The Walton County Heritage Museum is open
Tuesday through Saturday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Admission is free.
1140 Circle Drive
DeFuniak Springs,
Florida 32435
Directions
New Phone Number: 850-401-2060
Email: heritagemuseum@brighthouse.com
FREE Online Edition
Florida, Its History and Its Romance was published in 1898. While many books of the time completely ignored the Panhandle, Walton County received one mention on page 234: ". . . A normal college, located at De Funiak, in Walton County, is supported by the State. . . ."
If you enjoy reading early Florida history, click here.
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 Perfect Gift for Florida Researchers!
The Encyclopedia of Florida Sheriffs:
1821-2008, Volumes I and II
Compiled and Edited by Victor R. Silvestri
The Encyclopedia contains a wealth of information
about each sheriff and is sold only as a two volume set.
Price: $40.00 (includes $2.80 sales tax)
if purchased at the Museum, cash or check only.
$10.oo shipping will be added to online orders.
The Historic District: 470 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs
This Colonial home was built in 1887 for Edward Dwight Holton of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He built the “Magnolia House” on Circle Drive and owned other property in the city. Holton was the first sheriff of Milwaukee, and he served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly He had success as a merchant, railroad promoter, and banker before he first visited DeFuniak Springs. Holton was one of the men who joined Wallace Bruce in buying out William Chipley, Thomas Wright, and Charles Banfill from the original Florida Chautauqua Association in 1888. It cost Bruce and his associates $1,500 each to buy out the old association members, after which they formed the new association. At the time, the Florida Chautauqua Association owned 12 buildings and 30 cottages so, according to local historian Robert Daniel, “E. D. Holton was more than a Chautauqua supporter; he was a part of Wallace Bruce's group he put together to save the Florida Chautauqua.”
For more information about the Holton family see the May 2015 and June 2015 issues of Walton Relations.
To see what it looks like now, click here.
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