Diane Merkel

DeFuniak Springs Diane Merkel

Serving as the seat of Walton County, DeFuniak Springs is one of the most picturesque cities in the Florida Panhandle. A surveying party scouting routes for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad discovered the area in 1881 and decided it was the perfect setting for a town. Named for Frederick DeFuniak, a prominent official of the railroad, the town of DeFuniak Springs was born. Among the settlement's first visitors was a representative of the New York Chautauqua, who was seeking a location for a winter assembly. The first Florida Chautauqua Assembly was later held on the bank of Lake DeFuniak in the winter of 1885. Until the 1920s, DeFuniak Springs was hailed as a cultural and educational center of the Southeast. Today the city remains a popular destination thanks to its continued focus on cultural events and the Victorian architecture for which the town has come to be widely known. In 1992, the DeFuniak Springs Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places thanks to the efforts of the Walton County Heritage Association.