|
|
|
|
Early
settlers were colorful Theo
“Pop” Staff was among Fort Walton’s most colorful and inventive pioneers.
The year was 1913 and the
population of Fort Walton Beach was about 90 persons… seriously out number by
cows, pigs and chickens that roamed loosely up and down the sandy pathways of
the tine community. All serious
travel into the area was Food for family and guests
at the hotel was supplemented by fresh grown vegetables from the Staff/Gerlach
garden and freshly caught fish of wide varieties from the sound and gulf.
Fishing and sunny relaxation were unequivocally the attraction of the
hotel in this period, the bucolic and leisurely pace providing a nurturing
ground for the Staff off-sprint. Pop Staff was an ardent
fisherman and could be found most any morning fishing from his hotel dock or
surf-casting into the nearby Gulf of Mexico.
His tall and handsome profile was easily recognized by his ever-present
fishing rod and well-worn pipe. His
forbearers came to America in the late 1800’s from Czechoslovakia where the
family name of Stech or Steck was literally translated to “Staff”.
With no pun intended, Pop was certainly the staff around which his
energetic family gathered.
Besides his
infinite love of fishing, Pop became a devotee of sun-bathing “au-naturelle”
and built a three-sided cabana on the dock in front of the hotel, where he could
be found reclining in the buff, taking in the sun’s southern exposure.
This habit provided some humorous moments when the occasional boat,
traversing the sound, came upon the dozing figure in his “privacy shelter”. He was awakened by the shrieks of red-faced females and
hastened to draw about him his towel. Skippers
of that period often warned their passengers to turn their attention toward the
island and gulf-side when approaching Pop’s formidable sunning parlor. Amount many anecdotes
surrounding Pop Staff recalled by his grandchildren was his invention of the
area’s first air conditioner. Pop
Staff’s air conditioner was a true Rube Goldberg device that astounded
everyone when it worked! He simply
placed a shelf in front of his bedroom window with a tilted screen so angled
that a large block of ice on another shelf above it, dropped water over the
screen. An electric fan blowing air
through the screen, and cold water, effectively cooled the interior. His standard line to friends
of that day when asked how he survived so well was, “I retired at age , put
the rest of my family to work and spent my leisure hours planning more
leisure”. In truth, his
inventiveness and lifestyle was occupied with giving his offspring everything
from fishing tips (at which he was an expert) to music training and swimming
lessons. Until he was age 75, he
held a Fourth of July swim meet at the hotel docks.
Always the purveyor of sage advice, Pop sort of epitomized the old Thomes
Hobbes statement: “Leisure is the
mother of philosophy”. A shrewd and ardent
barterer, he once traded a brand new Chevrolet automobile for what he thought
was a priceless violin. Embarrassed
by the deal, he later admitted that his rare violin was worthless.
This episode was, perhaps, the only time he was ever embarrassed.
His older daughter told a story about the time she accompanied him to the
bank. He always wore his trousers
very loose and never wore underwear. Often,
his means of pants support was one suspender strap.
Behind him in the bank this day, she relates how his trap broke and his
pants fell to the floor revealing a totally tanned, yet bare behind.
Without so much as a blush, he simply reached down and pulled his pants
up, nodding politely to the astonished by-standers. The daughter, however, silently crept away to avoid
identification. His inventive and curious
nature led him to have the first short-wave radio in the area; and when
television came along he purchased the first set in the community.
Religious as well as philanthropic, he devoted considerable energy, as
well as land and money to bring the first Roman Catholic Church to Fort Walton
Beach. The original St. Mary’s
Church, Rectory, Convent, and Parochial School were about a block from the
restaurant on First Street and Shell Avenue. As an ardent pipe smoker, he
had accumulated over 1,000 pipes in his lifetime and boasted that he had smoked
them all. Considered by all to be a
true genius when it cam to fishing, he once lamented that he had spent a whole
day trying to catch fish. Disappointed,
he and another friend headed their boat for home.
En route, so he swears, they encountered a school of mullet and dozens of
them just jumped into the boat. He
was so astounded by the event, he sent the story to Robert Ripley’s “Believe
It or Not”. A true, yet tall
tale. Molly and Pop celebrated 72
years of marriage. One year after
his wife died, Pop—the colorful legend and pioneer passed away.
When he died at the age of 97, he had spent over 61 years in Fort Walton
Beach and left a vast vacuum in the spirit and energy of his community. Earliest
aviation . . . Prior to Eglin AFB and its
huge environs, the US Navy in Pensacola used the Santa Rosa Sound behind the
Gulfview Hotel as a landing field---water!
