Gulf Shores wasn't a booming beach town in the 1950s. There were no condominiums or souvenir shops.

Despite the lack of things to see, the beach area was growing. According to the Birmingham News, the southern Baldwin County town could thank Birmingham for its real estate boom.

"It's 300 miles from Birmingham to Gulf Shores . Yet not two places in Alabama are closer together than these two are today. In some respects, Gulf Shores is a Birmingham suburb. It's all because the Gulf Shores of today-a booming Summer resort- owes much credit for its building prosperity to residents and former residents of Birmingham." -Jack House, The Birmingham News, July 10, 1950

Birmingham businessmen like Ernest Romeo, Harry Roberts, and R.J. Keife were not only moving to Gulf Shores, they were also building places to stay for beachgoers. Romeo was one of the first from the Birmingham area to settle in Gulf Shores. He fell in love the with Gulf Shores after stumbling on it en route to Panama City. Roberts took money from the sale of the old Birmingham theater to build 12 units of cabins on the beach. Keife also built cottages along Bibb Graves Parkway.

"Birmingham people and Birmingham dollars have made it possible for this long-deserted area of barren beach land to be turned into an attractive tourist center which some day may become another Panama City, or Jacksonville beach or Miami Beach." -Jack House, The Birmingham News, July 10, 1950

But it wasn't just Birmingham building in Gulf Shores. The article mentions Mobilian Joe Mitchell's house under construction on the beach in Gulf Shores.

"The biggest building project underway at the present is the two-story, five-bedroom home being built by Joe Mitchell...It is 6800 square feet, and it required more than 90 pilings to hold the structure." -Jack House, The Birmingham News, July 10, 1950

The widow of former Alabama Governor Bibb Graves also took up residence in Gulf Shores after her husband's death.