Zeke's Landing Marina - Or, Dry Storage Dock
“Zeke’s Landing” was named in memory of Carl Taylor “Zeke” Martin, a farsighted turn-of-the-century pioneer of land known as Pleasure Island. After a vicious hurricane in 1926 drove out the previous settler, Carl Taylor Martin envisioned greater things for the 1,000 acres of wild land he homesteaded with its glistening white sand dunes. The area from Fort Morgan to Romar Beach was an unpopulated peninsula. Only a few families have preceded Zeke to Orange Beach. His descendants still live in the area today.
Zeke, a native of Mobile, AL, earned a varsity letter as a member of the 1909 - 1920 Vanderbilt University’s basketball team. He is still known as “one of the university’s greatest”. A mechanical engineer by trade, Zeke was an avid fisherman and sportsman/explorer which led him to travels around the world.
Most folks were bewildered by his fascination with this difficult to reach area between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. He found its natural beauty irresistible with its snowy white sand dunes, clear Gulf of Mexico beating on the pristine shore, abundant harvest of the sea and teeming shellfish banks in its bay, all worth the hard work.
Biting flies and ferocious alligators were the norm in these swampy parts. Miserable hours were spent traversing a “three-trail-road”. Wagon wheels on the outside, a mule in the middle and then a final, hazardous skiff voyage, barely dimmed Zeke’s enthusiasm for this new found Eden. Zeke reigned as king of this remote paradise, which has since been subdivided. With the combination of Zeke Martin’s name and that of his partner, Spurgen Roach, the legend stays alive.