Sun and Surf: Our Stories
For more than two decades, SUN and SURF Magazine has chronicled life in Palm Coast and Flagler County, focusing on the people, places, and stories that define the community.
Selected Magazine Articles
Published quarterly and distributed throughout the area’s neighborhoods and gathering places, the magazine has long served as a local record—capturing everyday history alongside business profiles, features, and reflections on coastal life.
The articles collected on this page were written for SUN and SURF by past-president Kathy Reichard-Ellavsky, whose work appeared across multiple issues. Together, they offer a snapshot of the subjects and stories that mattered to local readers at the time of publication. Each article is presented here as a PDF, preserving the original layout and context in which it first appeared.
Old King’s Road (part 1)
For more than three centuries, King’s Road has carried refugees, enslaved people, settlers, and soldiers, layering human stories onto a path that long predates modern Flagler County.
Old King’s Road South (part 2)
Built of vitrified brick to exact specifications, including a nine-foot width with concrete curbing, the Old King’s Road reflected a new era, promoted by automobile manufacturers to drive sales and tourism.
Long Creek Nature Preserve
Within this nature preserve lies part of the same natural corridor that shaped Old King’s Road, where waterways and dry ground guided travel long before roads connected settlements across northeast Florida.
[Read the entire article ]
Welcome Center Opens in October 1970
The opening of Palm Coast’s Welcome Center in October 1970 marked a defining moment, when a largely uninhabited landscape was formally presented as a planned community and the future of Palm Coast was publicly unveiled. Each year we celebrate Founder’s Day.
Palm Harbor Golf Course
The city’s flagship golf course opened in September 1971. It emerged from land once considered uninhabitable, where swamps and standing water dominated, requiring extensive drainage before recreation and residential development could take root.
[Read the entire article ]
First Residents Arrive in January 1972
What began in 1969 as a large-scale development plan on largely uninhabited land became a community, when Palm Coast welcomed its first residents and daily life replaced planning documents.
[Read the entire article ]
Palm Coast’s Original Yacht Club Opened in December 1972
Completed just in time for Christmas, Palm Coast’s first Yacht Club opened as both a civic centerpiece and a holiday welcome from the developers themselves.
[Read the entire article ]
These articles are shared with thanks to SUN & SURF Magazine, a business member of the Palm Coast Historical Society.
Learn more about the magazine and its history at sunsurfmagazine.com. Businesses interested in supporting Palm Coast history can learn more about business membership opportunities.
