Though
many people believe that the beautiful beaches of the
Emerald Coast are a recently discovered treasure, evidence
shows that man was in the area nearly 3000 years ago.
Indians, in fact, may have been the first “tourists” to
the Emerald Coast, coming to take advantage of the excellent
fishing, to bathe in the sea and to enjoy the climate
The first permanent Indian settlements in the Fort Walton
Beach area began around 1500 A.D. and flourished for approximately
150 years. During this time, the culture showed marked
signs of change, the most significant of which was the
establishment of temple mounds and central settlements.
The mounds were used for political and religious functions.
The largest of these mounds on the Gulf Coast is still
virtually intact and is located in downtown Fort Walton
Beach. It is made of 100,000 cubic feet of earth (mainly
white sand) and is approximately 223 feet long by 178
feet wide by 12 feet tall. It is estimated that the Indians
gathered 500,000 baskets of earth to build the mound.
The first European didn’t arrive until about one hundred
years after the first permanent Indian settlement. When
he arrived, he wasn’t looking for a place to settle down,
but only for a cool drink.
In November of 1628, Panifilio de Narvaez, a Spaniard,
and his weary sailors landed in Fort Walton Beach looking
for much needed fresh water. According to legend, they
had not yet quenched their thirst when they were attacked
by Indians and driven back to their boat.
Nearly 300 years passed between Narvaez’s unhappy visit
and the United States’ acquisition of Florida from Spain.
Though the area was almost completely wilderness up to
the mid-1800s, a few settlements had been established.
Only a few of the earliest white settlers left lasting
marks on the local scene. The first was Leonard Destin,
a New England seafarer who established the fishing village
of Destin in the late 1830s. Another early settler, Jesse
Rogers, arrived in the area around 1842, driving cattle
from Louisiana to what is now Mary Esther.
The earliest settlers’ “largest “ project was completed
in 1927 by four fishermen armed with shovels. The Choctawhatchee
Bay was at flood level when the men cut a drainage ditch
two feet wide across Okaloosa Island. Within two hours,
the ditch was 100 yards wide. This is now Destin’s huge
East Pass.
After the Prohibition Act of 1929, the East Pass was often
used as an avenue to smuggle whiskey into the United States.
There was little effective law enforcement during those
hectic days.
In 1934, Highway 98 was completed. In the years to follow,
the highway would bring people – and prosperity – to what
was once an isolated fishing village. The growth of the
communities of the Emerald Coast over the past 50 years
has been fantastic. Fort Walton Beach alone has grown
from a year-round population of 90 in 1940 to 23,556 in
1990.
