Walton County Heritage Collection

Iron Anchor

By WCHA | September 7, 2020 - 1:58 pm |August 4, 2022 Waterways

This anchor was retrieved from Morrison Springs around 1958. It was most likely from a timber barge that went through the waterway decades before, perhaps in the 1880s. [Accession No. 2010-7-1: Donated by James Graves]

Bissell Sweeper

By WCHA | September 7, 2020 - 1:01 pm |September 7, 2020 Tools & Equipment

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Anna and Melville Bissell patented the original hard floor sweeper in 1876. This model, the Parlor Queen, was last patented in 1906, so it was likely manufactured in the early 1900s. [Donated by William Holloway] [Accession No. 2010.6.1]

Hotels

By WCHA | August 27, 2020 - 6:33 pm |August 27, 2020 Businesses, Hotels

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COMMERCIAL HOTEL, DeFuniak, Fla.–New management; newly furnished; free bath and sample rooms; good meals and good beds. Traveling men especially solicited. Rates $2 per day. Mrs. M. H. Stanley, Prop. . . . . . BROWN HOUSE–DeFuniak Springs. Good bed, airy rooms, elegant meals; free bath and sample rooms. Special… Continue reading →

Fifteenth Plant

By WCHA | August 27, 2020 - 5:38 pm |August 27, 2020 Businesses

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The manufacturing and bottling plant of the Hygeia Company to be erected in DeFuniak will be the fifteenth owned by that company in the south. The DeFuniak plant will equal in size the plants at Pensacola and Anniston, Ala. [Source: The Pensacola Journal, September 9, 1924, Page 2.]

DeFuniak to Have Bottling Plant

By WCHA | August 27, 2020 - 5:32 pm |August 27, 2020 Businesses

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Hygeia Works to Be Installed; Will Have Capacity of 1,200 Cases Daily. DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Sept 6 — (Special) The Hygeia, or Coca-Cola, people will put in a manufacturing and bottling plant in DeFuniak Springs. The Hygeia distributing plant for DeFuniak the eastern part of the city, and the Springs and… Continue reading →

Hygeia Coca Cola Bottling Plant

By WCHA | August 27, 2020 - 5:16 pm |January 27, 2021 Businesses

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In June of 1903 L. G. Crosby became sole owner of the new Pensacola Coca Cola franchise. In September of that year he produced the first bottle of Coca Cola in the Pensacola plant. By 1924 Crosby had succeeded in running this competitors out of business and was the only… Continue reading →

550 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs

By WCHA | August 26, 2020 - 5:23 pm |August 26, 2020 DeFuniak Springs, Houses & Farms

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This stately residence was built by master craftsman William Dreyer for Kenneth Bruce, the son of Wallace Bruce who was a founder of the Florida Chautauqua. When the Bruce family lived there, it was used for entertaining visiting Chautauqua celebrities. For many years, the extensive collection of armor collected by… Continue reading →

676 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs

By WCHA | August 26, 2020 - 4:31 pm |August 26, 2020 DeFuniak Springs, Houses & Farms

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This French Colonial style house was built in 1905 or 1906 by master carpenter Burdick for James A. McLean. The house was constructed of the finest heart pine lumber with a hip roof and broad central chimneys that accent its square dimensions. James McLean considered it the “best spot on… Continue reading →

188 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs

By WCHA | August 26, 2020 - 1:11 pm |August 26, 2020 DeFuniak Springs, Houses & Farms

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This Queen Ann design house was built about 1900 by one of the Graves brothers who were lumbermen. Later Albert Fletcher Bullard, who was also a prominent lumberman and banker, purchased the house. The Bullard family lived there for many years. The house was later purchased by Dr. Richard Thomas,… Continue reading →

470 Circle Drive, DeFuniak Springs

By WCHA | August 26, 2020 - 12:14 pm |August 26, 2020 DeFuniak Springs, Houses & Farms, Thomas Industrial Institution

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This Colonial Home was built in 1887 for Edward D. Holton. During the years 1894 to 1908, it was owned by four different families. The Thomas Industrial Institution, an early educational facility, purchased the house for its president in 1915. In 1919, Mr. and Mrs. M. E Savage purchased the… Continue reading →