History

Now more than 1,200 acres in size, St. Andrews State Park covered 302.87 acres at its inception in 1947 along the Gulf shore. The original parcel was purchased from the U.S. government at a bargain price of $2.50 per acre. 

Over the next 40 years, additional land was acquired in bits and pieces. The park first opened to the public in 1951 after repairs to the nearby Grand Lagoon Bridge made access to the park feasible. 

Many centuries ago, Native Americans visited these beaches to enjoy the shellfish that abounded in the surrounding waters. Shell Island was created with the construction of the Gulf-Bay Pass in the 1930s. 

During World War II, the property served as a military reservation.

Shell Island

Originally Lands End Peninsula, Shell Island was created when the Gulf-Bay Pass was dredged in the 1930s. A visit to the island with its stretches of bright, sandy beaches backed by a sea-oat capped dune system is a trip to the Florida of many centuries ago: primitive, unspoiled and peaceful.

Good fishing can be enjoyed on both sides of the island, and visitors might find a myriad of shells along the beaches.

Seabirds nest in the dunes and sea turtles deposit their eggs above the high-water line in early to mid-summer. Visitors are asked not to disturb this habitat.

World War II

In 1942, the War Department selected the site overlooking the new pass for a temporary harbor defense installation and directed the emplacement of two 155mm guns to be built among the dunes just west of the jetties.

One of the original gun mounts is located at the jetty overlook while the other can be found on the Gulf side of the jetty beach area.

Teddy the Hermit

The first known full-time resident of the land now occupied by the park was a Norwegian-born sailor named Theodore Tollofsen, known affectionately as “Teddy the Hermit.”

Left homeless when his 26-foot boat was wrecked and cast ashore on the south bank of Grand Lagoon by a hurricane in 1929, Teddy decided to homestead the site. 

He remained there for 25 years until his death in 1954 at age 74.