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The “Angel Wall” at 1st Street beach
In 1923 a couple that helped to make Boca Grande what it is today moved to the island during the
winter months, and were among the earliest “beachfronters” the island saw. Francis “Frank” Boardman
Crowninshield and his wife, Louise du Pont Crowninshield, were social leaders and benefactors for everyone.
Their original home was at the corner of 1st Street and Gilchrist Avenue, but the couple also
purchased other lots along Gilchrist Avenue and built cottages for their northern friends to stay in when
they visited. It was essentially more of a compound than a single-family home.
While the Crowninshield main home was originally a fishing shack, the couple landscaped the grounds
and built the home up, and included the first swimming pool on the island in their plans. It is still kept very
much as it was decades ago, and the gardens are just as spectacular thanks to the loving touch of the
current owners.
That Spanish-style pool saw many, many pool parties with local children in attendance when the
Crowninshields lived there. In fact, one resident of the island who has since passed, Darrell Polk,
remembered in an historical essay that he was one of the first children to christen the pool when it was
built. It was cold, he said, and the water was filtered and recirculated salt water pumped in from the Gulf.
All island children – rich and poor – were invited to the home for tea, dance recitals and, of course, swimming.
The pool was part of the whole lot of Crowninshield cottages, so it is technically one lot away from
Frank’s studio. It still remains almost the same as it was back in the 1920s, and the angels continue their
vigil over the property.
May/June 2019 GASPARILLA ISLAND 53