Do I live in Seagrove or Santa Rosa Beach?

We live on 30A in Seagrove but we have a Santa Rosa Beach address. Then when we drive down 98 toward Destin there is a sign that says Santa Rosa Beach 3 miles??

Also, why is there a Watercolor west of Seaside and then another Watercolor on 395 close to Publix?

We have lived here 7 months total and we have been wondering why it is like that?

Thanks!

G. Russell

I'm sure you'll get many replies... it may help by thinking of Santa Rosa Beach as both an existing community (not an incorporated city/town) and a postal zip code for a larger unincorporated area covering most of South Walton County. South Walton County (South of the Bay plus Freeport) has one city/town, Freeport, and MANY communities. It is also served by four postal zip codes South of the Bay from East to West along the Gulf; Panama City Beach (which is across the County Line in Bay Co), Rosemary Beach, Santa Rosa Beach & Miramar Beach in addition to the Freeport Zip code North of the Bay. You can see all the beach "communities" on the map on the Beaches of South Walton website.

Watercolor, a St. Joe development, wrap around Seaside touching the Gulf in the West and coming close in the East. St. Joe once owned almost all of SoWal.

Hope this helps!

I was thinking out a reply but 30Abob nailed it.

Growing up, we joked that to find us, you had to write to Santa Rosa Beach, call Seagrove Beach, or go to Point Washington. It's still that way, but there are so many phone prefixes now that it's hard to tell.

And Watercolor does wrap all the way around.

It's all so confusing. Whenever expecting a UPS or FedEx delivery, I used to drive up and down 30A looking for the truck. I knew they'd never find our house because they're out of Ft. Walton Beach, I believe. Now I just send everything to the rental management company and pick it up there beacuse they're right on 30A.

You live in SoWal.

You live in SoWal.

thank you.

When do we get incorporated?????

I was thinking out a reply but 30Abob nailed it.

Growing up, we joked that to find us, you had to write to Santa Rosa Beach, call Seagrove Beach, or go to Point Washington. It's still that way, but there are so many phone prefixes now that it's hard to tell.

And Watercolor does wrap all the way around.

You are probably one of the few that also remembers that all phone calls where toll calls / long distance except ones made from a 231 # to a 267 #.

thank you.

When do we get incorporated?????

Noooooooo! Higher taxes!

You live in SoWal.

Yes, and its other name is Paradise.

When I moved here, it was LD to Fort Walton Beach - actually it cost .25 per call - and that wasn't that long ago. For some reason, I am thinking the same of Destin, too. Can anyone help with the Destin thing?

When I moved here, it was LD to Fort Walton Beach - actually it cost .25 per call - and that wasn't that long ago. For some reason, I am thinking the same of Destin, too. Can anyone help with the Destin thing?

Yep... Freeport and Defunk too. Only 231 and 267 exchanges could call with out it being a toll call.

Yep... Freeport and Defunk too. Only 231 and 267 exchanges could call with out it being a toll call.

Yup. And since 80% of my friends / boyfriends were from north of the bay, my phone bills were incredible. I always worked and was able to pay my portion of the bill, but my parents were still :angry:.

I have gotten soooooo spoiled now...

It's only been in the last twoish years that it's no longer a $0.25 call from Niceville to Crestview.

When I moved here, it was LD to Fort Walton Beach - actually it cost .25 per call - and that wasn't that long ago. For some reason, I am thinking the same of Destin, too. Can anyone help with the Destin thing?

Yep, and working in the rental companies in Seagrove, it was always a pain in the having to explain to guests why they had racked up a long distance phone bill calling from the condo to make dinner reservations (before cell phones with long distance were de rigeur)...

or better yet, having to explain to them why they couldn't call outside of Seagrove period because the owners had a long distance block on all the phones!

I was able to skip 6 weeks, out of six weeks of school while attending Ft. Walton Bch High School because it was long distance to call my parents, so they didn't call when I was absent. As punishment my parents sent me to Freeport, again, it was a long distance call!!!

I was able to skip 6 weeks, out of six weeks of school while attending Ft. Walton Bch High School because it was long distance to call my parents, so they didn't call when I was absent. As punishment my parents sent me to Freeport, again, it was a long distance call!!!

