During a period of thirty-five years Hon. Alexander R. Campbell, of DeFuniak Springs, has been before the people of his community in one or another public capacity, and as the incumbent of various public positions has discharged competently every trust reposed in him. Since 1917 he has occupied the position…
Author: DianeMerkel
Carl Crosby
A native of progressive, stirring Walton County, Carl Crosby has the distinction of being the youngest clerk of the court in the State of Florida, a post which he holds at DeFuniak Springs. His career has been a somewhat varied and active one and includes active service in France with…
Donald Stuart Gillis
During the past several generations there have been few wholesome movements on foot in Walton County, for economic and intellectual development, that have not commanded the support of one or more members of the Gillis family. These men have always been noted for the firm grasp they have maintained on…
War Burials in Gum Creek Cemetery
A hand-written list of Indian War and Civil War burials in Gum Creek Cemetery in Glendale was recently discovered. Links to the men’s memorials could be found for eleven out of twelve of them. J. F. Davis (Confederate) 26 August 1840 – 4 April 1915 Robert J. Davis (Co. F,…
Black Public Officials, 1867-1879
In honor of Black History Month, below are four men who held office during Reconstruction. This information is excerpted from Florida’s Black Public Officials, 1867-1924 by Canter Brown (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1998). Henry W. Call Born 1834, Florida. Mulatto. AME Minister. Alive in DeFuniak Springs 1910. Washington County…
Walton County’s Identical Triplets
Ann L. Butts and John Brown married and settled in the Sandy Creek area of Walton County. They had a total of eight children, three of whom were identical triplets. That would be remarkable in itself, but their names made them all the more memorable. As the story goes ….
Britton Hill
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…
Rosenwald Schools in Walton County, Florida
Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute and Julius Rosenwald, philanthropist and president of Sears Roebuck, built state-of-the art schools for African- American children across the South. The effort has been called the most important initiative to advance black education in the early 20th century. Attending a Rosenwald School put…
Movie Theaters in DeFuniak Springs
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…
House Party at Grayton Beach, 1953
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…