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Florida Counties

In 1821, there were only two Counties in Florida: Escambia to the west and St. Johns to the east. From these two Counties were formed 67 today.In 1968, the electors of Florida granted local voters the power to adopt charters to govern their counties. Charters are formal written documents that confer powers, duties, or privileges on the county. To date, there are 19 charter Counties in Florida. Collectively these Counties are home to more than 75 percent of Florida's residents.

Okaloosa County, Florida

Okaloosa County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Crestview
Year Organized: 1915
Square Miles: 936

Court House:

101 E. James Lee Blvd, Rm. 105
County Courthouse
Crestview, FL 32536-3552

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Choctaw Indian words oka (water) and lusa (black).

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Okaloosa County was formed in 1915. Okaloosa was an Indian word meaning "a pleasant place," "black water", or "beautiful place".

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,082 square miles (2,802 km²), of which, 936 square miles (2,423 km²) of it is land and 146 square miles (379 km²) of it (13.53%) is water. Ft Walton Beach and two United States Air Force bases (Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field) are located in the south.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Covington County, Ala.
East: Walton County
South: Gulf of Mexico
West: Santa Rosa County
Northwest: Escambia County, Ala.

Cities and Towns:

- Cinco Bayou	town	Incorporated Area
- Crestview (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Destin	city	Incorporated Area
- Fort Walton Beach	city	Incorporated Area
- Laurel Hill	city	Incorporated Area
- Mary Esther	city	Incorporated Area
- Niceville	city	Incorporated Area
- Shalimar	town	Incorporated Area
- Valparaiso	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."