Editing Fort Walton Beach, Florida (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2022}}
Prehistoric settlement of Fort Walton Beach is attributed to the mound building "[[Fort Walton Culture]]" that flourished from approximately 1100–1550 CE. It is believed that this culture evolved out of the [[Weeden Island culture]]. Fort Walton also appeared to come about due to contact with the major Mississippian centers to the north and west. It was the most complex in the north-west Florida region. The Fort Walton peoples put into practice mound building and intensive agriculture, made pottery in a variety of vessel shapes, and had hierarchical settlement patterns that reflected other Mississippian societies.

The first Europeans to set foot in what is now Okaloosa County and the Fort Walton Beach area were members of [[Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca]]'s party, who traveled by boat from what is now [[Panama City Beach, Florida]], in 1528 to Texas, ''"Then we set out to sea again, coasting towards the River of Palms. Every day our thirst and hunger increased because our supplies were giving out, as well as the water supply, for the pouches we had made from the legs of our horses soon became rotten and useless. From time to time we would enter some inlet or cove that reached very far inland, but we found them all shallow and dangerous, and so we navigated through them for thirty days, meeting sometimes Indians who fished and were poor and wretched people".''

The area is described at "40 deaths a day" in a Spanish map dated 1566. In later English and French maps the area was noted as "Baya Santa Rosa" or "Bay St. Rose". A number of Spanish artifacts, including a portion of brigantine leather armor, are housed in the Indian Temple Mound Museum.

Contrary to popular belief, there is no documentary evidence of pirates using the area as a base of operations. Piracy was rampant in the Gulf of Mexico from pirates working out of Hispaniola, the Caribbean, and the Florida Keys. Notable raids occurred in 1683 and 1687 against the Spanish fort at [[San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park|San Marcos de Apalachee]] (by French and English buccaneers), a 1712 raid against [[Old Mobile Site|Port Dauphin]] (now Alabama) by English pirates from Martinique, and the actions of the late 18th-century adventurer [[William Augustus Bowles]], who was based in [[Apalachicola, Florida|Apalachicola]]. Bowles was never referred to as "Billy Bowlegs" in period documentation; his Creek name was "Estajoca".

During the era of Spanish and English colonization, the area of what was to become Fort Walton Beach was noted in several journals but no worthwhile presence was established.

Early settlers of [[Walton County, Florida|Walton County]], Florida, were the first to establish permanent settlements in what is now Fort Walton Beach (the area was originally named "Anderson"). Two of the first settlers were John Anderson and Andrew A. Alvarez, who received land plots in 1838. The name "Anderson" is noted on maps from 1838 to 1884. It was not until 1911 that the name "Camp Walton" appeared on Florida maps.

In 1861, Camp Walton was a Confederate Army camp, a fortified post, made up of the "Walton Guards", an independent Company  of Florida Volunteer Infantry from Walton County. At this time, Okaloosa County did not yet exist. Walton County received its name from Col. George Walton, who served as secretary of West Florida during [[Andrew Jackson]]'s governorship (1821–1822) and whose father, George Walton Sr., was the 56th signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He is also the namesake of Walton County.<ref name="Roberts, Robert B. 1988">Roberts, Robert B., "Encyclopedia of Historic Forts", Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, London, 1988, Library of Congress card number 86-28494, {{ISBN|0-02-926880-X}}, page 212.</ref>

Camp Walton was located between the Indian Temple Mound, now known as the Heritage Park and Cultural Center, and the Santa Rosa Sound, its mission was to protect the "Narrows" from Union ships. Although the "Walton Guards" did not see much action, they did keep busy by digging up prehistoric Indian remains buried in the Indian Temple Mound and displaying them at camp. The post was abandoned in August 1862, and the "Walton Guards" were assigned to reinforce the 1st Florida Infantry Regiment, with duty in the Western Theatre on the Tennessee front.<ref name="Roberts, Robert B. 1988"/>

On April 11, 1879,  John Thomas Brooks purchased at a public auction in [[Milton, Florida|Milton]], Florida, 111 acres in Section 24, Township 2, Range 24 of [[Santa Rosa County, Florida|Santa Rosa County]], a portion of the property of Henry Penny whose heirs had failed to pay the taxes on the estate.<ref>Santa Rosa County, Florida Deed Book "C", pages 465, 466, R. R. Sheppard, County Clerk, to J. T. Brooks, Milton, Florida, recorded December 14, 1883.</ref> This parcel on the [[Santa Rosa Sound]] became what is now downtown Fort Walton Beach.