The picture below is a first line aircraft of 1918 vintage. The craft is
a Curtis “Flying Boat” that carried four persons in two cockpits.
It held 6 to 8 30-caliber machine guns and four 230 lb. bombs.
Its dimensions were: wing
span 103.9 feet; length 49.3 feet and height 18.9 feet.
Its twin 400 HP Liberty e3ngines (water cooled) gave it a range of 830
statute miles at 90 mph at sea level. It
had a payload of 4,880 pounds. The
photo was taken about 1918 by a guest at the Gulfview Hotel. Shipwreck
provides early entertainment A hurricane reported in the
1909-1910 season proved to be the end of a magnificent Norwegian square-rigged
sailing vessel and the beginning of the earliest Gulf Coast tourist attraction. Visitors to the Gulfview
Hotel in the 1914-1920 era flocked to the site of the “old wreck” some
fifteen miles west of the then “Camp Walton” where it was drived ashore by
the high winds and tide. The vessel reportedly plied
the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico carrying cargo and passengers. Guests at the old Gulfview
used to boat westward in Santa Rosa Sound to the site, then walk across the
Island to the shore to swim, frolic and picnic. It was also the location of
good fishing and many caught their share of snapper, mackerel and other
delicacies of the area from its canted deck. Revolution
drives Staff family to Camp Walton
An American community in
Medina, Mexico drew hundreds of venturesome and restless “Gringos” to seek
fortune and fame, as well as contentment, in the fertile plushness of central
Mexico, south of Mexico City. Among
them was the young family patriarch “Grandpa Staff”. Married in November, 1901,
Theo and Molly began life’s natural order of family with two boys, Lawrence
and Eddie and their sister, Nora. These
three were soon followed by twins, Aggie and Frances, then Florence, Emily and
Louise—eight strong, serenely determined children.
Not all the family joined the Mexican experience, but the earliest, Eddie
and Nora (and later the twins) spent time there and related their experiences.
The land in Medina was most
suitable to the growing of fruit and vegetables and while a wide variety was
planted, the main staple focused on was pineapple.
A railhead in Medina brought tourists and natives traveling south from
Mexico City and provided a close-by marketing outlet for the fresh fruit.
These pineapple were of unusual size, often weighing seventeen to twenty
pounds, and exuded a pungent freshness that the Staff youngsters remembered
their entire lives. As the forces against the
government of Diaz became heated, young Mexican revolutionary, Pancho Villa,
joined Francisco Madero and his band of guerillas in pressuring foreign interest
who were perceived as supporting the Diaz factions.
Their raiders pillaged and threatened the American community at Medina
fomenting fear and concern for the safety of all.
A trip to the American Consulate in Vera Cruz about 1911 convinced Theo
Staff that it would be in the best interest of all if Medina were evacuated and
a new homestead was founded in the United States. Theo’s father-in-law, Adam
J. Gerlach, wrote from Indiana in 1910 urging your Theo to sell his interests in
Mexico and return with the family. Striking
the best deal available, Grandpa removed his family about 1912 and settled north
on the Gulf Coast of Florida in a small village known then as Camp Walton.
A chance meeting put young Staff in contact with Mr. L. I. Smith, a
retired Minnesota banker who had built a large lodging facility on the shores of
Santa Rosa Sound in Camp Walton. In
1913, Theo purchased the building from Smith and began the Gulfview Hotel—a
grandly elegant structure for the day and started a new homestead. Second son, Eddie Staff,
remembered the Mexican revolutionaries passing through Medina, pursued often by
the Federal forces of Presidente Diaz…”The Americans hid from both
government and guerrilla troops—we were afraid of them all—the government
troops would look for arms and ammunition and hang anyone suspected of harboring
such contraband, whether American or Mexican, and revolutionaries pillaged food,
livestock and tangible goods such as clothing and horses”.
In the climate of this maddening time, it was prudent and imperative to
get out! Mexico’s loss
certainly became Fort Walton’s gain. As
the family started growing, Grandpa added dwelling space for both the youngsters
and the guests who, by now, had spread the fame of this beautiful area of Fort
Walton by mouth and postcard. The
hotel, famous for its delicious meals prepared by Theo’s wife, Moll, and
sisters-in-law Aggie and Josephine Gerlach, who both came north from Mexico, was
soon to be complimented by his sister-in-law Winnie Gerlach’s store on the
water in front of the hotel. This
store became a docking and refurbishing spot for many luxurious yachts and their
enthusiastic owners in the late 1915 through 1930 timeframe. Tourism in these early days
comprised of a few souls who wearily trekked from Birmingham and Montgomery via
train to Pensacola and then by small boat to the dockside at the Gulfview.
