Walton County is located on the Emerald Coast in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida, with its southern border on the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,305. Its county seat is DeFuniak Springs. The county is home to the highest natural point in Florida: Britton Hill, at 345 feet (105 m). Walton County is included in the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Destin is a city located in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It is a principal city of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin metropolitan area.
Fort Walton Beach, often referred to by the initialism FWB, a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach−Crestview−Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Shalimar is a town in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 717 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fort Walton Beach–Crestview–Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
WFGX is a television station licensed to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States, serving northwest Florida and southwest Alabama as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Pensacola-licensed ABC affiliate WEAR-TV ; Sinclair also provides certain services to Mobile, Alabama–licensed NBC affiliate WPMI-TV and Pensacola-licensed independent station WJTC under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Deerfield Media.
The Florida Panhandle is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a salient roughly 200 miles long, bordered by Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. It is defined by its southern culture and rural geography relative to the rest of Florida, as well as closer cultural links to French-influenced Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Its major communities include Pensacola, Navarre, Destin, Panama City Beach, and Tallahassee.
The Emerald Coast is an unofficial name for the coastal area in the US state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico that stretches about 100 miles (160 km) through five counties, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay, which include Pensacola Beach, Navarre Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, and Panama City Beach. Some south Alabama communities on the coast of Baldwin County, such as Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Fort Morgan embrace the term as well.
Santa Rosa Sound is a sound connecting Pensacola Bay and Choctawhatchee Bay in Florida. The northern shore consists of the Fairpoint Peninsula and portions of the mainland in Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County. It is bounded to the south by Santa Rosa Island, separating it from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Northwest Florida Daily News is a daily newspaper published in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was founded in 1946 and is owned by Gannett.
The Fort Walton Mound (8OK6) is an archaeological site located in present-day Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States. The large platform mound was built about 850 CE by the Pensacola culture, a local form of the Mississippian culture. Because of its significance, the mound was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
Choctawhatchee Bay is a bay in the Emerald Coast region of the Florida Panhandle. The bay, located within Okaloosa and Walton counties, has a surface area of 334 square kilometres (129 sq mi). It is an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, connected to it through East Pass. It also connects to Santa Rosa Sound in Fort Walton Beach, Florida to the west and to St. Andrews Bay in Bay County to the east, via the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. East Pass is the only outlet of the bay flowing directly into the Gulf of Mexico. The Choctawhatchee River flows into Choctawhatchee Bay, as do several smaller rivers and streams. The Mid-Bay Bridge crosses the bay, connecting the city of Destin to Niceville, Florida. Second bridge across the bay is the Judge Clyde B. Wells Bridge.
USS Okaloosa (APA-219) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1949. She was scrapped in 1972.
Northwest Florida State College is a public college in Niceville, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. Northwest Florida State College has multiple campuses but has operated continuously on its Niceville campus since 1963. The college also operates a charter high school, the Collegiate High School at Northwest Florida State College, which opened in 2000.
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) is a state agency of Florida that operates juvenile detention centers. Its headquarters are in the Knight Building in Tallahassee.
The Brooks Bridge is a four-lane steel and concrete structure that carries highway U.S. Route 98 (US 98) over Santa Rosa Sound just west of the Choctawhatchee Bay between downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida and the 3-mile-long (4.8 km) section of Okaloosa Island controlled by the city of Fort Walton Beach. It is named for John Thomas Brooks, who, in 1868, purchased 111 acres of what is now downtown Fort Walton Beach. The area on the north side of the sound where the bridge connects was known as Brooks Landing. It has a charted clearance of 50 feet (15 m) above the water.
Okaloosa County School District is a public school district that covers Okaloosa County, Florida. The district has its headquarters in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The current superintendent of schools is Marcus Daniel Chambers.
Sarah Frances Brooks Pryor, known as "Aunt Frances", was a civic activist and historic preservationist in Florida.
Nancy Margaret Shields Kenaston was a British journalist, and a court reporter at the Nuremberg trials after World War II. In her later years in the United States, she spoke to school and community groups about the trials.
