Estiffanulga is the oldest continually occupied settlement along the Apalachicola River with a written history of more than 400 years. The word;"Estiffanulga" translates from Creek to mean - "All peoples bones".

About the time of the American revolutionary war, the bends and meanderings of the river at Estiffanulga gave shelter to pirate William Augustus Bowles, who sailed to and from Havana, Cuba and Nassau, Bahamas as well as Pensacola, Florida with commerce and bounty. Bowles became a respected Chieftain of the Creek/Cherokee nation who inhabited the area and had 2 Creek wives at the same time. He schemed to represent the Indians in fair trade with the Spanish, French and British monarchy.

Before 1900; Riverboats routinely carried passengers from the Gulf of Mexico North to Columbus, GA. They stopped for an evening meal of fish which were confined in corals at Estiffanulga for their dining pleasure - perhaps the earliest record of farming fish.