Okaloosa Island is an area on
Santa Rosa Island,
Florida.
An parcel of Santa Rosa Island with of Gulf frontage was conveyed to Okaloosa County on July 8, 1950, in an informal ceremony at the county courthouse in
Crestview, Florida
Crestview is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 27,134 at the 2020 census, up from 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Okaloosa County. With an elevation of above sea level, it is one of the h ...
. The county paid the federal government $4,000 to complete the transaction, which was the result of the efforts of Congressman
Bob Sikes. This area had been known as Tower Beach with the establishment of an amusement park, boardwalk and hotel from the mid-1930s. Tower Beach, with a board walk, casino, restaurant and concession stands, and operated by Thomas E. Brooks, of the same family for whom the Brooks Bridge is named, was largely destroyed by fire on Saturday, March 7, 1942. Wartime priorities precluded its reconstruction.
The last of three county-owned buildings on Okaloosa Island was torn down on May 31, 1995. The buildings had originally housed the Okaloosa Island Authority and more recently the Okaloosa County Council on Aging. The tract on the north side of Santa Rosa Boulevard was sold.
[Fort Walton Beach, Florida, "Today in Local History", ''Northwest Florida Daily News'', Sunday 31 May 2015, Volume 69, Number 120, page B4.]
References
Unincorporated communities in Okaloosa County, Florida
Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico
Former census-designated places in Florida
Geography of Okaloosa County, Florida
Santa Rosa Island (Florida)
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Unincorporated communities in Florida
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