05/26/2026
Before the highways, one railroad helped stitch the Forgotten Coast together.
In the early 1900s, the Apalachicola Northern Railroad (ANRR) was created to give this stretch of the Florida Panhandle a direct rail outlet to the Gulf. Its main line ran from Chattahoochee down to the coast—and over time, Port St. Joe became a key Gulf terminal with connections into Apalachicola.
Why it mattered: it turned two very different waterfront towns into part of the same working corridor. Apalachicola’s river-and-bay commerce (seafood, oysters, timber and more) could move inland faster, and Port St. Joe’s industrial side could ship forest products out while bringing bulk supplies in. For decades, log trains and pulpwood cars feeding the big mill era helped shape the rhythm of everyday life here—alongside shrimp boats, docks, and small-town storefronts.
That’s the part we love most: today it’s quiet, scenic, and unhurried—but the stories underneath the surface are still everywhere.
Saving this for your next stay at Port St. Joe RV Resort? Add a little railroad history to your Gulf Coast escape—then take a relaxed drive into downtown Port St. Joe (about a mile away) and imagine what it looked like when rail and water did the heavy lifting.
What’s your favorite kind of local history to explore on a trip—working waterfront stories or old rail-and-timber tales?
