By Christopher Manson
Last year marked the 200th anniversary of Walton County, which at one time was much larger than its current 1,028 square miles. In 1846, portions of the original territory were given away to help form Washington County. Two years later, part of the northeast section was given to Holmes County. And in 1915, a western chunk—along with an eastern portion of Santa Rosa County—was untitled and released to form what is now Okaloosa County.
To celebrate Walton County’s bicentennial, numerous projects were undertaken in 2024, including the website walton200.com, which focuses on the county’s history through the written word, photographs and videos. The YouTube series “Reflections of Walton County” launched last year on the Walton County BCC channel and features interviews with residents who, according to Public Information Officer for Walton County Commission Ron Kelley, “either helped create some of that history or had relatives and ancestors who did.”
In late 2023, Kelley and Commissioner Danny Glidewell kicked around ideas about how to celebrate the bicentennial, and Glidewell suggested a series of interviews. “The idea caught on quickly,” says Kelley. “We compiled names to see if they would participate, and most of them have.”
At first, Kelley and videographer Billy Goodwin handled the interviews. Then Goodwin was called away for other county tasks, and Kelley took the interviewing and editing reins. The videos generally run 20 minutes or less, though “some of the people have shared such rich detail about our history that we were able to make them into two parts,” says Kelley.
“The feedback has been extremely positive,” he adds. “And with people moving here from other places, it’s a chance for them to find out about the history of their new home. I’ve learned many things, even though I’ve been in Walton County most of my life. It’s fascinating for residents, too.
“We’re losing members of the greatest generation all the time. So, it is important that we preserve as much of their amazing life experiences as we can. In the future, our children and grandchildren will be able to get a sense of what life was like in the early days of Walton County and hear from some of the people that made an impact.”
The website, too, is a work in progress. “We’re adding to it all the time,” says Kelley. “We would like for it to become a one-stop historical resource. Obviously, no single book, film or website will contain everything, but we want this to be a growing repository for as much of our historical data as we can gather.”
Commissioner Glidewell initiated a series of public meetings that doubled as “history fairs” and were held at locations throughout the county in 2024. For last fall’s Walton County Fair, an exhibit with newly designed stickers featuring the bicentennial logo were on display. The county planned a street event in DeFuniak Springs with music, food vendors, videos playing at the Chautauqua Theater and fireworks over Lake DeFuniak for December 28—to tie in with the actual bicentennial date of December 29—but inclement weather postponed the celebration until January 4, 2025.
No commemorative events are scheduled for the rest of 2025, though Kelley and his team will continue to film interviews with local citizens and historians. “We’ve really just scratched the surface,” says Kelley. “So, I will continue to interview as many people as possible that have a significant depth of knowledge about our fascinating history.
“The ‘Reflections’ series is just as important today as it was in the bicentennial year, and there are many stories we haven’t yet heard. We sometimes forget that history continues to be made even as we speak. It may be a disconcerting thought, but our current era will eventually be ‘The Good Old Days’ for a whole new generation, and we need to make sure that we have something valuable and memorable to share with them.”
An early episode with Reverend Kenneth Harrison generated a lot of favorable comments. “He told me that he’d been approached by a lot of people who enjoyed that segment, and it’s one of my favorites,” says Kelley. “Reverend Harrison passed away recently, making his appearance in the series somewhat bittersweet.
“Donnie Richardson, a lifelong Walton County farmer, shared incredible stories about farm life then and now. South Walton folks will recognize the name Ed Walline; his daughter Adrianne talked to us about his impact. Ann Robinson, who helped launched Grit & Grace (Walton County’s annual theatrical production) and a second Chautauqua Assembly, did a great interview with us—she, too, has recently passed on, which illustrates how important it is to gather and preserve these incredible histories.
“We also did interviews with local historians like Brenda Rees and Bruce Cosson. There’s something for everybody, and we’re planning more. I think people may not realize how rich Walton County history is, and hopefully, we’re going to change that.”
