In 1951, five men from Port St. Joe pooled $30,000 and bought 31 acres of Gulf-front land at Money Bayou. According to The Port St. Joe Star, their goal was to create a safe haven for Black beachgoers during racial segregation. When it was founded, Money Bayou Beach was one of only four Black-owned beaches on Florida's Gulf Coast.
Seventy-five years later, a Florida state historic marker recognizes the site. It stands on CR 30A just east of the Money Bayou Bridge, a few miles outside town. Most drivers see the marker on the roadside, but the history it records was built in Port St. Joe. The founders were from here. A Port St. Joe historical society brought the marker about. The dedication was set to begin at a school gym on Kenney Street.
Five Founders From One Town
The Star lists the founders by name:
- Damon Peters, Sr.
- Raymond A. Driesbach, Sr.
- Dr. Francis M. Hall
- Damon Peters, Jr.
- Nathan Peters, Sr.
Three of the five carry the Peters name, and every one of them came from Port St. Joe. They bought the land as a group, and two years later they put the business on a formal footing when Money Bayou Beach incorporated in 1953. These were local owners who put their own money into a coastal property and ran it as an ongoing business.
What $30,000 Built on 31 Acres
The money bought the land, and the founders built a resort on it. The site had privately owned and rental cottages, a dance hall and a café. The Star reports that visitors came from communities across the Southeast. In its heyday, the dance hall drew Joe Tex, Sam & Dave and "Moms" Mabley.
A 2021 Florida Humanities feature on segregated beaches shows how far that reach went. It says the beach drew visitors from as far as Tuskegee, Alabama, and Cairo, Georgia. It also says the beach created work for other local entrepreneurs, including the people who ran bus shuttles and provided other amenities for beachgoers. So the beach supported more than the five founders.
According to Florida Humanities, the beach thrived through the 1960s. The Star reports that attendance had declined by the early 1970s, as public facilities integrated and Black families could travel more freely. The Gulf-front property was eventually sold, first to a member of the Peters family in California and then to a land developer in the late 1990s.
From Purchase to Marker
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1951 | Five Port St. Joe entrepreneurs buy 31 acres at Money Bayou for $30,000 |
| 1952 | The concrete school building on Kenney Street opens in Port St. Joe |
| 1953 | Money Bayou Beach incorporates |
| 1960s | The beach thrives as a regional destination |
| Early 1970s | Attendance declines as public facilities integrate |
| Late 1990s | The property passes to a land developer |
| August 6, 2025 | "Historic Money Bayou Beach" appears on the Florida Historical Marker Council's meeting agenda |
| October 10, 2026 | Dedication ceremony scheduled at Washington Gym |
The Kenney Street building opened in 1952, between the beach purchase and its incorporation. The beach and the school grew up in the same years and in the same community. The 2026 ceremony was planned to bring the two together.
How the Marker Got There
Florida's state markers don't go up automatically. The St. Joseph Historical Society first got approval from the Gulf County Board of County Commissioners. It then applied through the Florida Department of State's Division of Historical Resources. The proposal appears as "Historic Money Bayou Beach," Port St. Joe, Gulf County, on the Florida Historical Marker Council's August 6, 2025 agenda.
Private donations paid for the whole marker. Port St. Joe money bought the land in 1951, and donors paid for the sign that records it.
The keynote speaker chosen for the dedication has a personal link to the site. The Star reports that Dr. Willie Tolliver was set to speak on the site's history and significance, including memories of the summers he spent there as a child growing up in Apalachicola. He serves on the boards of the North Florida African American Corridor project and the Apalachicola River Free Settlements Cultural Collective. The collective is a nonprofit that preserves the histories of Free Black communities along the Apalachicola River in the century before Florida became a state.
Why the Ceremony Started on Kenney Street
The program was scheduled for 11 a.m. ET at Washington Gym, 414 Kenney Street. It included a free picnic lunch, and shuttle buses were to run attendees out to the beach site from 1 to 4 p.m. One practical reason was parking. The Star notes that there is no public parking at the beach site. The 2026 plan relied on shuttle buses to carry people out CR 30A, and Florida Humanities says bus-shuttle operators were among the local businesses the beach supported in its prime.
The gym itself has history. Visit Gulf's page for the George Washington School Museum traces the school's beginnings. Black students first attended classes in a house and a small church in North Port St. Joe. A wooden school opened near Main Street and Avenue G around 1940. The school later moved to Kenney Street, where the concrete building opened in 1952. The gym is still in use as a community cultural center.
The museum is at 303 Peters Street. The street shares a name with three of the beach's five founders. The sources reviewed for this post don't explain the street name, so the link stays unconfirmed.
The Storm the Day Before
The dedication was set for Saturday, October 10. Hurricane Isaias came ashore the night before. The National Hurricane Center recorded landfall near Destin at 8:30 p.m. CDT on Friday, October 9, with sustained winds of 105 mph. That made it a Category 2 storm, with its center about 50 miles west-northwest of Panama City. In Gulf County, WMBB reported storm surge closures overnight. Indian Pass Road was closed between CR 30A and Painted Pony, and Cape San Blas Road was closed at Stump Hole. The Gulf County Sheriff's Office later reported both roads open again. Visit Gulf said beach-driving access gates would stay locked on October 9 and 10. Port St. Joe City Hall reopened at 8 a.m. on Monday, October 12.
As of October 12, no public notice was found saying whether the Money Bayou ceremony went ahead on October 10 or was postponed. The Star lists two contacts on the Historical Society's project team: Clarence Monette at 850-899-1479 and Mimi Minnick at 850-229-2279. If the ceremony was moved, they would have the new date.
A Short Heritage Route
The marker's story runs between the two places the 2026 ceremony was meant to connect. Here they are in order:
- George Washington School Museum, 303 Peters Street. This is the school's history from the house and church classrooms in North Port St. Joe through the 1952 building.
- Washington Gym, 414 Kenney Street. The community cultural center where the dedication program was scheduled to begin.
- The Money Bayou Beach marker on CR 30A, just east of the Money Bayou Bridge. The Star states plainly that the beach site has no public parking.
The first two stops are in town. The third marks the 31 acres five Port St. Joe residents bought in 1951.
At The Burkett Team, we pay attention to how land along CR 30A has changed hands since 1951. If you own property along this stretch of the Forgotten Coast and want to know what it's worth today, start with a free home valuation from a team that knows the history behind the address.
