DESTIN, FLORIDA

'Destin' is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, commonly known as "The World's Luckiest Fishing Village."^[1] Destin has grown from a historic fishing village to a premier resort destination. The city sits along the coast in the Florida Panhandle, at the end of a peninsula separating Choctawhatchee Bay from the Gulf of Mexico. It is famous for its emerald-colored waters and sugar-white sand beaches; hence, the area is also known as the Emerald Coast.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Destin's White Beaches

Places of interest

Notable citizens

References

External links

Geography

Destin is located at (30.393407, -86.475276).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.2 km² (8.2 mi²). 19.5 km² (7.5 mi²) of it is land and 1.7 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (7.95%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,119 people, 4,877 households, and 3,135 families residing in the city. The population density was 570.1/km² (1,477.1/mi²). There were 10,599 housing units at an average density of 543.5/km² (1,408.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.21% White, 0.37% African American, 0.40% Native American, 1.03% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.37% from other races, and 1.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.66% of the population.
There were 4,877 households out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.72.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.4% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $53,042, and the median income for a family was $60,498. Males had a median income of $42,218 versus $26,146 for females. The per capita income for the city was $32,048. About 3.0% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 12,162.^[2]

Destin's White Beaches

Destin is famous for its white sand beaches. The sand is some of the whitest in the world . The sand actually comes from the Appalachian mountains, and is made of finely ground quartz crystal giving the appearance of sugar. Residue flows down the Apalachicola River and is deposited into the Gulf of Mexico. Because of the currents the sand drifts west and settles from east of Panama City to the Alabama coast.
A persistent myth states ''"Originally, the Gulf of Mexico and the Destin Harbor did not connect to the Choctawhatchee Bay in this area. This posed an extreme danger of flooding to the fishing fleet. In 1926, the Melvin, the Marler and the Destin families took on their largest task to date. Four men cut a drainage ditch two feet wide across Okaloosa Island using only shovels. Within two hours, the ditch was over a 100 yards wide. That hand dug trench opened a torrent of rushing water that created the East Pass into what you see today."'' The pass, several hundred feet wide, was noted on Spanish, French, and English maps from the 16th and 17th centuries, by the Iberville expedition of 1699, and by English cartographer George Gauld who surveyed St. Rose's Bay (Choctawhatchee Bay) in 1766 (reference ''"Chart of the Coast of West Florida, and the Coast of Lousiana"'' in "George Gauld, Surveyor and Cartographer of the Gulf Coast" by John D. Ware, University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 1982).

Places of interest

★ Destin Commons

★ Destin Harbor

★ Henderson Beach State Park

★ Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort

★ James Lee Park

★ Jolee Island Nature Park

★ Big Kahuna's water park

★ Silver Sands Outlet Mall

Notable citizens

★ Kevin Greene - former NFL linebacker

★ Dave Hope - Bassist of the band Kansas (band)

★ Tyson Ritter - Bassist/Vocalist of the band The All-American Rejects

★ Ernest Shahid - Commercial real estate developer

★ Kim Smith - supermodel

★ Nick Wheeler - Guitarist of the band The All-American Rejects

★ Danny Wuerffel - former Florida Gators and NFL quarterback.

References

1. Luckiest Fishing Village
2. Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places in Florida, Listed Alphabetically: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004

External links

★ City of Destin

★ Destin Area Chamber of Commerce

★ Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau

★ The Beachcomber - Destin newspaper

★ Destin Hotel and Condo Interactive Map