» Press Releases

Originally published October 18, 2007
An Apalachicola icon turns 100

By Gerald Ensley
DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER

They don't build 'em like this anymore: Apalachicola's Gibson Inn is turning 100. The wood-frame Victorian-style hotel will celebrate its centenary with a party Wednesday. More than 75 invited guests, from local politicians to descendants of the hotel's original operators, will attend.

The hotel was opened in fall 1907 and has been everything from an opulent inn to a military officers club to an abandoned firetrap to a pool hall. In 1985, the current owners gave it a $1 million renovation that is credited with kick-starting the revival of the Apalachicola downtown.

"It's been a great asset to Apalachicola," said Anita Grove, executive director of the Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce. "When people come over the bridge and see the Gibson, they think 'Apalachicola.' It's . . . an icon."

The two-story hotel is operated by Mike Koun, a former corporate executive who bought the inn with his brother and another partner in 1983. Apalachicola offered little sign of promise then. Half the storefronts were empty, and Koun drove into town to find a dog lying in the middle of U.S. Highway 98.

But Apalachicola had a proud history as an antebellum cotton-shipping port that was once the third largest city on the Gulf of Mexico. Across the bay was St. George Island, which was beginning to attract tourists in record numbers. So Koun and his partners bought the then-limping Gibson Inn and cast their fortunes with Apalachicola.

"This town deserved to have its history saved, and we hope we've been a small part of that endeavor," said Koun, 62. "The area is turning into a tourist destination. (But) the people who move here have an appreciation for the history of the city."

The 1985 renovation restored a second-floor veranda, rebuilt a roof-top cupola and redecorated all the rooms in period furniture. The dining room was restored and is now a widely hailed gourmet restaurant called Avenue Sea. In 1986, the hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The renovation saved much of the original structure, which was built out of sturdy black cypress and pine from surrounding Franklin County forests: "It was different wood than you get today," Koun said.

Other entrepreneurs have followed the Gibson's example over the past 20 years. Historic homes have been renovated. New restaurants and shops have filled the vacant storefronts. A historic theater was restored.

The Gibson's 30 rooms are generally booked throughout the main tourist season of March through September. The city hosts an annual seafood festival and an annual boat show, which draw big crowds. The town's traditional fishing economy also remains, as shrimp boats tie up along the downtown Water Street docks.

"People like Apalachicola for what it is," Grove said. "If you're looking for miniature golf and outlet malls, that's not us."

The Gibson Inn was built in 1907 by turpentine magnate Franklin Buck and named the Franklin Hotel.

In 1917, it was sold to two sisters, Annie Gibson Hays and Sunshine Gibson, who gave the hotel its current name. In 1925, the widowed Annie Gibson Hays remarried and moved to Tallahassee. Her son, Edward Hays, and his wife, Kathleen, joined Sunshine Gibson in operating the hotel.

In the 1940s, the U.S. military commandeered the hotel as an officers club and R&R residence for families of officers about to head overseas from nearby Camp Gordon Johnston.

After the war, the Hays family sold the hotel to the first of a succession of owners. But neglect and competition from more modern hotels took a toll. In 1977, state officials suspended the hotel's license, saying it had become a fire hazard. In 1978, a new owner turned it into a pool hall and bar. In 1983, the Kouns bought the hotel and began its renaissance.

Among those who will attend Thursday's party are 94-year-old Kathleen Hays and her daughters, Frances Toulon and Patsy Philyaw, who was born and lived her first four years in the Gibson Inn.

"It has been wonderful for me and my family to see it in good shape. It was close to falling down when the Kouns bought it," said Philyaw. "They did a good thing for the community."

IF YOU GO

The Gibson Inn is at 51 Avenue C, Apalachicola, about a 90-minute drive from Tallahassee. Call (850) 653-2191 for information or reservations.

Contact reporter Gerald Ensley at (850) 599-2310 or gensley@tallahassee.com.