, and other natural disasters. But that's not the history of Gulf County... that's the history of Calhoun County.
Gulf County Florida began when it was incorporated in 1925 from a portion of what was a gigantic Calhoun County... the era many recall from history as our nations "Great Depression" which followed a short time later. It was during this time that an opportunist born to a country lawyer in Virginia and a school drop out by the age
of 13, came to Florida in search of "Fortune and Opportunity". To those of us in Gulf County we know this iconic figure who still has a presence in our county today as "Ed Ball".
Ed ball, along with his brother-in-law and employer, Alfred DuPont, came to Florida and began purchasing tracts of land, and bankrupt companies, including a railroad and telephone company. To provide revenue for the floundering railroad, Ball on behalf of DuPont founded the St. Joe Paper Company in 1936. "In 1933 well prior to the construction of the Paper Mill, a guest house was built (just for Mrs. DuPont) in Port st. Joe and was called "The Château"... a directional compass was laid in the cement of the front yard. Later, during the construction of the mill, workers would use this fixed directional compass in order to set true headings for their own compasses. That directional compass is still in place today! The building which was known only as "The Château" for most of my life, is today, the home of Coastal Community Bank. Mr. DuPont never actually lived to see the paper mill open it's doors. His widow, Jesse Ball DuPont would actually be the Company's first Chairman along with the assistance of her Brother, Ed Ball. The Paper mill actually opened on St. Patrick's Day, March 16, 1938. From its opening, the Mead Corporation came in to operate the mill for some time until the St. Joe employees could become acclimated with the paper making process.
Alfred DuPont, who had actually run the DuPont Company of Delaware for his family, initially came to Florida to start the Florida National Bank. Years later, St. Joe paper Company would sell off its interest in Florida First National Bank to First Union Bank. Today, locally, you see that bank as the Capital City Bank in Port St. Joe.
As much as Gulf County's Destiny is likely to be concentrated with tourism and development, it's legacy still has its hands in our modern day affairs, in the
Company that still closely bears its name.....
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- A place like no other in Florida! This is a hidden gem with no crowds, no malls, and just a great place to relax.
- Indian Pass is a resort on the south coast of Gulf County, Florida, 8 miles south of Port St. Joe. It promotes itself as an uncrowded haven for sports fisherman and water enthusiasts, and for dining featuring locally caught oysters. A ferry
- Tiny St. Joe Beach is a few miles east of Mexico Beach and is similarly built. It sits on Route 98 which follows along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico through the town, leaving a narrow swath of beach shoreline on which private residenc
- Perhaps the most outstanding non-physical feature of the Panhandle is the attitude of its residents toward visitors. While other parts of Florida get more attention as tourist destinations, no other region will make you feel more welcome th
- Hugging 4 miles of pristine beach along Florida's fabled “Forgotten Coast,” two miles northwest of downtown Port St. Joe and 22 miles west of Apalachicola, WindMark Beach is perhaps the last great beach to be developed
- Just 10 minutes north of Port St Joe, located on the Florida's Intercoastal waterway. This is a small community that abounds with nature and endless possibilities. The White City Park is located in White City, between Port St
- Wewahitchka in Gulf County is the perfect place to get away from it all. The region is part of the self-proclaimed Forgotten Coast of Northwest Florida and is still very much what Old Florida was. Home to fewer less than one thousand eight
This Intercoastal Community is a gem in the rough with vast amounts of land to explore. You are 10 minutes to the beach and 30 minutes to Panama City.
- Mexico Beach was founded in the 1950’s and remains a friendly town where families have been making beach side memories for generations. Fishing is king here with public boat ramps and a popular fishing pier. Numerous festivals are hel
This Intercoastal Community is a gem in the rough with vast amounts of land to explore. You are 10 minutes to the beach and 30 minutes to Panama City.
- Apalachicola or “Apalach“, as it is known by locals, is far from a typical tourist town. Established in 1831, it was once the third largest port on the Gulf of Mexico. Wide, tree lined streets are still graced by picturesque hom
- Eastpoint, just across the Bay from either Apalachicola or St. George Island, is the central point of the Forgotten Coast where one can truly feel untouched by today’s world. A place where seafood docks stretch almost the entire lengt
- St. George Island is a 22-mile barrier island with some of the most beautiful and serene beaches on the Gulf Coast. It is one of the last inhabited, yet unspoiled, barrier islands of Florida, with miles of uncrowded beaches for sunning and
- The history of Dog Island and Carrabelle Florida includes a wonderful mix of Indians, shipping, bootlegging, logging and war. Rio Carrabella was the name of the town recognized by the first post office in this area and was said to mean &quo
- The village of Lanark was once home to a fashionable resort in the late 1800s as it was the terminus of the , Florida During WWII the area was know as Camp Gordon Johnston, a military installation that trained over a quarter million men for
- Alligator Point is a coastal community off the Gulf of Mexico located approximately an hour from Tallahassee, Florida's state capital. There are no strip malls, nightclubs, no glaring lights, no honking horns or other signs of big city