Yeah, but you had peeps who didn't want to get in trouble watching you at Freeport

Where's DL on this one?

32413 = Western PCB, Inlet Beach, Rosemary, Alys, Seacrest, Old Seacrest, WaterSound
Shows as Panama City Beach through the post office. However, Rosemary and WaterSound have their own private mail service and zip code. I believe they are still having issues, but you can send to either zip code.
32459 = Seagrove to San Destin.
Shows as Santa Rosa Beach through the post office as well and there are a few private zip codes interspersed.

Hey, SWGB!! I thought everyone was doing a pretty good job answering a complicated question. I was out of town for a few days. But, since you asked, I'll chime in a little bit.

Russ and Kimberly. Do you really live in Seagrove? Exactly where on 30A do you live? Do you need to know this for any particular reason? Many today that think they live in Seagrove, would never be considered as doing so by some.

South Walton is a good overall description for our unincorporated area south of the bay in Walton County. SoWal works for a lot of people.

Walton County is one of the oldest counties in Florida, founded December 29, 1824. Many community names have come and gone. We only have three incorporated cities in the entire county, all north of the bay -- Freeport, DeFuniak Springs and Paxton. In my opinion, until South Walton becomes incorporated, we'll probably have community name issues. We might all decide to just use South Walton one day. We do have a high school, library, government center and a hospital that we didn't have just 10 years ago.

Seagrove Beach used to be Russ Hammock. Miramar was Yellow Bluff and Blue Mountain was Double Yellow Bluff. The early plat for Eastern Lake Estates has Pt. Washington on it. A 1931 Walton County map shows the Eastern Lake area as Miramar. We could go on and on.

For example, take Ft. Walton Beach's name transformation. It is named for Walton County's namesake, George Walton, Jr. Earlier maps have it notated as Anderson. Then it became Camp Walton. After that, Ft. Walton. In 1953 "Beach" was added to make it more marketable. Incorporated cities have the ability to change their name.

Santa Rosa Island is the historic name since early Spanish Florida days. It wasn't until Okaloosa County was made in 1915, half out of Walton County and half out of Santa Rosa County, that some there took to calling part of Santa Rosa Island, Okaloosa Island.

Santa Rosa Beach was just made up, too. Earlier Santa Rosa was Hog Town. The Choctawhatchee Bay was known for many many years on Spanish maps as Santa Rosa Bay. It wasn't until the British temporarily had West Florida during the American Revolution that the name changed.

We've discussed this on other threads. Perhaps some clarity will come with the 2010 census. Millions of dollars will be on the line for Walton County to correctly count its citizens and where they are. Hopefully, we can get GPS, Google, etc. to properly identify our locations one day.

Right now we are located between two regional post offices, according to Northlake on another post. Pensacola is 325 and Panama City is 324. If your zipcode is giving you problems, the solution won't come easy -- you are dealing with the Federal Government and the Post Office. But, there isn't a law that says we can't and won't get new and better zipcodes. Best just work as best as you can with the Post Office for now if you are having mail delivery issues. They may just tell you to use whatever name you want to as long as you have the zip correct.

Name changes and fluctuations are common throughout history and in many places. Just because someone puts up a sign or names a Condo something, doesn't make it so. Its fluid. Community and time should have some bearing, imho.

Where do you want to be?

Way to go DL, I knew you'd fill us in.

We live on 30A in Seagrove but we have a Santa Rosa Beach address. Then when we drive down 98 toward Destin there is a sign that says Santa Rosa Beach 3 miles??

Also, why is there a Watercolor west of Seaside and then another Watercolor on 395 close to Publix?

We have lived here 7 months total and we have been wondering why it is like that?

Thanks!

G. Russell

"Santa Rosa Beach" or 32459 is the postal code so we can get mail. Inside this area are many "hamelts" Blue Mountain, Dune Allen, Daughette, Pt Washington, Seagrove, Camp Creek, Santa Rosa Bch "proper", Rosemary, Inlet Beach. We used route and box numbers until the late 1980's when we were assigned street numbers and names. That transition was a mess.

Watercolor actually wraps around the west and north sides of Seaside, then extends onto 395S the road publix is on.

Hopes this helps!

Please explain to those of us less familiar with the area, exactly where Daughette is in relation to Point Washington.

