Those from the Darlington Community who made the Supreme Sacrifice in WWII
Walter Beck • Gordan Commander • Jack McGowan • Thomas Purvis • Floyd Smith — — Map (db m249164) WM
The original octagon-shaped portion of this structure was built as the Florida Chautauqua Art Department during the first year of the Florida Chautauqua Assembly. Teachers educated guests in all medians of art during the Chautauqua season. It's . . . — — Map (db m269344) HM
This structure is the grand entrance to what was a 4,000-seat auditorium, opened in 1909, for major lectures and special events of the Florida Chautauqua Assembly. This structure and auditorium replaced a 2,500 seat auditorium called a tabernacle . . . — — Map (db m269668) HM
After the Florida Chautauqua resort/ campus grounds opened in 1885, the annual Assembly grew to attract up to 4,000 people a day. However, there was only one hotel built on these grounds (Hotel Chautauqua) with approximately 100 rooms.
Therefore, . . . — — Map (db m269244) HM
In 1936, James Marvin Cosson Sr. moved his family to this location about one-half mile east of the Eglin Army Airfield to have more land to farm and to provide for his wife, Annie Bell Cosson, and their four children. During World War II, Eglin . . . — — Map (db m73290) HM
This cottage was built in 1885 for Wallace Bruce who later became the longest-serving president of the Florida Chautauqua Association. In 1889, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison called on the Florida Chautauqua president to serve as US consul general . . . — — Map (db m269732) HM
This is the site of one of Florida’s oldest organized Presbyterian Church which was the largest Presbyterian Church in Florida until 1885. On May 27, 1827, the Reverend Murdoch Murphy of the Alabama Synod presided with one Elder, Donald McLean, Sr., . . . — — Map (db m54796) HM
Eucheeanna, the first Scottish settlement in territorial Florida, was named in honor of the Euchee Indians. Tradition holds that the first slave child was born in the settlement. Eucheeanna consisted of a school, court house, jail, Masonic and Odd . . . — — Map (db m73291) HM
This photo was taken from the Chautauqua Hotel looking south (lake on left on this once gated resort/ campus and shows how tented classrooms were strategically spaced on Circle Drive prior to the construction of other buildings for classrooms and . . . — — Map (db m269328) HM
The First Presbyterian Church was established in November 1883 more than a year before the Chautauqua resort/campus grounds opened in 1885. Its members first met in a modest log cabin on Nelson Avenue between Second and Third Streets, moving at . . . — — Map (db m269240) HM
Florida teachers and administrators numbering 700 met here in Chautauqua Hall for a "teachers institute" called the Florida Chautauqua. The meeting was called to order by J.A. Graham, City Superintendent of Schools, Key West, at 12:30 p.m., on . . . — — Map (db m83080) HM
Shortly after the Civil War, the women of Walton County organized a "Ladies' Memorial Association," with Jeannett I. McKinnon as president, to erect a marble monument honoring Walton County's Confederate dead. The Association raised $250, and the . . . — — Map (db m39774) HM
Everyone needed a place to stay when they attended any part of the multi-week Florida Chautauqua Assembly. The Hotel Chautauqua with glamorous amenities, dining hall and spacious front porch once stood on this site. Upon arrival to the resort/campus . . . — — Map (db m269327) HM
You are on the grounds of a once-gated campus/ resort opened in 1885 for the annual, multi-week Florida Chautauqua Assembly. Leaders wanted guests to connect with whatever faith they felt comfortable during their stay and arranged or facilitated . . . — — Map (db m269659) HM
People of all economic backgrounds enjoyed the Florida Chautauqua Assembly with a small daily entry fee or a week-long hotel stay. More affluent members built homes on these once-gated resort/ campus grounds, allowing them proximity to the . . . — — Map (db m269721) HM
This crossing served as the main passageway to and from the train depot on the once-gated resort/ campus grounds for excursion rain passengers. The crossing extended across the railroad tracks to the downtown business district so tourists and guests . . . — — Map (db m269317) HM
Recreation stood as one of the four pillars of the Florida Chautauqua. Recreational activities at the Assembly were offered primarily through boating and swimming courses on this perfectly round, spring-fed lake which served as the centerpiece of . . . — — Map (db m269711) HM
The Florida Chautauqua resort/campus offered instructional activities supported by the four pillars of Chautauqua: Art, Education, Recreation, and Religion. In other words, whatever activity you wished to engage in as a resort guest was within one . . . — — Map (db m269707) HM
2,500-seat auditorium called a tabernacle stood on this site from the opening year of the Florida Chautauqua resort/ campus until 1909 when it was eventually replaced with a new, 4,000-seat auditorium known today as the Chautauqua Hall of . . . — — Map (db m269424) HM
This is one of the earliest known photographs of the Florida Chautauqua resort campus grounds before many, buildings were complete. Tents, were first erected for classrooms and accommodations. When leaders first opened the campus grounds for these . . . — — Map (db m269320) HM
The original Chautauqua Institution was founded in 1874 on Lake Chautauqua in western New York state as a vacation school for Sunday school teachers. The idea of providing a retreat for improving religious and secular education for the general . . . — — Map (db m39773) HM
This is the oldest continuously operating library within its original structure in Florida - never closing since the day it officially opened on December 20, 1887 as a new addition to the Florida Chautauqua resort/campus.
