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18. Port Inn501 Clifford Sims Pkwy.
In Louise M. Porter’s The Lives of St. Joseph, Robert Coleman, son of the vice president and general manager of the Apalachicola Northern Railroad remembers his first visit to Port St. Joe with his father in 1909: “I can also remember the first night I came to live in Port St. Joe. There were only two buildings there then: the railroad station and the hotel. We arrived after dark, were met by guides with kerosene lanterns. We formed an Indian file and marched resolutely, but with hearts in throats for what seemed like miles, down and up gulleys that were to mark streets later, over what seemed like miles from the station to the hotel."
The original Port Inn was built by the railroad company in 1907 and quickly became the center of the town’s social life. Excursion trains brought hundreds of people to enjoy the waterfront on weekends and holidays. The boardwalk from the inn connected to the pier that reached far out into the bay. In the early 1930s Ed Ball and Bill Edwards acquired the inn as part of a massive land purchase that included nearly the entire town of Port St. Joe. Click on the photos below to view a historic picture and postcards of the Port Inn
In 1944, a great fire destroyed the building. All that remained were the inn’s chimneys in the smoldering ruins. Click on the photos below to view historic photos of the Port Inn fire
In 1947, Red Gunn purchased the site and rebuilt the inn, which operated for many years as the St. Joe Motel. After several owners, the motel fell into disrepair and was vacated. Threatened with demolition, the structure was saved by lifetime local residents Dave and Trish Warriner who have lovingly restored and refurbished the inn.
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