The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera: An Insider's History of the Florida-Alabama Coast
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Overview
A “lucid, often pithy” history of the eastern Gulf Coast vacation destination by an Alabama native who is “a talented storyteller as well as a scholar” (Washington Times).
In The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera, Southern historian Harvey H. Jackson presents a cultural history of the coastal region stretching from Mobile Bay and Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Panama City, Florida—an area known as the “Redneck Riviera.” Jackson chronicles the evolution of the are from the late 1920s, when it was sparsely populated with small fishing villages, through to the devastating BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.
With both personal and historical perspectives, Jackson explores the area’s development as a middle- and working-class vacation destination following World War II, the building boom of the fifties and sixties, and the emergence of the Spring Break “season.” He tracks the hurricanes that destroyed historic construction, the building boom that brought high-rise condos, and the effects of the 2008 housing market crash. While his major focus is on the social, cultural, and economic development, he also documents the environmental and financial impacts of natural disasters and the politics of beach access and dune and sea turtle protection.
In The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera, Southern historian Harvey H. Jackson presents a cultural history of the coastal region stretching from Mobile Bay and Gulf Shores, Alabama, to Panama City, Florida—an area known as the “Redneck Riviera.” Jackson chronicles the evolution of the are from the late 1920s, when it was sparsely populated with small fishing villages, through to the devastating BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.
With both personal and historical perspectives, Jackson explores the area’s development as a middle- and working-class vacation destination following World War II, the building boom of the fifties and sixties, and the emergence of the Spring Break “season.” He tracks the hurricanes that destroyed historic construction, the building boom that brought high-rise condos, and the effects of the 2008 housing market crash. While his major focus is on the social, cultural, and economic development, he also documents the environmental and financial impacts of natural disasters and the politics of beach access and dune and sea turtle protection.
Reared in Clarke County, Ala., chasing ‘submarines and alligators’ along the Alabama River and whiling summers away on the Florida Panhandle, Jackson is as far from a tweedy academic as it is possible to imagine. He looks good in shorts, T-shirt and flip-flops, glories in offshore fishing, and loves the Flora-Bama with a passion to match that of any bubba. And, man, can he write. If after finishing this beer-soaked and sand-whipped tour de force you don’t find yourself heading to the beach, check your pulse.
John SledgeEven if you’re not a redneck, you will want to go to the Alabama coastline when you read Harvey H. Jacksons III’s new book, The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera. . . . If there was ever a person that could tell the personal and historical story of the Redneck Riviera, it’s Jackson, Eminent Scholar in History at Jacksonville State University.
Theresa ShadrixWhether or not you have an attachment to the Gulf Coast, you’ll find much that is interesting and entertaining in The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera. . . . Mr. Jackson’s personal perspective enhances rather than interferes with his analysis, and his lucid, often pithy writing makes this book an engaging read.
Ray Hartwell- Title: The Rise and Decline of the Redneck Riviera: An Insider's History of the Florida-Alabama Coast
- Author: Harvey H. Jackson
- Publisher: University of Georgia Press
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Pages: 345
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9780820343785, 9780820345314, 0820345318, 0820343781
- Resource ID: LLS:9780820343785
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-21T19:16:56Z
HARVEY H. JACKSON III is Eminent Scholar in History at Jacksonville State University. His many books include Lachlan McIntosh and the Politics of Revolutionary Georgia (Georgia), Rivers of History: Life on the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Cahaba, and Alabama, and Inside Alabama: A Personal History of My State.