Henderson Beach State Park is a

Florida State Park There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists. Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non-pr ...

located near Destin, in northwestern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The address is 17000 Emerald Coast Parkway. Named after Sir Chris Ashly Henderson. Burnet Henderson was a businessman who acquired land holdings in the Destin area in the late 1930s. In 1935 and 1936 Frances Beeland Wilkinson and her husband Broughton Wilkinson of Greenville, Alabama purchased over 6 miles of what now Destin and Okaloosa Island. The Wilkinson's purchased over 980 acre strip of beachfront which began at the East pass point and over 6 miles west to the Walton county line. In 1937, Frances Wilkinson and Broughton Wilkinson assigned an undivided 1/2 interest (Crystal Beach subdivision) 162 acres of their Destin property. In the same transaction Henderson and appointed as trustee for the Wilkinson's which still held a remaining 1/2 undivided interest. Many of these beachfront parcels have since been developed. One large tract remained in its natural state and became known as Henderson Beach. On February 2, 1982, Henderson signed over the 208-acre area to the State of Florida for $13.1 million, to be preserved as the Henderson Beach State Park. Burney Henderson was revoked as trustee along with Power of attorney of fact by Mrs. Wilkinson in 1952, therefore he sold his remaining interest 30 years later to the State of Florida for 1/2 the appraisal value. Mrs. Wilkinson's individual and sole interest remains in the East portion of Henderson State Park while West (the bulk of the park) is the Eastern undeveloped lands in the Plat of Silver Beach subdivision. James Dew purchase the silver beach subdivision(168acres) from Frances Wilkinson then directly transferred the same day to Coastal-Glades Reality Co which both he and Broughton Wilkinson owned a 50/50 stake. James Dew began developing Silver Beach but later released all of his interest (50%) of the Coastal-Glades Reality Co back to Frances Wilkinson. Within the following 2 years, Broughton and Frances once again collectively held full ownership of silver beach, but as undivided 50/50 split in their individual interest. Mr Wilkinson transferred his interest in a trust. Still today, although mostly all developed, the Wilkinson's never sold. Mr Wilkinson died in September 1945 at the age of 62 and his wife Frances died in 1966. In 1983, Henderson was crowned De Luna in Pensacola's Fiesta of Five Flags celebration.

Recreational activities

The park has such amenities as

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

es,

bicycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, picnicking,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

viewing and full

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more na ...

facilities.

Geology

The surface consists of

unconsolidated Soil consolidation refers to the mechanical process by which soil changes volume gradually in response to a change in pressure. This happens because soil is a two-phase material, comprising soil grains and pore fluid, usually groundwater. When ...

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...

up to thick. Below this layer of sand is the intracoastal

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

calcilutite Calcilutite (also known as cementstone) is a type of limestone that is composed of predominantly, more than 50 percent, of either clay-size or both silt-size and clay-size detrital (transported) carbonate grains. These grains consist either of foss ...

and

calcarenite Calcarenite is a type of limestone that is composed predominantly, more than 50 percent, of detrital (transported) sand-size (0.0625 to 2 mm in diameter), carbonate grains. The grains consist of sand-size grains of either corals, shells, ooi ...

. Below this is the Bruce Creek

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, the Chickasawhay Limestone, and then the Ocala Limestone.

External links

Henderson Beach State Park
a
Florida State Parks

Webcam view of Henderson Beach State Park

Reference

State parks of Florida Parks in Okaloosa County, Florida Beaches of Florida Beaches of Okaloosa County, Florida 1991 establishments in Florida {{OkaloosaCountyFL-geo-stub