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Okaloosa

Historical

Quarterly

North Okaloosa Historical

Association, Inc.

Cover thumb.jpg

Current Issue

Vol. 4, Issue 4Fall 2024

  • 75th anniversary of filming "Twelve O'Clock High"

  • J.T. Garrett as Gregory Peck's stand-in

  • the B-17 Flying Fortress

  • the missing Toby jug

  • Pavilion completion

  • New park policy and Pavilion rental

Okaloosa Historical Quarterly Archive
2024
Fall: 75th anniversary of "Twelve O'Clock High" filming in Okaloosa County, local resident J.T. Garrett as Gregory Peck stand-in for filming, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the mystery of the missing Toby jug, Pavilion completion, new park policy and Pavilion rental (4.4 MB)
Summer: Civilian Conservation Corps, Smokey Bear turns 80, storm damage in the Park, anniversary celebrations, upcoming 3rd Saturday events (4.1 MB)
Spring: Woodmen of the World, the Spanish Silver Fleet of 1715, pigeon racing, saying goodbye to J.T. Garrett, Library dedication, Baker Arts Festival (3.4 MB)
Winter: The Bank of Baker, the Eglin 17, Escambia Farms wins 1956 state basketball championship, Creepy Cabins and Heritage Day coverage (5 MB)
2023

Fall: The history of Falco, Alabama; Veterans Day salute to Dr. Ed McCracken; the first atomic bomb test; 3rd Saturday presentations for last quarter; remembering Jamey Broxson and Martha Jordan (4.4MB)

Summer: The baseball issue--lightning strike kills three Baker players in 1949, Neal Cobb, fastest pro baseball game, Lance Richbourg (5.4 MB)

Spring: Japanese balloon bombs, World War II censorship office, legacy gift from Margarete Allen Shelby, Baker Arts Festival recap (4.5 MB)

Winter: Turpentining in Florida, Sam Hayes, patriotic postcards, Creepy Cabins, Heritage Day (3.0 MB)
2022

Fall: Shipwrecks on the Blackwater River, the City of Tampa, Milligan's Garrett's Mill, Veteran's Day salute: Frank Enzor Peacock (4.3MB)

Summer: 1950 U.S. Census data released, Declaration of Independence, digitized Watergate trial documents, 3rd Saturday events: Disney and Shipwrecks, Baker Arts Festival recap (5.1 MB)

Spring: Baker Arts Festival, Enzors pioneered medicine in Okaloosa county,  Galliver's wrestling hillbilly, "Grand Old Flag" (3.3 MB)

Winter: Bush House renovations, Gladys Milton, Maria Milton, wedding in the Park, Museum repairs (2.4 MB)

2021

Fall: 25th anniversary celebration; Veteran's Day salute to Major and Captain Enzor, World War II; Destin's Green Knight (3.1 MB)

Summer:  25th anniversary of the Museum, Campbell Company in Laurel Hill, Crestview's Hilton Hotel, fire at the Museum in May (6.0 MB)

Spring: Crestview Royal Arch Masonic Lodge, Sheriff Summerlin, hurricane season begins, Colonel Mills Spencer Savage, the gopher tortoise (9.0 MB)

Winter: Baker Gator football, 1918 pandemic, Houston McTear, Baker post office postmasters, donation of Donald and Sylvia Reeves estate, obituaries of Ida Jeanette Cook and Max Brooks (3.2 MB)

Baker Museum Newsletter Archive

2020

Winter: Heritage Day wrap-up, pavilion, Black History Month

Spring: Grace to Shine and Shout, refugees in Okaloosa, Explore Okaloosa, obituaries of Sadie Lee and Elsie Garret

Summer: Wall of Honor ceremony, 100th anniversary of Okaloosa's first hanging, Twin Hills Park 50th anniversary, obituaries of Roger Robinson and C. McDonald Campbell

Fall: 75th anniversary of World War II, Doolittle Raid, USS Okaloosa, Johnie Courtney, new Holt fire station

2019

Winter: Shape note singing, cane syrup making end of an era

Spring: Yellow River Baptist Church celebrates 179 years

Summer: Wall of Honor ceremony, Easter egg hunt, yard sale, D-Day commemoration, last Doolittle raider, obituary of Lillie Mae Price Faulk

Fall: Life Flight visit, Miss Mac's 105th birthday, A History of Laurel Hill, Milligan Baptist Church fire, Oda Richburg

(NOTE: For copies of newsletters before 2018, contact the Museum)

2018

January: 2017 Heritage Day Festival, Jackson Trail, winter food series

February: Black History Day, Baker Hotel

March: Women's History Month--Annette P. Edwins, Dr. Mabel Jean Morrison, Alice Starkey, Liza Jackson, Inez Bailey Hall, Alice Catherine Gerlach; Turpentining in the Florida Panhandle

April: Heritage Park map

May: Book signing, Heritage Park Map

June: Cinco Bayou, Falco

July: Showing patriotism

August: Dog days of summer, Florida Heritage Trail publications

September: Okaloosa Homefront Strong, Crestview Florida, a Pictorial History

October: Remembering the victims of Hurricane Michael

November: 100th anniversary of World War I

2017

January: Remembering Charles Henderson, museum founding member, library resources

