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LOG FLASHBACK: Happy "Uncle Billy Day" in Destin (PHOTOS)
For a complete site devoted to Destin history, click here.
For a complete timeline of Destin from the mid-70s to today, click here.
To read more about Marler and the old Destin post office, click here.
To read about the namesake Marler Cemetery, click here.
To read about the founding families, click here.
To read about how the 'World's Luckiest Fishing Village' was born, click here.
To read about Uncle Billy's Christmas connection, click here.
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to The Log archives, 20 years ago today, the City Council declared Jan. 26 "Uncle Billy Day" in Destin. The mayor at the time said the day will be commemorated with an annual community wide event. But since the unique local holiday has been largely forgotten, The Log pays tribute today to the man who named Destin.
‘Uncle Billy Day’ honors a pioneer
The Log, Jan. 25, 1992
Honoring the man who gave the city its name, the Destin City Council has proclaimed Jan. 26 as an annual “Uncle Billy Day”.
William Thomas Marler, who was born on Jan. 26, 1866, moved to East Pass to work with Capt. Leonard Destin as a fisherman when he was 13 years old. A boat builder and carpenter by trade, Marler established the town’s first post office in his home in 1899. He was named postmaster and named the fishing village Destin in honor of his friend.
He served 46 years before retiring, according to the proclamation enacted by the City Council. When he retired, Marler was honored by Postmaster General James A. Farley, who visited the Destin Post Office.
Members of the community had long felt Marler should be honored for his contributions to the city, Mayor Jimmy Vaughn says.
“A lot of people felt something should be done,” the mayor says. “He was such a strong individual. The foundation he laid made this a fine community. I think the least the community could do is say, ‘We thank you.’”
One of Destin’s most beloved residents, Marler made numerous contributions to the community. He established the area’s first school, hiring teachers and providing for their pay, room and board until the county included Destin in its school system.
Uncle Billy was also influential in the growing village’s religious life, according to the proclamation. He believed all things were possible through God, and that fishermen were God’s chosen people. He established a church in Destin, bringing in ministers by boat and offering them lodging in his home. He filled in as lay minister, and served the community by building caskets and burying the dead.
Marler is beloved by Destin children of all ages for beginning the city’s annual Christmas celebration and acting as Santa.
With an eye to the future, Marler wrote the United States Secretary of War in Washington, D.C., asking that a survey be made so families living here could purchase their homesteads. Once the survey was completed, Marler, as postmaster, was asked to set the appraisal value. The value was set at $50 an acre.
He went to Tallahassee in the early 1920s as a delegate to lobby for the East Pass Bridge (Destin Bridge) and was on the committee that selected the site of the present bridge.
Uncle Billy’s contributions to Destin even received national notice. In December 1955, he was featured in Reader’s Digest magazine as “The Most Unforgettable Character”.
It is hoped that Uncle Billy Day will be commemorated with an annual community wide event, Vaughn says.
