You must be really old Misty. What's this "we" you speak of? There was industry and agriculture south of the bay more than 100 years ago.
Danny made a claim that the north funded the south. Put up or .............
This is fairly easy. Walton County was formed in December 1824. So that is almost 191 years of history. SanDestin was the first big development on the coast and it started in the mid-1970's. Prior to Sandestin there was really very little in Sowal. The first bridge across the bay was built in the 1940's. It was a narrow drawbridge. Prior to the bridge the only access was by boat or inland from Bay County on dirt roads. Even into the early 1970's all that was located in Sowal was JD Miller's store, the Grayton store, Barrett's store, Saltzman's store, a few beach cottages, Bay elementary and lots of sand and woods. Until the 1950's the few high school age children attended school in DFS and Sowal students attended Freeport High School into the 1990's. There were simply too few students to justify anything else. One Seagrove Place came along in the early 1980's and Highway 98 was widened in the 80's and 90's. So. until the 1970's, the tax base in sowal was not so big. In fact, land could be purchased very cheap until the 50's and 60's. Simple reason is that beach sand will not grow crops.
Meanwhile, DeFuniak Springs was home of the Winter Chautauqua which included a 4,000 seat auditorium, several large hotels and dozens of large homes. DFS also was home to a college, a couple of large lumber mills, numerous stores and many other amenities. Lakewood, which is known today only as Florida's highest point, was an important rail-head with a large lumber mill and a turpentine operation. Glendale was a small town and Freeport was a thriving port. DFS was home to a shirt factory and a large chicken plant into the 1980's.
Do the math as to which area had the biggest tax base for the first 150 years of Walton history.
Misty, I promise those were not my clothes, I agree the image is frightful. LOL. As far as past politicians, you are right, they are a mixed bag. Not much has changed there and if you read the news around the state, Walton County is not unique in that regard either. We cannot change the past but we can do better in the present and future.
