Destin Museum Offers Plethora of History…and Fishing By Chris Manson November 3, 2005 Issue

Miriam Thurston, a volunteer at the Destin History and Fishing Museum, sifts through some newspapers dating back to 1963. The yellowed, crumbling pages are from the Daily News, back when the paper actually had a fishing editor in the guise of Leonard Hutchinson and his “Surf and Sea” column.

“This is falling apart, it’s so old,” Thurston says. Behind the reception desk where Thurston is taking on this seemingly impossible task are a couple large storage containers crammed with more newspapers. “Willie Mae Taylor, one of the old pioneers, kept these. She died a couple years ago. It takes me forever to get through a book, because I have to stop and read them.” The focus now is to figure out how to display these, and more than one visitor to the museum offers advice—placing them under hermetically sealed glass, for starters. Then Thurston directs me to a table in the corner of the room where lots of way-back issues of The Destin Weekly Log are on hand for perusal.

“There were only four real estate agents listed in here. Can you believe that?” a visitor observed as he thumbed through a 1974 edition.

The original Destin Fishing Museum closed in 1995. The former and current director Jean Shoults Melvin explains they lost their lease and couldn’t find a place to store the inventory. Some items, like the enormous fish wall—gloriously restored in the new location on Stahlman Avenue, former home of the Destin Library—sat in city hall or the Destin Community Center for nearly a decade. The new Destin History and Fishing Museum hosted its grand opening on Oct. 1, thanks largely to a grant from the Tourist Development Commission and private donations.

Melvin takes me on a short tour of the museum. “Destin was founded by fishermen,” she explains. “Until the bridge was completed in 1934, you could only get here by boat.” Melvin, a 33-year resident of this area, has seen a lot of history herself, having spent many years as the secretary for the Destin Fishing Rodeo. “I was the only person who worked for the Destin Community Center for years, and that’s what I did—I ran the October Fishing Rodeo. I started the Miss Destin pageant and lots of other things, and had a wonderful time doing it.”

She continues: “In the beginning, all the people who lived in Destin were seine fishermen.” People such as Leonard Destin, whose descendants include city councilman Dewey Destin; William Thomas Marler, who created the city’s first post office and school; and Tyler Calhoun, the man who established the first streets in 1931 and donated the land for the building now housing the museum.

The displays and biographical information on these early Destin settlers also includes profiles of notable women and a nicely realized corner showpiece entitled Early Destin Living. This was before electricity and includes genuine items from the estates of, among others, Willie Mae Taylor and Camilla Brooks Marler. The hand-cranked phonograph player—with the Columbia Records imprint and an old 78-rpm record still on the turntable—is particularly striking.

A series of photographs traces the evolution of “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village” from seine boats to charter boats. Melvin tells me the Kelly family started the first “party” boats, but they had to be sold when World War II started. An exhibit of early navigation and fish-finding equipment includes primitive hand lines and weights used for depth reading.

Melvin points out an impressive collection of antique fishing tackle. “This heavy rod and reel came back from the Keys. They say Ernest Hemingway fished with it.” She speaks with great knowledge about some of the hand made lures. “You can tell this was made from the lawn chairs from a long time ago,” she says, indicating multi-colored lure. Melvin offers a detailed explanation of the process used to concoct hand made fishing nets from cotton, a time-consuming ordeal involving stretching the huge nets across treetops to prevent rotting.

But the museum is not all about fishing. “Of course, the first people here were the Indians,” Melvin says, pointing out a collection of Indian artifacts. “We had the dates verified by the Indian Temple Mound and Museum.” The artifacts identify every tribe that once lived in the region; some dating all the way back to AD 500.

The Destin Wall of Fame includes one Capt. Reddin “Salty” Brunson, who at age 92 is “a walking history of Destin,” according to Melvin. “He’s the only one still living.” I mention that I would love to speak to Brunson for this article, but Melvin informs me that he just recently married a woman from Mississippi and has been spending a lot of time out of state.

Meanwhile, the little post office still sits across the street. Aside from the air conditioner, it looks as if it might have appeared straight out of a time machine. Melvin says the museum plans to move the historic building, as well as the Primrose fishing boat (which was restored by Brunson) standing outside the post office, to the museum grounds in the near future. She also hopes to add several interactive exhibits for children. Additional news on upcoming plans, along with membership information, can be found on the museum’s Internet site, Destinhistoryandfishingmuseum.org.

The Destin History and Fishing Museum is open year round Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adult admission price is $5. Seniors aged 55 years and older pay $4, as do ID-carrying military personnel. The children’s rate for ages 15 and younger is $3. Kids three and under get in free.

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