“I sometimes stroll on our beautiful beach when the winds and waves are low. A glance at the old place that was once my home brings back sad, sweet, memories of long, long ago when my dear companion and I watched the beautiful sunsets, the moon gleaming on the grand old waters, and listening to the murmuring of the restless ocean.” – Harvey Hendrick, 1925
“I remember our days at the beach during the summers. Oh, how I loved those summers! It doesn’t really take much effort to close my eyes and feel again the sand between my toes, the sharp pain of stepping on the Australian pine cones in my bare feet, the relief that came when my feet became tough enough so that walking on the crushed oyster shell road didn’t bother me.” – Jeanne Clapp
“Where I lived around the bridge in that time was a kind of village. Naturally, everyone knew everyone else... Maybe these were just ordinary people, but not one was nondescript, all were interesting, and I was fortunate to know them. Indian Rocks seemed to lure more interesting characters per square foot than any other place in the county. Perhaps it still does.” – Bill Brandon
“A lot of us got our first jobs as teenagers at Moodie’s Drug Store. Moodie’s had a soda fountain and we’d be soda jerks making the sodas and hot fudge sundaes. They also sold T-shirts and sunglasses and such. Furman Moodie and his wife lived upstairs… Life was definitely simpler then, and it was a good place to grow up.” – Shera Haight Bie
“When I was a kid, I remember men going out in the bay at night in small boats and using a spotlight to see the alligators’ eyes, and then they would lasso them and get pulled around the bay. And then there was going skinny-dipping in a wonderful spring-fed pond… People did not have as much back then, but they were real friendly and seemed to be a lot happier.”
– David Gilson
“For a quarter century the Big Indian Rocks Fishing Pier was the social center of the community. From 1959 to 1985 virtually everybody in town either fished from the pier or simply enjoyed the beautiful views provided by walking its 1,040 foot length… All this came to an end when Hurricane Elena swept by in 1985, taking with it most of the pier, but leaving vivid memories of this treasured community landmark.” – R.B. Johnson
“When my husband and I came here about 10 years ago, we just fell in love with this little cottage and bought it. We came over for one night and we were going to rent during the season – and we never left. We love this seaside town, the cottages, and the old-fashioned ambiance. We’re thankful Indian Rocks Beach has preserved so many of the old cottages.”
– Mary Rose Holmes
