Don’t let the word “Little” mislead you. The Little Lagoon has been the heartbeat of the Island long before the Intracoastal Canal made the peninsula an island.

The Lagoon and Oyster Bay were the fish and shell baskets of the Achuse Indians long before the arrival of the expedition of Hernando DeSoto in 1539. Their consumption of oysters left rows of shell discards along a long front where their homes were built. These are the shell banks. 

The settlement of the peninsula was facilitated by boat from Mobile which was painless in comparison to trekking through the brush and undergrowth in South Baldwin, and people with names such as Nelson, Callaway, Ewing, Fulford and Wallace, to name a few, built dwellings and a true subsistence economy. 

Descendants of these early settlers live on and near the Lagoon and Oyster Bay now, and they have been the voice of reason in maintaining the past as closely as possible in the inevitable burgeoning of the area. For this reason the oldtimers and the newcomers meet together quarterly as the Little Lagoon Preservation Organization.

They do not depend on nostalgia and sentiment to direct their proposals. They bring in marine scientists from the Dauphin Island Marine Lab and from universities such as the University of South Alabama. 

The organization studies the pluses and minuses of what’s happening on Mobile Bay such as the erosion of the beaches, the effect of bulkheads on the loss of sandy beaches and the invasion of pollution from urban sources. These phenomena they translate into what’s good and what’s bad for the Lagoon. 

The City of Gulf Shores will restore Moe’s Landing about two miles out from City Hall on Fort Morgan Road for the use of citizens and a launch for Marine Police to handily carry out duties and emergencies on and around the Lagoon. A new fire and rescue station will be just across the street at the old Palmer estate.  Light boat traffic and limited concessions will continue the tradition and wind surfers will be seen quietly showing their skills in 15-knot winds.