February: Black History Month, obituary of Nathan Chessher, Carver-Hill Museum

March: Women's History Month--Okaloosa County Commission of the Status of Women Hall of Fame, Maggie Spoon Griner, Dora Steele Cadenhead, Helen Ward Llivingston

April: The Escambia Farms Community, Towers in the Sand book signing

May: The Escambia Farms Community book signing

June: Wall of Honor ceremony

July: Boggy Bayou, no legal holidays in 2018, obituary of Rogene Anchors Hasty

August: Homeschool visit, Lance Richbourg Sr., 

September: Flea market photo album returned to previous owners

October: Kyser Mill

November: Baker railroad station

December: Peaden community

2016

January: CHELCO, convention singing, naval stores

February: Black History Month--Slyde Cutts, Sam Hayes, remembering Jessie Alma Edge and W.D. "Cooter" Douglas

March: Women's History Month--Dorothy "Louise" Walton Lovell, Claire Covell Jernigan, Annie Carroll Jackson, Dora Cahterine Steele Cadenhead

May

June: Wall of Honor ceremony, quilting, needlepoint, crochet, knitting, embroidery

July: Obituary of Ernestine Cutts Harvey, quilt & needlework show and sale

August:  Finding lost cousins, 20th anniversary open house, Warrior's Hall in Crestview, Little Free Libraries

September: Obituary of Danny e. Hall, Mine Eyes Have Seen, Crestview Sister City Program

October: Pond Creek Community

November: "An Okaloosa Christmas" booklet, Pond Creek, sunbonnet, Heritage Day Festival

2015

June: Crestview Florida, a Pictorial History, Alatex  garment factory photos, the Duncan Martin family, Kindred boutique

July: Okaloosa Homefront Strong, old towns and communities in Okaloosa County

August: James "JC" Conner

September: Upcoming events, Fort Walton Beach Fire Department photo

November: James Eulon Peoples, turpentine in north Okaloosa

December: Little Free Library, Heritage Day Festival

2014

January: 2012 and 2013 webpage statistics, Maggie Griner Spoon, Baker Mercantile, Okaloosa County Heritage books

February: 1964

March: Women's History Monty, Okaloosa County Women's Hall of Fame--Rogene Anchors Hasty, Laurel Hill women, Addie Rushton Lewis, Jessie Alma "Granny" Edge, Caroline Baker Allen, Anges Catherine Gerlach

April: Civilian Conservation Corps, Laurel Hill Spring Festival

2013

January: Annual website statistics, highlights of the past year

February: Olustee Battlefield historic site, Black History Monty, Drew School, Carver-Hill School, W.E. Combs School, Tivoli in DeFuniak Springs, Jackson High School in Milton, Velma K. Conyers, Pearl M. Finley Henry, the  Simon family, Gladys Milton, Caroline Baker Allen, Samuel H. Hayes

March: 2012 Wall of Honor inductees, the Library Spot vending machine

April: Remembering families

May: Mount Ewell Lodge No. 131 100th anniversary, James Lewis "JC" Connor, Creek by Blood

June: Wall of Honor ceremony, Creek by Blood book signing

August: Milligan Creek

September: Celebrating 100 years, area Native Americans

October: 1930 newspaper ads, Museum east wall mural

November: Heritage Day Festival

2012

February: Birthday Club of the Air, Coca-Cola icebox donation

Spring: Laurel Hill, Dr. Mabel Jean Morrison

May: Spring Fling; paper making; Lakewood, Florida; trade tokens

June: Family Heritage Wall of Honor Day proclamation, Wall of Honor ceremony, sponsors, J.R.L Conyers Masonic Lodge historical marker unveiling

July: Florida Folklife Program, Wall of Honor ceremony, John Washington Richardson

August: Perry L. Fortune, Milligan, County Road Fund in 1916, Yellow River Baptist Church

September: Florida Folklife Program

October: Poley, Alabama

November: Heritage Day Festival

December: Harold in Santa Rosa

2011

Winter: Remembering Okaloosa County's military members, Holt

Summer: Baker School's 2nd grade class visit, moonshine, Old Bethel Cemetery

Special: Sponsors, Heritage Day Festival

Fall: Floridale, W.A. Jernigan, "Northwest Florida Christmas of Days Gone By"

About us

 

The Baker Block Museum is a local history museum and genealogy library located in Baker, Florida, focused on the history of the northwest Florida panhandle with emphasis on Okaloosa County.

Exhibits include antiques, tools, period displays and a heritage park representing Florida pioneering life at the turn of the 20th century.

The Museum opened to the public in July 1996 and is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021. The museum building, built in 1907, was once the heart of the thriving Baker community as a general mercantile store, among other things.

The genealogy/research library has a vast collection of family histories, films and books on the local, county and regional area, as well as subscriptions to various online genealogy research sites that are free to researchers.

The Baker Block Museum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of the North Okaloosa Historical Association, Inc., and is managed by the Board of Directors

Located at 1307 Georgia Avenue, on the corner of State Road 4 & Hwy 189 in Baker, Florida.

Mailing address:  P.O. Box 186, Baker, FL 32531

Tel: 850-537-5714

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