Fun Facts About
Gulf Shores & Orange Beach
Orange Beach and Gulf Shores are home to beautiful beaches, incredible attractions and fabulous restaurants, many of which are one-a-kind. The unique culture and history of our area make it more than just a beach destination. Here are some fun facts about Alabama’s beaches.
Discover some fun facts about Alabama's Beaches!
1. The Ferris Wheel at The Wharf is the second tallest in the Southeast and is the highest accessible point in the area.
2. The iconic Gulf Shores restaurant LuLu’s at Homeport Marina is owned by well-known singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett’s sister Lucy and usually serves around 4,000 guests a day during summer.
3. The present-day site of Shellbanks Baptist Church on Fort Morgan Road was once the location of a Native American village. This was the Indian Village that Achuse visited in 1539 which was 81 years before the Pilgrims landed Plymouth Rock.
4. The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores is the first ZAA-accredited U.S. Zoo to be built from the ground up in more than 20 years. It also had a starring role in the 2006 Animal Planet docu-series “The Little Zoo That Could.”
5. The city of Orange Beach earned its name thanks to the short-lived success of a few locals who tried to grow oranges, grapefruit, and satsuma trees in the area.
6. Former Alabama Governor Jim Folsom was the one who coined the nickname “Pleasure Island,” which was officially adopted by the Gulf Shores Lion Club in 1949.
7. In 1927, the State of Alabama purchased Fort Morgan for $8,000.
8. Admiral David Farragut spoke the infamous words, “Damn the torpedoes…full speed ahead,” while just off the shores of Fort Morgan State Historic Site during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.
9. Once known as “Goat Island,” Ono Island was purchased in 1945 for $3,000. The island is currently home to some of the destination’s most spectacular multi-million-dollar homes, but at one time there were over 2000 goats that roamed freely.
10. Gulf State Park’s beautiful Lake Shelby is believed to be one of the closest bodies of freshwater next to a body of saltwater in the world.
11. There is a tombstone on Fort Morgan that says, “Come on Down.” It is rumored to denote a pirate’s grave on the property.
12. The flags of France, Spain, and Great Britain have at one time flown over Baldwin County.
13. Orange Beach celebrated the completion of its first paved road in 1947, and the Orange Beach Hotel was built in 1923 as the first tourist hotel in the area. In 1960 the first Gulf Front hotel opened with the area’s first swimming pool. The hotel was named White Caps.
14. If you can believe it, during the majority of the 20th century there were more boats than automobiles in the area.
15. The Civilian Conservation Corps is responsible for the building of the Gulf State Park beginning in 1934.
16. The First Annual National Shrimp Festival was celebrated in 1971, to encourage visitors to visit. Before the arrival of Shrimp Fest, the town was essentially closed up after Labor Day.
17. This area was known to be the home of a very tall Native American tribe, over 8 feet tall. As a matter of fact the skeleton of an 8 foot tall Indian was found in the shell mounds at Bear Point. Ponce de Leon claims he found the fountain of youth in the “Land of the Giants”
18. Orange Beach is home to the largest charter fishing fleet on the Gulf Coast.
19. Centuries ago, pirates were known to sail into Alabama Point as a safety measure because the receding tides would not allow an enemy to follow during certain periods of the day. There is rumor of pirate treasure buried somewhere around the area.
20. At one time, the state of Florida and Alabama were in a fierce agreement about who would take the area. No one wanted "trash land." Now, Alabama's Beaches welcome millions of visitors every year to its shores.
