1. Frank Pate Park

Clifford Sims Pkwy. and Hwy. 71

Excursion into Frank Pate Park

The waterfront developed shortly after the railroad reached the town in 1909. The Sunday Excursion from Apalachicola brought hundreds of people seeking fun in the new town of Port St. Joe (officially incorporated in 1913). A boardwalk extended from the original Port Inn far into the bay. The waterfront was a glorious place complete with a windmill-operated water slide, a bathhouse, a casino, concessions, and a bandstand. People swam, fished, crabbed, scalloped, hiked, and rode bicycles. Boat trips were available across the bay to Eagle Harbor on the peninsula.

Water slide at Frank Pate Park circa 1910

Maybel Stone Swatts, daughter of Port St. Joe founder, T.H. Stone, recalls the tall “Shoot-to-Shoot” for adults out in the bay “with steps reaching upward for seventy-five to a hundred feet in the air and steep slides descending into the water, which brought gales of laughter and screams of fright.” Children enjoyed merry-go-rounds driven by sails. According to local historian Wayne Childers, the water was “as clear as the air,” and people would go out on the railroad dock and gig fish. Red fish and sheepshead were so plentiful you couldn’t give them away.

Coastal History Days in Frank Pate Park, 2006

Today Frank Pate Park is the site of many community celebrations including the annual scallop festival in September; the 4th of July celebration when Black’s Island’s pirate band attacks passing ships in the water in front of the park; and Florida Coastal History Days complete with a Civil War Re-enactment.

Sunset at Frank Pate Park

The Park has a lighted tennis court, walking track, playground, restrooms, boat ramp, picnic tables and grills as well as a lovely gazebo at the end of a long pier.

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