PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – There have long been special connections between the Sylacauga area and Panama City Beach. The first, on the west end of the city, is Camp Helen, formerly owned by the Sylacauga-based Avondale Mills. Now, it’s a Florida state park.
The park is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and by Lake Powell, the largest coastal dune lake in Florida. It was once an annual spot for mill workers and their families, and it’s still a place where visitors can explore an environment rich in natural and cultural resources.
While it was once a favored spot for week-long visits to the Gulf Coast, overnight stays are no longer allowed. Camp Helen is open every day of the year, starting at 8:00 a.m., but it closes at sunset now.
There’s still plenty to do there, besides reliving childhood memories. There’s birding, fishing, swimming, hiking, kayaking, picnicking, and all sorts of wildlife to view. For those from the old family of Avondale Mill visitors, you’ll certainly want to stop inside the office and look through all the old photo books. You’re bound to see plenty of people you know from back in the day.
However, Camp Helen isn’t the only spot in PCB with a Sylacauga connection. While a lot has changed along the Emerald Coast, there are still quite a few familiar attractions to spark memories of visits – those associated with Camp Helen, as well as those not.
But, did you realize that on the other end of Panama City Beach, there’s also another Sylacauga connection? On the east end of the city is where the Gulf meets St. Andrews Bay at St. Andrews State Park. It, too, is open 365 days a year from 8:00 a.m. until sunset, but it also features a huge campground area for overnight stays.
There’s even more things to do inside the park – than what’s found at Camp Helen – with all sorts of convenient amenities among the five distinct ecological landscapes in one stunning location.
Of course, the sandy white beaches are the big attraction, and that’s where the Sylacauga connection comes in. Even on the most crowded days, there’s a spot or two available right on the Gulf beach for you and your family and friends. And on the far east end, where the Gulf of Mexico meets St. Andrews Bay, that beach is connected to the Jetty Beach.
There you’ll see a very long row of huge boulders that block off strong ocean waves from the Jetty Beach. It’s a beach haven for families to swim and collect shells. The rocks are also a place where you’ll find a lot of people fishing on the Bay/Gulf side of the rocks.
No, the boulders that form the jetty are not a naturally-occurring phenomenon. Through arrangements originally made by the Comer family of Avondale/Camp Helen fame, those now gray rocks were once pure white in color, shipped from east central Alabama quarries.
Yes, that’s Sylacauga marble that creates the jetty and forms one of the most unique beach features anywhere along the Gulf coast.
From one end of Panama City Beach to the other, there are connections to Sylacauga that has made PCB a favored vacation spot for decades.
