Before 1906, Perdido Pass lay three miles east of today's pass as part of Point Ornocor, ending in a short river that curved west, and the pass was narrow and dangerous. Alabama Point and Ono Island did not yet exist. Early in 1906, local men from the Callaway and Walker families dug a ditch through the dunes in a more convenient location, and the hurricane of September 1906 turned that ditch into today's Perdido Pass and created Alabama Point. The old pass filled with silt, and the short river broke through the dunes to the new pass, creating Old River and Ono Island. On May 29, 1953, Alabama and Florida settled a border dispute by permanently establishing the state line at the site of the old pass, and dredging of Perdido Pass began that same year. The first buildings at Alabama Point were the Seagate Motel, built by Lovick Allen in 1949, followed shortly by the Paul Smith house, the Henry Sweet house in the 1950s, and the Outrigger store, built in the 1970s by Sturgis Lowman and Bill Graham. On September 24, 1956, Hurricane Flossy caused a seven acre lake near the pass to disappear. After three years of construction, the first bridge over the pass was dedicated on May 12, 1962, connecting Alabama Point to Florida Point. With support from the Orange Beach Fishing Association and many individuals, sea walls and jetties were built during the 1960s. On September 12, 1979, Hurricane Frederic damaged the bridge and repairs were required. A stronger, higher Perdido Pass bridge was dedicated on August 28, 1989, allowing heavy loads to cross and sailboats to pass beneath. For more than 100 years, this entire area was known as Gulf Beach and is now called Perdido Key, part of Gulf State Park, Alabama Point East.