Before the Atlanta and Saint Andrew Bay Railroad came to Panama City in 1908 there was very little tourism. In the 1800’s, only well-to-do planters in north Florida and south Alabama could afford to send there wives and children to Saint Andrew Bay to seek refuge from the heat of summer. The cool bay breezes were…
The twin screwed steamship the SS Tarpon was built in 1886, at Wilmington Delaware. She was originally christened the Naugatuck. She measured 130 feet overall with a beam of 26 feet and was powered by twin steam engines driving iron propellers. Naugatuck’s owners sold her to Henry Plant, whose shipping empire at Tampa, Florida, was…
Part of the difficulty keeping the railroad workers alive was the lack of nutritious food. As a food source, Minor Keith became interested in a fruit that he had seen for sale in New Orleans…the banana. He buys several hundred banana plants and has them planted along the railway. They become a welcomed source of…
In 1937 Frank Burghduff came to visit the Gulf shores of Panama City Beach. He was so captivated by the beauty of the area that he decided to leave his home state of New York and move to Panama City Beach. He came with the dream to build a beach-front roadhouse that would earn nationwide…
Old Panama City Beach welcomes you to our OPCB blog site. Here you will find interesting posts about the heyday of Panama City Beach, Florida. All of our friends who are familiar with our long standing Facebook page “Old Panama City Beach”, will be happy to know that more in-depth and descriptive posts will appear…