Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Okaloosa

Okaloosa

BAKER HIGH SCHOOL

Location:1369 14th Street
County: Okaloosa
City: Baker
Description: The Town of Baker, a stop on the Florida, Alabama and Gulf Railroad, was platted in 1910 and grew up around the timber and turpentine industries. The site of the original Baker High School was owned by J.W. and Mollie McCart who sold the property to the Santa Rosa County Board of Public Instruction in 1914. Construction of the school, a two-story brick building with a basement, began in 1915, and opened for classes in January 1916. The school was heated by a wood stove, and students drank from an outdoor, hand-pumped well. The school was known as the Baker School, and operated as an elementary and junior high school until 1923, when a growing population required that it admit high school students. It was re-named the Baker High School that year and became the first accredited high school in Okaloosa County. In 1924, Baker High School graduated its first class with three students. In 1927, a new high school was completed across Jefferson Street in front of the old Baker High School. That building burned in 1953 and was rebuilt in 1955. The school’s gymnasium was built in 1958. New classrooms and a football stadium were added in 1970. The original Baker High School was renovated in 1957 and demolished in 1973.
Sponsors: Baker High Alumni and the Florida Department of State

DR. BEAL'S SHELL MUSEUM (BEAL HOUSE)

Location:2820 W Hwy 98
County: Okaloosa
City: Fort Walton Beach
Description: Dr. James Hartley Beal (1861-1945) was an influential pharmacist, chemist, lawyer, educator, and scientist. Despite his busy life, he began collecting shells, finding his first specimen, a “micrarock” in 1888. The Fort Walton Beach resident bought this house in the early 1900s. An artesian water well and supply system on the property became the start of the town’s first water system. The home was used by Dr. Beal as his office and housed his extensive shell collection. By 1940, his collection had grown to be the second largest shell collection in the world. The shells were donated to Rollins College, where they remained on display until 1988. They were then transferred to the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, Gainesville. The house was extensively remodeled and converted into the Summerhouse Restaurant, which operated there from the 1980s until 2004. It was originally located at 2 Miracle Strip Parkway in Fort Walton Beach. The building was slated for demolition in the fall of 2004. In order to save the building, Dr. Beal’s former Shell Museum was purchased and moved by barge to its present location.
Sponsors: HUBERT ALAN LAIRD AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE

Location:S. John Sims Pkwy, Eglin Air Force Base East Gate Visitors Center
County: Okaloosa
City: Fort Walton Beach
Description: Originally established on June 14, 1935, as Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Range with 1460 acres of land donated by James E. Plew, this site was renamed on August 4, 1937, for Lieutenant Colonel "Frederick I. Eglin, killed in an airplane crash. Eglin Field became a separate opening base August 27, 1940.
Sponsors: Dedicated by Mrs. Charles W. Ruckel, Daughter of James Plew In Cooperation With The United States Air Force And The Department of State

FORT WALTON

Location:on U.S. 98, 1.5 Blocks West of Brooks Bridge
County: Okaloosa
City: Fort Walton Beach
Description: Originally called Camp Walton, this Confederate installation, constructed in 1861 to guard East Pass, was garrisoned by a company of Florida militia called the "Walton Guards". Several small skirmishes with federal landing parties occurred near here. The Camp was abandoned following the Confederate evacuation of Pensacola, and the garrison, a part of the First Florida Infantry Regiment, was assigned to duty on the Tennessee front in early 1862.

INDIANOLA INN, AN INDIAN MOUND, AND CIVIL WAR CANNONS

Location:113 Brooks St. SE
County: Okaloosa
City: Destin
Description: The Indianola Inn, the second hotel in this area, was built on this midden mound in 1912 – the only structure ever permitted to do so. The inn burned in 1962, but the steps, foundation parts, and well head have been preserved. The inn had been condemned several days prior to the fire and the owners were to be notified the day after the fire. In 1927 the rate for staying at the inn was $25.00 per week including all meals, the use of a boat and guest services. The inn’s original owners were Mrs. Mary Frances Brooks Pryor and her husband. Mrs. Pryor’s father, John Thomas Brooks built the first hotel in the area, Brooks House, and later sold it leaving the Indianola Inn the only Brooks family hotel. Out of respect for the archeological significance of the mound the developers of the Indianola on the Water Condominium project did not disturb the mound area. The Indian midden mound, dating back to 500 BC to 1000 AD (The Woodlands Period), was a trash pile for early settlers of the Fort Walton Beach area. Fort Walton, Weeden Island, Santa Rosa-Swift Creek, and Deptford period ceramics were found during a 1966 archeological excavation. Artifacts such as animal and fish bones, pottery, eating utensils, and arrows were uncovered during an extensive 2005 archeological study conducted prior to the start of the condominium project. It is believed upper middle class Indians lived here, but there have never been any confirmed human bone findings. A button found in 1966 was attributed to a soldier of the Fort Walton Guard, commanded by Confederate Captain William McPherson. During the Civil War he used the cannon and this site to protect “The Narrows” of Santa Rosa Sound where it enters Choctawatchee Bay. At that time, the land extended several hundred yards farther into the Sound. Archeologists have suggested the height of the mound was raised by the Walton Guardsmen affording better cannon positioning. A cannon, discovered in the 1930s, was displayed on the Sound side of the Indianola Inn until 1962. The cannon was then moved to the Indian Temple Mound Museum, north of here. Three cannon balls, discovered in 2005, were used during this period. Based on their size, it is known that they were not shot from the cannon that was discovered in the 1930s. It is believed there is another cannon in this area that has not been unearthed.
Sponsors: NWEC DEVELOPMENT AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE

