Niceville in Okaloosa County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Old Maritime City

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, December 9, 2022

1. Old Maritime City Marker

Inscription. Niceville was the center of the commercial fishing industry of the Choctawhatchee Bay region, the basis of the community’s prosperity. Mail service here was established in 1868. The schooner Bera Attious was built at the shipyard here in 1888. Niceville in Walton County was known as Boggy until 1910, when the name changed. In 1915 Okaloosa County was formed. Products from local sawmills, shingle mills and turpentine stills were transported across Choctawhatchee Bay to Pensacola. In 1911, the steamer Belle, loaded with naval stores, sank with the loss of four lives including local Noah Edward Burlison. Fishing was a lucrative industry, and fish wagons from as far away as Alabama and other parts of north Florida came to this area to buy fish. Some of the launches servicing this area were the Swan, Donna, Ruth, Fritz, and the Belle. They provided passenger, freight and mail services with scheduled stops between here and Pensacola. In 1934, an ice factory made it possible to produce large quantities of ice, which increased fish sales. The Niceville Fish Company operated by Claude Meigs and the Spence Brothers Fish Company were

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

the leading commercial fishing industries maintaining fish warehouses and fleets of boats.
A Florida Heritage Site

Erected 2021 by the City of Niceville and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-1173.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1868.

Location. 30° 31.15′ N, 86° 29.291′ W. Marker is in Niceville, Florida, in Okaloosa County. It is at the intersection of Bayshore Drive and Armstrong Avenue, on the right when traveling south on Bayshore Drive. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Niceville FL 32588, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on the Florida Panhandle.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and on the Gulf Coast.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, December 9, 2022

2. Old Maritime City Marker

of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Niceville Fire (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Old Niceville High School (approx. 0.7 miles away); Niceville Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Worker Statue™ (approx. 0.7 miles away); Boggy Mill Company Site (approx. ¾ mile away); Eglin Air Force Base (approx. 2.1 miles away); IM-99 BOMARC Launch Platform (approx. 5.6 miles away); RF4-Phantom II (approx. 5.6 miles away); M118 General Purpose Bomb (approx. 5.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Niceville.

Also see . . . Niceville History. (Submitted on December 10, 2022, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on January 16, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 10, 2022, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 657 times since then and 61 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 10, 2022, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida.