The Washington County Public Library (WCPL) is a public library system located in Washington County, Florida, United States. The library system has four locations: a main library in Chipley and three branches in Vernon, Sunny Hills, and Wausau. [1]
The Washington County Public Library is a member of the Panhandle Public Library Cooperative System (PPLCS) and Panhandle Access Library Network (PLAN), giving library patrons access to over a million items, with shared circulation among Holmes, Calhoun, and Jackson counties. [1]
In 1934 the Chipley Woman’s Club, with the help of donated books and volunteer staff, opened a public library in a small building at the corner of East Church Street and North 6th Street in Chipley. [2] [3] The Club held a sponsored dinner in 1939 to raise matching funds to aid in purchasing more books. In 1959 the Library was moved to the upstairs of Old City Hall, where its hours of operation were 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm, twice a week. [1] In August of 1963, the City of Chipley offered the Club another building to house the Library, located at the corner of Highway 90 and Highway 77. This new library opened in 1964, and was staffed using funds from the County's contribution to a regional library system. The regional library system also provided a bookmobile, which made stops in Greenhead, Wausau, Vernon, Hinson Crossroads, New Hope, Ebro, and Caryville.
The Library again outgrew their facility, and was relocated to the recently vacated City Hall, located at the corner of 5th and Church Street, in 1980. [1] The Library remained at this location until 2003, when it was once again moved, this time to a new building that was built on Highway 90.
The Washington County Public Library, also known as the Chipley Library, is located at 1444 Jackson Avenue in Chipley, Florida. [4]
The Chipley Library suffered severe flooding [5] during Hurricane Sally, taking on nearly eight inches of water [6] and causing the branch to lose nearly all of the books and materials that were located on the bottom shelves. The branch is undergoing renovations, and remains closed until further notice (as of April 2021). [7]
The Sam Mitchell Public Library is located at 3731 Roche Avenue in Vernon, Florida. [4] This branch was built in 1993, with the assistance of Representative Sam Mitchell. [1]
The Wausau Public Library is located at 1607 Second Avenue in Wausau, Florida. [4]
The Sunny Hills Public Library is located at 4083 Challenger Boulevard in Chipley, Florida. [4]
Calhoun County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,648, making it the fifth-least populous county in Florida. Its county seat is Blountstown.
Washington County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida, in the Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,318. Its county seat is Chipley. Washington County is included in the Panama City—Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1848. The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth, meaning all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding. The Boston Public Library contains approximately 24 million items, making it the third-largest public library in the United States behind the federal Library of Congress and New York Public Library, which is also privately endowed. This building was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission in 2000.
Lynn Haven is a city in Bay County, Florida, United States, north of Panama City. Like many communities in Bay County, the city was severely damaged by Category 5 Hurricane Michael on October 10, 2018. The population was 18,695 at the 2020 census, up from 18,493 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Panama City—Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bonifay is a city in Holmes County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,759. It is the county seat of Holmes County.
Chipley is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Florida, United States, located between Tallahassee and Pensacola. Its population was 3,660 in the 2020 census, up from 3,605 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Panama City—Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area is served by Chipley High School.
Wausau is a town in Washington County, Florida, United States. The Town of Wausau is part of the Florida Panhandle in North Florida. The population was 371 at the 2020 census, down from 383 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Panama City–Panama City Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
U.S. Route 29 or U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for 1,043.3 miles (1,679.0 km) from Pensacola, Florida, to Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, Maryland, in the Eastern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area. The highway takes on an overall northeast–southwest direction, from its southern terminus at US 90 and US 98 in Pensacola to its northern terminus at Maryland Route 99 (MD 99) in Ellicott City.
The Florida panhandle is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a salient roughly 200 miles (320 km) 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.
Interstate 10 (I-10) runs for 362 miles (583 km) in Florida as the easternmost section of an east–west Interstate Highway in the southern United States. It is also the eastern end of one of three coast-to-coast Interstates, along with I-80 and I-90. The highway runs east from the Alabama border, traveling through the Panhandle of Florida, serving the major cities of Pensacola, Tallahassee, Lake City, ending at Jacksonville, and carries the hidden Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) designation of State Road 8 (SR 8).
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce is located in the former Chipley City Hall building, which has also been used as Washington County Public Library. It is a historic site in Chipley, Florida at 672 Fifth Street. It is on the same block as the historic Woman's Club of Chipley. On March 30, 2005, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Osceola Library System is a public library system serving Osceola County in Central Florida. The main branch is the Hart Memorial Central Library in historic downtown Kissimmee. The system has large branch locations in St. Cloud, Buenaventura Lakes, Poinciana, and West Osceola, as well as a small branch in Kenansville.
State Road 77 is a major north–south artery in Florida's Panhandle, connecting Panama City to the south with Alabama State Route 109 and Dothan, Alabama to the north.
Chipley station is a former intercity railroad station in Chipley, Florida. It is currently the headquarters of the Washington County Historical Society. The grounds include two former train stations: the Louisville and Nashville Depot and Bill Lee Station. The station was served by Amtrak's Sunset Limited train until service was suspended after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Amtrak has proposed reopening the station as part of a restored Sunset Limited route in the future.
U.S. Route 90 (US 90) in the state of Florida is the northernmost east–west United States Numbered Highway in the state. US 90 passes through the county seats of all 15 counties on its course in Florida, and it is also the road upon which many of the county courthouses are located. It is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from Interstate 10 (I-10) throughout the state. It runs as a two-lane highway through most of the sparsely populated inland areas of the Florida Panhandle, widening to four lanes through and near several towns. The speed limit is 55 mph (89 km/h) for all rural points west of Monticello, and it is 60 mph (97 km/h) on all rural points from where it enters Madison County as far as Glen St. Mary.
Tri-County Airport is a public-use airport located 5.1 nautical miles northeast of the central business district of the city of Bonifay in Holmes County, Florida, United States and 5.3 miles northwest of the central business district of Chipley, in Washington County, Florida. Created by an act of the Florida legislature in 1969, the airport is publicly owned and serves the Florida communities of Bonifay, Chipley and Graceville, as well as serving as a feeder/general aviation airport for Panama City, Florida and Dothan, Alabama.
The Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad (P&A) was a company incorporated by an act of the Florida Legislature on March 4, 1881, to run from Pensacola to the Apalachicola River near Chattahoochee, a distance of about 160 miles (260 km). No railroad had ever been built across the sparsely populated panhandle of Florida, which left Pensacola isolated from the rest of the state. William D. Chipley and Frederick R. De Funiak, both of whom are commemorated in the names of towns later built along the P&A line, were among the founding officers of the railroad company.
State Road 277 is a north-south state and county highway in the panhandle in the U.S. state of Florida that extends from State Road 79 in Vernon to U.S. Route 90 in Hulaw west of Chipley. SR 277 runs entirely through Washington County, although one of the two county extensions runs through both Washington and Jackson Counties, Most, if not all of the road is a two-lane undivided highway. Between its termini, SR 277 intersects with no state roads other than former ones, and shares a concurrency with at least one of those county roads. A sizeable portion of the road runs in close proximity to the east side of Holmes Creek.
The Spokane Public Library is a public library system serving the city of Spokane, Washington, US. It has six branches and a central library in downtown Spokane, along with a bookmobile and online services. The library system was acquired by the municipal government in 1894 and is funded by the city budget and a separate property tax.
The Northwest Regional Library System (NWRLS) is a public library system that serves Bay, Gulf, and Liberty Counties in Florida.