The founding of . . . — — Map (db m278214) HM
(center panel)
Explore a part of America’s forgotten history
Self-Guided Walking Tour
Map of the Florida Chautauqua at Lake of De Funiak Fla.
1 Train Depot • 2 Tourism • 3 Pedestrian Walkway • 4 Tented Classrooms • 5 Hotel . . . — — Map (db m269228) HM
The depot served as the primary entry point for excursion trains during the Florida Chautauqua assemblies lasting from 1885 to 1928. As many as 4,000 passengers a day arrived at this station during the height of the Chautauqua era. Performing bands . . . — — Map (db m269234) HM
To the memory of the Confederate Dead of Walton Co. Florida. Erected by the Ladies of the Walton County Female Memorial Association. Southwest face Angus D. McLean, Col., 6th Fla. Vols. Murdoch M. Gillis, Capt. 6th Fla. Vols. Daniel D. . . . — — Map (db m39775) HM
The Walton-DeFuniak Library opened during the first decade of the existence of the town of DeFuniak Springs. This community originated in the early 1880's as a station on the new Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad. The town was named for Frederick de . . . — — Map (db m60246) HM
This photo (circa 1886-1890) shows how the Florida Chautauqua resort/campus was complimented with wooden sidewalks throughout the once-gated grounds. Campus leaders designed the grounds to provide a luxurious atmosphere which they marketed as "The . . . — — Map (db m269406) HM
The Doolittle Raid, U.S. Army Special Mission No. 1 of World War II, was a daring one-way mission of 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers with 80 aircrew, commanded by Lt Col James "Jimmy" Doolittle to carry out America's first offensive attack on . . . — — Map (db m78745) HM
Herman Lodge No. 108 F.&A.M. was chartered January 16, 1889 in DeFuniak Springs and originally met in a structure in the area of Freeport known as "Tucker Town". On June 19, 1901, the lodge building burned down and was replaced with this structure . . . — — Map (db m110447) HM
The Knox Hill Academy, a boarding school, was founded in 1848 by the Rev. John Newton (April 22, 1814 – Nov. 21, 1871), who was also the head master and a Presbyterian minister. It was first located near a spring northeast of the Morrison . . . — — Map (db m54795) HM
“Who loves a garden, still his ‘Eden’ keeps.” Amos Bronson Alcott
The estate was bought in 1963 by Lois Genevieve Maxon, who planned the gardens which enhance the lovely natural setting and restored the mansion in antebellum style. . . . — — Map (db m41134) HM
Gulf Cemetery was established circa 1910 when the town of Santa Rosa was established on Hogtown Bayou. The town's first families began to bury their loved ones at this site, the area's highest elevation with a view of the Gulf of Mexico. The . . . — — Map (db m78730) HM
Near this location, Marion Alford established in 1864 a water-powered grist mill that became the focal point of a small farming community that developed in this area of north Walton County. Archaeological remains of the mill dam and foundations . . . — — Map (db m54797) HM
