A BRIEF HISTORY OF WALTON COUNTY

Walton County has been inhabited for at least 3000 years. Woodland and archaic civilization artifacts dating to 1,000 B.C. have been found in the Grayton Beach area. More recently, from the 15th to the 19th centuries, the Choctaw and Euchee Indians, both of the Creek Nation, populated the area now known as Walton County. Throughout the county, Indian middens, including one that is carefully preserved at Sandestin, have become valuable archaeological sites.

In the spring of 1820, the McLendon brothers, Neil and Loclin, and their families, along with brother-in-law Daniel D. Campbell and John Folk and his family, left Richmond County, North Carolina, for Pensacola, Florida. There Neill McLendon heard about some beautiful country up the Choctawhatchee Bay.

They settled on Bruce Creek, opposite what is now known as Eucheeanna, and were soon followed by emmigrants from the Carolinas who settled in a fertile valley near Euchee.

Walton County was created in 1824, soon after the United States acquired West Florida. Originally much larger then its current 1,028 square miles, the county lost portions of its territory when Washington, Holmes and Okaloosa counties were formed.

In 1881, a surveying party comprised of Colonel W.D. Chipley, Major W.J. VanKirk, and W.T. Wright came to the area seeking a suitable location for the Chautauqua Winter Assembly and felt that DeFuniak Springs would do nicely. The Florida Chautauqua Assosiation was organized in August, 1884, and the first assembly was held from February 10 to March 7, 1885.

Throughout Walton County's history, farming has been the chief occupation of the majority of Walton County residents. The area's most important staple crops are corn, soybeans, peanuts, wheat, sugar cane, sweet potatoes and forage crops.

The principal industrial developoment of the county is poultry, raising and processing. The dairy and beef cattle business is also an established industry. Timber and related products, especially pine, are primary resources. Tourism is an important industry as well.

Find more information about DeFuniak Springs here.