Eastern Lake Beach 1977
Posted 04-22-2009 at 11:02 PM by Brenda Rees
Updated 07-30-2009 at 03:46 PM by Brenda Rees (Connecting pictures and blogs on Florida, West Florida, Pensacola, Trails, Grayton, Native Peoples)
Updated 07-30-2009 at 03:46 PM by Brenda Rees (Connecting pictures and blogs on Florida, West Florida, Pensacola, Trails, Grayton, Native Peoples)
Here's how the beach at Eastern Lake looked in 1977. The Goodyear Blimp was going from the Orange Bowl to the Sugar Bowl. One picture shows the dunes of Tresca Lake. They were removed and covered over with asphalt by a small, local developer. Some call this area Seagrove, but I try not to (long story). That is down the road. William and Katie Wesley platted probably the first subdivision in the Eastern Lake area as Eastern Lake Estates from 1903 land grant. That section is the west side of the lake. Our earlier mailing address was Pt. Washington, which was where John Wesley homesteaded and got a land grant in 1895. This was the first land grant in South Walton, I believe. Pt. Washington was a community before that, of course. I have an 1882 map with Pt. Washington on it. I still have a letter from my dad with the Pt. Washington address. More on this later and probably in another blog.
Be sure to explore my other blogs on SoWal. I've posted about 30 on different historical / environmental topics such as Pensacola, West Florida, Octavia, Alaqua, Camp Walton, Grayton Beach Smith House, Eastern Lake Trail and Historic Bridge, Florida Borders, Land Grants, and Native Peoples. Be sure to log in to view pictures and maps. They really make an impact.
All pictures by Brenda Rees, Shaping Florida (c) All Rights Reserved
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Big Dune, Eastern Lake, 1977
Tresca Lake with now extinct dunes.
Dune Scapes 1977 at Eastern Lake
The Dunes of Eastern and Tresca Lake, 1977, now mostly gone. I could have never imagined when I took this picture that someone would pave over this.
Believe it or not, this is how we somehow managed to get to the beach at Eastern Lake on the Tresca Lake side. We had a magnificent walk through the dunes. No walkovers. Amazing dunes. Sugar Dune condos took out the dunes first on the left. Then, the Beachside Villas condos took out the rest. Dunes of Seagrove (fyi, it isn't really in Seagrove, but that is another story), finished off many of the adjacent dunes.
I can't begin to tell you how magnificent it was to watch this blimp going from the Orange Bowl to the Sugar Bowl in 1977 as it ambled down the beaches of South Walton. That is Deer Lake State Park further down the beach. Thank goodness Deer Lake became a park and Walton County has a number of similar dunes preserved in several state and county parks along the Beaches of South Walton. Some newer, large developments have done a better job of building behind the primary dunes and using native vegetation. The Eastern Lake dunes might have been the highest dunes and were magnificent examples within a large dune prairie.
Be sure to explore my other blogs on SoWal. I've posted about 30 on different historical / environmental topics such as Pensacola, West Florida, Octavia, Alaqua, Camp Walton, Grayton Beach Smith House, Eastern Lake Trail and Historic Bridge, Florida Borders, Land Grants, and Native Peoples. Be sure to log in to view pictures and maps. They really make an impact.
All pictures by Brenda Rees, Shaping Florida (c) All Rights Reserved
\
Big Dune, Eastern Lake, 1977
Tresca Lake with now extinct dunes.
Dune Scapes 1977 at Eastern Lake
The Dunes of Eastern and Tresca Lake, 1977, now mostly gone. I could have never imagined when I took this picture that someone would pave over this.
Believe it or not, this is how we somehow managed to get to the beach at Eastern Lake on the Tresca Lake side. We had a magnificent walk through the dunes. No walkovers. Amazing dunes. Sugar Dune condos took out the dunes first on the left. Then, the Beachside Villas condos took out the rest. Dunes of Seagrove (fyi, it isn't really in Seagrove, but that is another story), finished off many of the adjacent dunes.
I can't begin to tell you how magnificent it was to watch this blimp going from the Orange Bowl to the Sugar Bowl in 1977 as it ambled down the beaches of South Walton. That is Deer Lake State Park further down the beach. Thank goodness Deer Lake became a park and Walton County has a number of similar dunes preserved in several state and county parks along the Beaches of South Walton. Some newer, large developments have done a better job of building behind the primary dunes and using native vegetation. The Eastern Lake dunes might have been the highest dunes and were magnificent examples within a large dune prairie.
Total Comments 8
Comments
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Wonderful pics! So very sad about the dunes . . .Posted 04-23-2009 at 10:54 PM by Foodlover
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Thanks Brenda - the dunes are incredible. Such a shame when they are destroyed.Posted 04-24-2009 at 08:00 AM by kurt
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Added to SoWal.com home page.Posted 04-27-2009 at 08:39 AM by kurt
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what a shame. wish more of these dunes were preserved, but thank goodness there are state parksPosted 04-27-2009 at 11:29 AM by SanctuaryBeach
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Agree .. what high dunes were here!Posted 04-28-2009 at 08:55 PM by Aggie
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Brenda! Love seeing these pics! More please! I've said it before, but I would have LOVED to have seen it back then.Posted 04-29-2009 at 09:57 PM by DD
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Boy am I tripping down memory lane! I see our old baseball field, remember swimming at the "end of the lake", rolling or sledding down the Big Dune or sitting on top watching shooting stars. Dad did survey the dunes back in the 60's and the Big Dune was easily the highest in visual range. "K2" was over in what is now Deer Lake State Park.Posted 05-19-2009 at 09:47 PM by jjj2
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Not sure how I missed this. Great story and excellent photos. Wish I could have seen those dunes for myself. Thanks for sharing.Posted 08-08-2009 at 08:49 AM by Smiling JOe
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