Additions to the local highway system was bringing travelers into Pensacola, but the real attraction would be to get them out to Pensacola Beach where the real tax dollars could be gleaned from their pockets. Pensacolians lacked egress by automobile to any beach other than Gulf Beach. So the city fathers approached Washington for Federal aid in addition to outside capital to build a bridge over Pensacola Bay and a second one over Santa Rosa Sound to Pensacola Beach. When the funds were obtained, construction began in 1929 for a concrete bridge over the bay with a drawbridge installed for marine traffic. The sound however, would be crossed on creosote pilings with a navigable opening for intercoastal vessels through a swing type drawbridge. Money was also made available for a resort area on the Gulf centered around a Casino, which was completed on June 10, 1931 at the cost of $150,000. It contained a bathhouse with accommodations for 500 people, a dining room for 300, and a ballroom complete with a dance floor and a jukebox filled with the records of the day for the young people’s enjoyment. There was also a locker room for the people to change their clothes, but each locker costs an awesome .25 each so most people couldn’t afford them. Outside there was a 1,200-foot long by twelve-foot wide fishing pier for use by the local sportsman. The bridge and resort area were opened with great pomp and circumstance on June 10th much to the delight of the local residents. The mayor made an elaborate speech and afterwards the crowds witnessed a display by the coastal artillery units and a demonstration from several Navy airplanes.
It was such a wonder after years of either catching a ferry or not going to the beach at all. However, the new luxury was not without its down side because the toll was set at an astronomical $1.00 per car of four people and .10 for each extra person. This forced most teenagers to have a least three good friends during the summer to keep the cost at .25 each. The old bay bridge is now used by fisherman and is still visible today running parallel to the newer four-lane span built in the 1960’s. But in the 1930’s, Palafox Street was still the main avenue into and out of downtown Pensacola. By that time, civilization as we know it today had progressed out to Fairfield Drive to the north. Pass that point there was little to see but farms, grazing cattle, and woodlands all the way up to Flomaton. The decade of the 1930’s saw the city’s western route terminate around the Brownsville. Past there was mainly forested terrain with occasional farms.
Dedication ceremony of the new Bay Bridge 1931
Pensacola Bay Bridge toll
Pensacola Bay Bridge first cars over
Pensacola Beach new Casino