St. Joseph Bay, Florida

The photograph at right is of St. Joseph Bay, one of the more beautiful spots on the Northwest Florida coastline. The primary community here, Port St. Joe, was once known as an industrial center because of its paper mill, etc., but the mill is gone now and the area has been reborn as a major resort area.

During the Civil War, the shore of the bay was the location of a number of Confederate saltworks, the remains of some of which can still be seen. A shore party from the U.S.S. Kingfisher destroyed a number of these early in the war and other expeditions by the Union navy carried out similar operations over the following years.

St. Joseph Bay was occasionally used by Confederate blockade runners, prompting the U.S. Navy to routinely keep vessels on patrol off the mouth of the bay.

No major skirmishing took place in the area during the war.