They came to rest and fish; fishing was bountiful and the species varied.
Redfish, trout and tarpon were prevalent in the waters of the sound and
provided excellent sport along with bathing in the gulf just a short boat trip
away. An old wreck, washed up on the short just west of now Mary
Esther was a big attraction for early visitors who flocked to the site for
swimming and photographs. Covered
by sand and sea, portions of this hurricane victim can still be seen at low
tide. A dynasty worthy of
television emerged at the hotel—all girls became avid swimming enthusiasts and
competitors. See the story on
“Swimmingest Sisters” (following pages).
About the girls, the twins
Agnes and Frances, their sisters, Florence, Emily and Louise:
they were not not only healthily wholesome, but ravishing in their
beauty. Many a young swain was
attracted to this area seeking recognition, but only an intrepid and persistent
few were to win the hands, hearts and devotion of these ladies.
A young Milton, Florida lad (coincidentally named Theodore) by the name
of Bass worked for the Staff family as a handyman.
Proving himself a hard worker, dedicated to learning and with an inborn
sense of leadership, young Theodore “Docie” Bass wooed and won Mr. Docie embellished the
area by starting the Staff Café in 1931. This
was when the serving of guests at the Gulfview Hotel moved to the present
building. Docie went on to become a
community leader and advisor. He
was instrumental in the growth and development of Fort Walton Beach’s
Industrial Park and served as Mayor and Councilman.
Docie was instrumental in the development of the Chamber of Commerce and
bringing natural gas to the area thus creating the Okaloosa County Gas District. From Mexico to Fort Walton,
this spirited family has wound its way through life’s turmoil sharing
happiness and sadness. Their
indomitable faith in God and the goodness of those who have the courage to try,
marks them all as witness in an era where hard work, integrity, and honesty were
the guidelines of human service and family contentment. Between the years of 1909
and 1916, Mexico was being ransacked by a group of Bandidos under the leadership
of Pahcho Villa. They banned forces
to fight the dictatorship of Presidente Porferio Diaz, but were actually nothing
but criminals. Grandpa Theo Staff and his
family were among the Americans being pressured to leave Mexico.
The Bandidos pillaged and raided the “Gringo” communities forcing
them to often hide in the woods. All
of their belongs were stolen or destroyed except what they could carry as they
ran. Relocation was inevitable. As they gathered their
things together Grandpa knew they would not be back to reclaim their pineapple
plantation. He loaded all his
family on a train headed to the north, but even knowing where it was going. As it traveled across the untamed territory, again they
became the victims of the Bandidos. The
train was captured by 17 unsightly, unshaven, and uncouth rebels.
As the bullets were flying, a young senorita caught the eye of their
leader (so the story goes). As she was being drug from the train she kicked and fought
desperately to remain with her family. The
leader in his drunken state tripped on a railroad tie and his spur strap broke.
As luck would have it, there were Mexican Federalists in the area.
A troop of approximately 150 soldiers chased the Bandidos back to the
hills leaving the senorita crying and the Bandidos lying in the dirt.
Grandpa’s oldest son had been watching while hiding behind a stack of
crates. He jumped off the train,
grabbed the spur, hid it in his shirt and quickly returned to the train.
When the family arrived in the United States he proudly showed that he
had the spur. This spur remained in
the Staff family until just recently when it was donated to the now growing
collection of memorabilia displayed in Staff’s. Sharing
old-fashioned love and hard work Theodore and Molly Staff
brought their “brood” of two sons and three daughters to the shores of Santa
Rosa Sound and Camp Walton in late 1913 and purchased the Gulfview Hotel from a
retired Minnesota businessman. Shortly
thereafter, into the family next crawled three other daughters, Florence, Emily
and the youngest, Louise. Grandpa Staff and Molly were
honored in 1970 as Okaloosa County’s oldest and longest married couple.
Their marriage in 1901 ended upon Molly’s death in July of 1973.
Grandpa Staff passed away in November of the same year.
Thus ended for their life nearly 72 years of pioneering, challenge, love,
family, and certainly legacy! The years of 1914 through
the early ‘20’s was a period of much chaos.
World War I was starting. Mrs.
Staff’s brother, Joseph, became a soldier and went to war.
The original structure of the Gulfview Hotel took on additional
dimensions. As the large families
grew, the need for space kept pace; cottages and adjacent housing was built.