"Santa Rosa Beach" or 32459 is the postal code so we can get mail. Inside this area are many "hamelts" Blue Mountain, Dune Allen, Daughette, Pt Washington, Seagrove, Camp Creek, Santa Rosa Bch "proper", Rosemary, Inlet Beach. We used route and box numbers until the late 1980's when we were assigned street numbers and names. That transition was a mess.

Watercolor actually wraps around the west and north sides of Seaside, then extends onto 395S the road publix is on.

Hopes this helps!

Daughette is the subdivision at the end of Bay Drive / Hwy 283 North. (When I was small, the area was called Choctawhatchee Beach, and part of it was referred to as Bayside Heights. Go figure)

Historic Point Washington is north Hwy 395. The two are connected by East Point Washington Road. The road is about four miles long, but only about two miles between the two as the crow flies.

Hope this helps!

Hey, SWGB!! I thought everyone was doing a pretty good job answering a complicated question. I was out of town for a few days. But, since you asked, I'll chime in a little bit.

Russ and Kimberly. Do you really live in Seagrove? Exactly where on 30A do you live? Do you need to know this for any particular reason? Many today that think they live in Seagrove, would never be considered as doing so by some.

South Walton is a good overall description for our unincorporated area south of the bay in Walton County. SoWal works for a lot of people.

Walton County is one of the oldest counties in Florida, founded December 29, 1824. Many community names have come and gone. We only have three incorporated cities in the entire county, all north of the bay -- Freeport, DeFuniak Springs and Paxton. In my opinion, until South Walton becomes incorporated, we'll probably have community name issues. We might all decide to just use South Walton one day. We do have a high school, library, government center and a hospital that we didn't have just 10 years ago.

Seagrove Beach used to be Russ Hammock. Miramar was Yellow Bluff and Blue Mountain was Double Yellow Bluff. The early plat for Eastern Lake Estates has Pt. Washington on it. A 1931 Walton County map shows the Eastern Lake area as Miramar. We could go on and on.

For example, take Ft. Walton Beach's name transformation. It is named for Walton County's namesake, George Walton, Jr. Earlier maps have it notated as Anderson. Then it became Camp Walton. After that, Ft. Walton. In 1953 "Beach" was added to make it more marketable. Incorporated cities have the ability to change their name.

Santa Rosa Island is the historic name since early Spanish Florida days. It wasn't until Okaloosa County was made in 1915, half out of Walton County and half out of Santa Rosa County, that some there took to calling part of Santa Rosa Island, Okaloosa Island.

Santa Rosa Beach was just made up, too. Earlier Santa Rosa was Hog Town. The Choctawhatchee Bay was known for many many years on Spanish maps as Santa Rosa Bay. It wasn't until the British temporarily had West Florida during the American Revolution that the name changed.

We've discussed this on other threads. Perhaps some clarity will come with the 2010 census. Millions of dollars will be on the line for Walton County to correctly count its citizens and where they are. Hopefully, we can get GPS, Google, etc. to properly identify our locations one day.

Right now we are located between two regional post offices, according to Northlake on another post. Pensacola is 325 and Panama City is 324. If your zipcode is giving you problems, the solution won't come easy -- you are dealing with the Federal Government and the Post Office. But, there isn't a law that says we can't and won't get new and better zipcodes. Best just work as best as you can with the Post Office for now if you are having mail delivery issues. They may just tell you to use whatever name you want to as long as you have the zip correct.

Name changes and fluctuations are common throughout history and in many places. Just because someone puts up a sign or names a Condo something, doesn't make it so. Its fluid. Community and time should have some bearing, imho.

Where do you want to be?

We want to be right here. We love it here. I was just wondering what was going on with the names. Since we have this forum to discuss...I thought I would just ask. Thanks for all the help.

Thanks so much. We have driven the area, but don't remember seeing the subdivision. So happy that all of you living there can get some rest and sleep well tonight.

Daughette is the subdivision at the end of Bay Drive / Hwy 283 North. (When I was small, the area was called Choctawhatchee Beach, and part of it was referred to as Bayside Heights. Go figure)

Historic Point Washington is north Hwy 395. The two are connected by East Point Washington Road. The road is about four miles long, but only about two miles between the two as the crow flies.

Hope this helps!