In June 1903, L. G. Crosby became the sole owner of the new Pensacola Coca-Cola franchise. In September of that year, he produced the first bottle of Coca-Cola in the Pensacola plant. By 1924, Crosby had succeeded in running his competitors out of business and had the only bottling plant in the Pensacola area. In […]
Camillus F. Hinesley owned The Florida House from 1914 until 1928. It was located on the northeast corner of Nelson Avenue and Eighth Street, across from what is now the Hotel DeFuniak. The hotel was renamed The Florida Hotel and continued in operation until 1962 when it was consumed by fire. The Orlando SentinelMonday, January […]
The Hotel Chautauqua was built in time for the first Florida Chautauqua Assembly in 1885. It was located on the site that was until recently occupied by Gulf Power on Circle Drive. The photograph above was taken by G. Willard Shear in 1887. Note the fence on the lakeside, which kept cattle in the lakeyard […]
NATURAL FEATURES OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL FLORIDA Florida, as a whole, forms a part of the geographical province known as the Coastal Plain—a broad tract of relatively low land which extends from New York to Mexico, rising gradually from the coast to a height of a few hundred feet and for the most part apparently […]
The Murray Theatre was built in 1921 and later became the Ritz Theater. “Requiem for a Heavyweight” was distributed in 1962, so this photograph is most likely from that era. The theater is still on Baldwin Avenue and is called the Chautauqua Theater. It is used for theatrical performances. The following timeline is based on […]
This photograph from the summer of 1953, which is courtesy of Perry Ammons Correll, was likely taken at “Wickhaven,” the Grayton Beach house then owned by the Wickersham family. The house has since been moved to the southwest corner of DeFuniak Street and Hotz Avenue and was known for many years as Washaway House. The […]
An advertisement appeared in the DeFuniak Springs Herald on August 24, 2017, congratulating “Alex Alexander, sales associate with Naylor Realty & Associates, on the sale of the home located at 812 Circle Drive.” The ad continued: “The new owner plans to do a total restoration on one of the most important historic homes located on […]
Construction on the house known as Sunbright Manor started about 1886, and it was completed around 1890. The original owner was J. T. Sherman of Brodhead, Wisconsin, who used it as a winter residence for his family. The exterior of the home is primarily white with black trim, and it has an octagonal tower, two […]
The following item appeared in The Breeze newspaper on July 13, 1911: A Friend of ours, Gone. Mr. J. C. Scott, one of the pioneer northern settlers of DeFuniak, passed away at his summer home in Chautauqua, N. Y., on the 30th of last month from a stroke of paralysis which attacked him on the […]
Local photographer T. Hope Cawthon took the photo above on Saturday, September 17, 1898, from the post office, which was then between the train depot (now the Walton County Heritage Museum) and the Hotel Chautauqua (now the Gulf Power building). The photograph shows the train tracks running parallel to Baldwin Avenue between Seventh and Eighth […]