The United States Post Office changed the official name on their cancellations from Camp Walton to Fort Walton on 1 March 1932.

The 1940 census counted 90 residents in Fort Walton.<ref>Hutchinson, Leonard Patrick. "History of the Playground Area of Northwest Florida". Great Outdoors Publishing. St. Petersburg, Florida, 1st ed., 1961, no Library of Congress card number, no ISBN, page 83.</ref> Fort Walton was incorporated by a state senate bill effective June 16, 1941.<ref name="Hutchinson, page 85">Hutchinson, page 85.</ref>

[[File:Sound Park Fort Walton Beach.jpg|350px|thumb|View from Sound Park looking west towards Presidio Condominium.]]
The community's name was officially changed from Fort Walton to Fort Walton Beach on June 15, 1953, by agreement with the state legislature in [[Tallahassee]], and incorporated a portion of Santa Rosa Island formerly known as Tower Beach.<ref>Fort Walton Beach, Florida, ''Playground News'', June 18, 1953, page 1.</ref> Tower Beach, named for a tall observation tower at the site which was later destroyed by a hurricane, had been an amusement area operated from 1928 by the Island Amusement Company by future-Fort Walton Beach mayor Thomas E. Brooks,<ref>Hamilton, Percy, "Tower Beach to End Colorful, 26-Year History as Pioneer Tourist Attraction", ''Playground News'', Thursday 11 August 1955, Volume 9, Number 80, page 1.</ref> with a boardwalk, casino, restaurant, dance pavilion, "40 modernly equipped beach cottages",<ref>Display advert, ''Okaloosa News-Journal'', Crestview, Florida, Friday 2 September 1938, Volume 24, Number 35, page 5.</ref> and concession stands which was largely destroyed by fire on Saturday, March 7, 1942. Wartime supply restrictions prevented a reconstruction.<ref>Crestview, Florida, "Amusement Area Of Tower Beach Is Destroyed By Fire", ''Okaloosa News-Journal'', Friday 13 March 1942, Volume 28, Number 8, page 1.</ref>  This 875-acre parcel of [[Santa Rosa Island, Florida|Santa Rosa Island]] with three miles of Gulf frontage was conveyed to Okaloosa County on July 8, 1950, in an informal ceremony at the county courthouse in [[Crestview, Florida]]. The county paid the federal government $4,000 to complete the transaction, the result of the efforts of Congressman [[Bob Sikes]].<ref>Fort Walton, Florida, "Island Tract Turned Over To Okaloosa - Formal Transfer Completed With $4,000 Payment", ''Playground News'', Thursday 13 July 1950, Volume 5, Number 24, page 1.</ref> The portion of [[Santa Rosa Island, Florida|Santa Rosa Island]] transferred is now known as [[Okaloosa Island]]. The remaining Tower Beach summer cottages were removed after the 1955 tourist season as the new Okaloosa Island Authority redeveloped the site with a new hotel and casino.   The government was changed to a city manager form.<ref name="Hutchinson, page 85"/>

A special census conducted in 1956 listed 9,456 residents, which grew to 11,249 by 1960.<ref>Fort Walton Beach, Florida, "County Hits 61,067 - Census Reveals 11,249 Is Population for FWB", ''Playground News'', Thursday, June 9, 1960, Volume 15, Number "19" (actually No. 20), page 1.</ref>

The last of three county-owned buildings on Okaloosa Island was torn down on May 31, 1995. The buildings had originally housed the Okaloosa Island Authority and more recently the Okaloosa County Council on Aging. The 1.3-acre tract on the north side of Santa Rosa Boulevard was sold.<ref>Fort Walton Beach, Florida, "Today in Local History", ''Northwest Florida Daily News'', Sunday 31 May 2015, Volume 69, Number 120, page B4.</ref>