…on a recent chilly October evening, I sat in my Aunt’s cottage nestled on the west shore of Lake Michigan listening to stories about the history of John’s Pass…
In the late 1840’s, a French peasant, turned pirate, turned turtle farmer named John Levique traveled to New Orleans to cash in. His plan was to came back to our beaches, excavate some treasure, and build a life. A storm they called “the Great Gale of 1848” altered that plan, as he returned from the Big Easy to find our coastline wasn’t the same. And neither was he. His fortune was washed away, and the path cut by the storm was the future. His future, my future, my aunt’s future, the future of our beaches, and our community.
John’s Pass is a gem cut from a dirty diamond. Back when Levique roamed our waters, nobody lived on the beach. Today, the barrier islands are bursting at the seams because nobody wants to leave. Life really is about dusting off destruction and creating what you can with what you’ve got left. C’est la future.
In 1974, my grandfather was given a chance to carve out a future in John’s Pass and he accepted the challenge. His fishing operation had called Pass-a-Grille home since 1945, when he turned his poker winnings into a charter boat, but he was ready for a change. Rumor has it, the retired, residential neighbors in Pass-a-Grille were too.
Wilson Hubbard purchased the parcel at 150 128th Avenue in Madeira Beach for $120,000. He signed the note, shook some hands, then took a deep breath and headed back to 8th Avenue to alert customers, update collateral, and announce the future. We didn’t officially settle in John’s Pass until 1976.
At the time, there was no structure to house the marina office, so my uncle built it. Other uncles worked tirelessly to dredge slips. My aunt says she remembers them down in the mud hauling bait buckets of muck up to dry land to create the necessary depth for the hulls. Shortly after, another uncle had the idea to start a restaurant. From that came the Friendly Fisherman restaurant, still a fixture in the Pass. C’est la future.
In 1980, John’s Pass Boardwalk was built as a fishing pier. Soon after, another uncle built retail shops along the boardwalk adjacent to the Friendly Fisherman. The first tenants were “Leather” Mike Hubbard (Suedes and Such) and Joe Nuzzo (Suncoast Surf Shop), a couple of salty dogs who still call the bay area home. My aunt describes the store fronts as “double-wides on pilings”, rudimentary square buildings with just enough walls to make four units. Everything was built from wood and reflected the culture of a fishing village unique to Florida.
Joe Nuzzo was famous for hiring pretty women to sell his surfboards and apparel. In 1983 he hired Jenny Post, a spunky blonde who quickly noticed a lanky blonde, Mark Hubbard. A few years later they were married on October 3rd, 1986. Two years later on November 22, 1988, I was born. C’est la future.
As families and fortunes were being built, John’s Pass was becoming more than just a sleepy village. Fishing and shopping were growing in popularity on the boardwalk, yet they didn’t always mix well. Casting fisherman accidentally hooked a few humans and shopkeepers complained about the rotting bait and slimy fish guts strewn along the boardwalk. The city began regulating the windows of time fishing was permitted before prohibiting fishing on the boardwalk altogether. By then you had to get out on a boat or cast from the beach. C’est la future.
In 1994, after 20 years of slaying fish, building community, and drinking rum from a coffee cup, my grandfather Wilson Hubbard said goodbye to his family and his empire. He was gone but his legacy was only getting started. In the hands of his wife Lorraine Hubbard and his seven remaining children, business pressed on.
In 1999, my grandmother, my Dad, and my aunts and uncles began planning a redevelopment of our corner of John’s Pass. Our ideas for expansion ran parallel with the then City of Madeira Beach’s master plan. It was an ambitious project, poised to infuse the gulf beaches with the kind of tourism energy known in Orlando and Clearwater.
Many locals loved the idea, while many were vocally opposed to it. Having spent decades doing business in the sleepy town of Pass-a-Grille, we had grown accustomed to the anti-growth voices in our community who, having achieved their slice of Florida heaven, aren’t keen to share with anyone else.
Yet, times change and we have to change along with them. Today these same battles are on display in St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, and very notably in Madeira Beach.
Some people chalk it up to naïveté but I like to think I descend from courageous people who always have one eye in the future. Communities can’t thrive unless people stick their neck out to plan, execute, and break ground on bold new ventures to be treasured by future generations. C’est la future.
Just like John Levique and Wilson Hubbard, our family took a big risk on John’s Pass… yet our future did not take shape as planned. My aunt was the face of Hubbard Enterprises when, struck with multiple hurricanes, a historic oil spill, and the worst financial recession in modern history, we had to give up the property into which we had poured our souls for almost 40 years. She weathered that storm and as the rain pats down outside the cottage window, I realize that life is about both the rain and the shine.
Today our friends to the north and west are picking up the ravaged pieces of their lives left in Hurricane Michael’s path. And just last year Hurricane Irma slammed into our friends to the south. Yet people with eyes in the future are still streaming to our shores day after day and season after season. In many ways Florida, and our vibrant communities, are defined by loss and the resilience to survive.
I look forward to the next 30 years, when I might have the opportunity to sit down with my niece and share the history of growth in our community and how the boldness of some pioneers have defined a future for us all.
Welcome to the future. And let’s celebrate.
Because, despite chaos, struggle and loss, we still live in paradise.
Story by Corey Hubbard
Photos courtesy of the Hubbard Collection
Photo ID:
Photo 1: Mickey II – 1st fishing boat – 1937.
Photo 2: Hubbard kids with two Jewfish, now called ‘Goliath Grouper.’ L to R: Kathy, Jimmy, Michael, Tommy and Patty Hubbard.
Fantastic writing Corey Lorraine!! The future truly is in great hands❤️
Great stories. I remember many of those times. Stay strong.