This beloved icon is hard to miss as you drive south from Bob Sikes Bridge or west from Navarre. That fun-loving spirit lives on today in the stunning area we still call Casino Beach, which is marked by a giant water tower painted to look like a beach ball. In 1972, the site was demolished, but you can still find some of its salvaged wooden beams at Apple Annie’s in the Seville Quarter. There was also a bath house, banquet hall, dance pavilion, restaurant, and 1,200-foot pier. Although there wasn’t any gambling going on, there was no shortage of good times.įor decades, the casino played host to beauty pageants, boxing matches, fireworks displays, and boat races. After the first bridges opened, locals flocked here to experience a brand-new casino built by the Pensacola Beach Company. The modern era of Santa Rosa Island began in 1931 with Casino Beach.
