Holmes

Formed January 8, 1848 (27^th county)

Holmes County (19,657), Bonifay (2,762)

The 1963 tan brick and concrete Modern style courthouse is located on Oklahoma Street between Virginia and Nebraska avenues.  Florida State Highway 79 is one block west of the courthouse.  Bonifay had a 1906 version of the courthouse.  Hewett’s Bluff (1848), Pittman’s Ferry (1889), Westville (1900), and Bonifay (1905) have all been the county seat.  Look & Morrison are the building designers.  Settler Thomas J. Holmes inspired the county’s name.  The county seat is taken from the last name of local settlers.  The county was created on January 8, 1848 from parts of Jackson and Walton counties as the 27^th county. 

Holmes County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Nine Circuit Court Judges serve Holmes, Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, and Washington counties and a County Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Holmes County (judicial.) The county is in the northwest panhandle of Florida on the border with Alabama.  Tallahassee, Florida is southeast and Pensacola, Florida is west of the county.  The Choctawhatchee River flows through the county.  The center of the county is 10.7 miles Northwest of Bonifay nearer Gritney.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Alabama and Jackson, Washington, and Walton counties. 

The area of the county is 482 square miles.  It is 61 out of 67 counties in the state.  It ranks 55 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 40.8 persons per square mile making it 53 out of 67 in the state.  Holmes County has 20.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 crosses the county east to west, entering and exiting and reentering, Washington County to Washington County to Walton County.  United States Highway 90 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Washington County to Washington County to Walton County.  The county is shaped like a fat letter C lying on its face.  Bonifay is in the southeast corner of the county.  Bonifay is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 14.1% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced BON-I-FAE.