After all, the purpose of the “family business” was a hotel, but it
had to fit the dream of Grandpa Staff’s desire to have it home, refuge, and
income source in one package. It
was! This family unit was closely
knit. Theodore Staff ran a
patriarchal household, aided and abetted by his two brothers-in-law and his
three sisters-in-law. It was his
utopia to be shared by all with good, old-fashioned love and hard work.
Agnes (sister-in-law) was the operator and bookkeeper of the hotel.
She also assisted Molly in the kitchen.
Josephine was responsible for driving to Pensacola to bring supplies back
to the hotel. She was also the link
to the parish nuns and priests; providing food and recreation.
Winnie worked in the store and managed the supplies and mail that came by
boat from Pensacola. One can only imagine a
conversation between Theo and Molly: “Molly,
we have a beautiful prosperous home, and eight beautiful, delightful and
independent children. The twins,
Agnes and Frances, and the other girls should be involved in some athletic
pursuit”. Theo, muscular, athletic and determined was aware of the
potential. Thus he
utilized the water as the mode of athletic involvement.
The dock in front of the
Gulfview echoed with the splashes of young athletic bodies, cries of “It’s
cold in the water” and a stern parental taskmaster who oversaw the
proceedings. Twins, Agnes and Frances, sisters, Nora, Florence and Emily,
were to embark on a life of swimming excellence.
Louise the youngest, while interested in the water and swimming never
took competition seriously. The Gulfview ritual was to
arise early (six am), trot to the dock and start swimming.
One sister said she felt that it wasn’t understood if they were really
little human girls or pollywogs. Grandpa
Staff ran a vigorous agenda that honed fierce pride with total swimming ability.
They each developed individual swimming styles. Agnes was crawl stroke
specialist; sister Frances was competent in both American crawl and backstroke;
Emily in breast stroke; Florence in diving; and Nora in breast stroke. The Southern Amateur
Athletic Union recognized the classical performance, and strong abilities to the
extent that hundreds of medals were awarded to these Staff ladies in their many
competitions. Second son, Edward, related
how his dad never allowed the girls to compete professionally against one
another. Florence, was the diver, Frances (competent in both American
crawl and backstroke) won the most medals.
Most of these winning cups and medals are on display in the restaurant.
Also arranged on the wall are dozens of newspaper clippings, and cartoon
depicting Grandpa Staff with a fishing rod leashed on his daughters urging them
to swimming perfection. Molly Gerlach Staff’s
sister Agnes and her brother, Joseph, created a great deal of the early history
in the emerging Camp Walton business community.
One of the areas first automobile agencies to be founded was in the old
garage, now the current Staff Restaurant location.
Joe Gerlach sold Studebakers, Maxwells (remember Jack Benny’s famous
car, which Rochester hated to drive) and a car hardly ever heard of anymore, the
Star. In fact, another Gerlach
sister, Josephine, was one of the earliest women drivers in the area with a
brand new fabric-roofed Studebaker. Joseph
Gerlach also became the area’s first Chevrolet dealer; subsequently he sold
the agency to Dale Moon who married Frances Staff. From
a humble beginning Designed as a garage to
shelter the delicate fabric and paint of early motorized vehicles, this building
was transformed from a full-service garage to Docie Bass’s dream of a
restaurant which opened in 1931. The
beginnings of the restaurant are dated as 1913 when the family first opened
their dining room to the hotel guests. Renown for our delicate
preparation of fresh seafood from tried and true recipes, the Staff Restaurant
has been hosts to notables from all walks of life as well as countless tourists
who carried the work of excellent cuisine far and wide.
Thousands return years later to sample the continued quality and ambience
of this fine eating establishment. |
Quick Menu Links
|
|
Staffs Restaurant, the oldest Family- Owned Restaurant in the
State of Florida! |
At
the urging of his father-in-law Adam J. Gerlach, Theodore “Pop” Staff and
his young wife, Molly, left their adventurous plantation life at Medina, Mexico
and settled in Camp Walton, Florida.
accomplished by painfully slow dirt roads or equally tedious passage by boat
along Santa Rosa Sound from Pensacola.
A certain chemistry for
adventure and a newspaper advertisement alerted a vibrant, muscular young
Theodore Staff and his beautiful bride, Amelia known as “Molly” to leave the
cold of Crown Point, Indiana for utopian lifestyle in Mexican farming.
Joining
the Staff clan from Indiana were Theo’s brothers-in-law, Joe and Dick Gerlach—who
became the first automobile dealers in the Fort Walton area.
the hand of
Aggie.