Chillax On The Beach

09/22/2026

www.chillaxonthebeach.com

09/22/2026

09/20/2026

WWW.CHILLAXONTHEBEACH.COM

POV: You found your slice of paradise. Drop a comment with where you would rather be right now!

09/20/2026

Waking up to this ocean view never gets old. Would you rather spend your day by the pool or down on the beach?

09/15/2026

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09/10/2026

Modern Gulf Shores stretches across a huge portion of southern Baldwin County.

But when the town was first taking shape, it was tiny.

Really tiny.

According to the City of Gulf Shores, the original town encompassed only about 206 acres along the Intracoastal Canal.

Even stranger compared with today, only about 700 feet of that original town lay on the north side of the canal.

A cantilever bridge connected that little northern section with the larger portion of town to the south.

The area had already begun changing after two major developments: completion of the Intracoastal Waterway in 1937 and opening of Gulf State Park in 1939.

But Gulf Shores was still a very small place.

The first post office didn't even open until 1947.

Efforts to incorporate began in 1956, with the incorporation ultimately receiving judicial validation in 1958.

By the 1960s, family-owned grocery stores, restaurants, cottages and small motels were serving summer visitors.

Then summer ended.

And according to the city's own history, Gulf Shores became "virtually deserted" during fall and winter.

Try imagining that today.

No endless condominium skyline.

No packed restaurants.

No giant tourism industry.

No sitting through three traffic-light cycles wondering why you didn't take the back road.

Just a little community growing around the canal and beach.

Gulf Shores didn't gradually become a little busier.

Over a few generations, it became almost unrecognizable.

09/10/2026