07/16/2025
BIRTH OF DESTIN'S EAST PASS IN 1929: In 1929, a storm and a well-intentioned trench dug by local residents dramatically altered Destin’s landscape, creating a new East Pass that reshaped the area’s geography and economy. This act of local ingenuity, born out of necessity, has had lasting impacts on the community nearly a century later.
Vivienne Williams, executive director of the Destin History and Fishing Museum, recounted the events that led to the creation of the current East Pass, which connects Choctawhatchee Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.
“There was a large storm that passed through Destin that clogged the original East Pass,” Williams said, noting its original location on the east side of Holiday Isle, south of La Paz. The storm raised the bay water eight feet above its normal level, threatening homes and docks along the bay.
The Choctawhatchee Bay, approximately 28 miles long and averaging 5 miles across, was experiencing unprecedented pressure due to the elevated water levels. “That is a lot of pressurized water sitting in one area,” Williams explained.
Many locals in the 1920s had built their homes on the bay side, considering it more forgiving than the Gulf during bad weather. However, this storm proved to be an exception to that rule.
Concerned about the rising water, some locals decided to take action. O.T. Melvin, Dewey Destin Sr., Arn Strickland, and Dolf Weekly, armed with shovels and boat oars, set out to dig a trench from the gulf side to the bay side to relieve the pressure.
“Knowing what we know about water today, that’s like turning a fire hose onto an anthill,” Williams said. “It’s highly pressurized water and 28 miles of it. That is a heck of a trench.”
The fine, loose sand found in Destin didn’t help matters. As Williams noted, “Our sand here is very fine. It doesn’t hold its shape. So it was going to just streamline through it.”
What started as a six-foot-wide trench quickly expanded beyond anyone’s expectations.
Full story: https://www.getthecoast.com/four-men-shovels-and-a-storm-the-accidental-birth-of-destins-east-pass-in-1926/