OKALOOSA COUNTY

Location:N. Main Street at south entrance to Courthouse.
County: Okaloosa
City: Crestview
Description: Okaloosa County, created by the Florida State Legislature in 1915, was formed from parts of Santa Rosa and Walton Counties. The influence of W.H. Mapoles, Sr., then a legislative representative from Walton County, was an important factor in the creation of the county. The name chosen for the new county was derived from Indian words variously interpreted as " black water," "pleasant place," or "a place of rest." The first county seat was Milligan, a sawmill town. In 1917, Crestview was selected as the permanent county seat. Okaloosa County's economy is based on agriculture, forestry, and tourism.
Sponsors: Sponsored by Board of County commissioners, Okaloosa County in cooperation with department of state

OKALOOSA COUNTY

Location:101 E James Lee Blvd, at north entrance to Courthouse.
County: Okaloosa
City: Crestview
Description: Okaloosa is one of the newer counties of northwest Florida. It was created by the State Legislature in 1915 from land taken from Santa Rosa and Walton Counties. The influence of State Senator W.H. Mapoles of Crestview was an important factor in the creation of the county. Okaloosa contains extensive agricultural and forest industries, popular gulf coast fishing and bathing resorts, and important military installations. The county seat is Crestview.

BOGGY MILL COMPANY SITE

Location:940-958 Bayshore Drive
County: Okaloosa
City: Niceville
Description: The Boggy Mill Company incorporated in August 1908. The mill consisted of 40 acres on the east side of Boggy Bayou. With access to the forest and waterways, it was in an ideal location. The company drew settlers for lumber industry jobs like logging, turpentine, and shingle-getting. It was rough, difficult, and dangerous work. In November 1908, the flywheel of the sawmill’s largest engine gave way. A piece of it struck engineer George Bostick, resulting in his death. The Pensacola News Journal reported in November 1908: “The Boggy Mill Company is now running its plant on full time, cutting about 21,000 board feet per day. The mill of the Consolidated Land and Lumber Company will be ready to start up within a short time. Boggy is becoming one of the best towns in this section. The name Boggy signifies that it is bogged up with business. There are about ten buildings in the course of construction and everyone is busy. New families are locating rapidly, and at the present time the town has four stores, two mills and two turpentine stills.” In 1912, J. P. Rawls bought the mill site at public auction, plus 6,000 additional acres. He later sold it to the Mutual Land and Lumber Co., owned by developer R. E. L. McCaskill.

NICEVILLE FIRE, 1934

Location:317 Bayshore Drive
County: Okaloosa
City: Niceville
Description: Niceville Fire of 1934, as reported in local newspapers: “The 200 CCC men formed bucket brigades and in cooperation with the fire crews of the Choctawhatchee National Forest did yeomen service in saving buildings and stocks of merchandise after three grocery stores, a dry goods store, creamery, post office building, hotel, drug store and fish warehouses were destroyed. The loss is estimated at $100,000 (worth $2,000,000 in 2021) with little insurance. There was no running water with which to combat the flames and it appeared for a time that the town would be completely destroyed until the forest firefighters and CCC workers took charge." (Gadsden County Times, January 25, 1934) "While the ruins were still smoldering, space was being made in Finck’s for the post office. During the day the Niceville Fish Company set up offices there. Within a little while a grocery had been added. And now Adolph’s establishment represents the bay country’s first and only complete arcade. In it is found a post office, a wholesale and retail fish house, a grocery, a restaurant, a bakery and the bay country’s only draft beer dispensary, while the Niceville Masonic Lodge occupies the floor above.” (The Valparaiso Star, February 1, 1934)

OLD MARITIME CITY

Location:317 Bayshore Drive
County: Okaloosa
City: Niceville
Description: Niceville was the center of the commercial fishing industry of the Choctawhatchee Bay region, the basis of the community's prosperity. Mail service here was established in 1868. The schooner Bera Attious was built at the shipyard here in 1888. Niceville in Walton County was known as Boggy until 1910, when the name changed. In 1915 Okaloosa County was formed. Products from local sawmills, shingle mills and turpentine stills were transported across Choctawhatchee Bay to Pensacola. In 1911, the steamer Belle, loaded with naval stores, sank with the loss of four lives including local Noah Edward Burlison. Fishing was a lucrative industry, and fish wagons from as far away as Alabama and other parts of north Florida came to this area to buy fish. Some of the launches servicing this area were the Swan, Donna, Ruth, Fritz, and the Belle. They provided passenger, freight and mail services with scheduled stops between here and Pensacola. In 1934, an ice factory made it possible to produce large quantities of ice, which increased fish sales. The Niceville Fish Company operated by Claude Meigs and the Spence Brothers Fish Company were the leading commercial fishing industries maintaining fish warehouses and fleets of boats.