Okaloosa

Formed September 7, 1915 (52^nd county)

Okaloosa County (211,664), Crestview (20,978)

The Modern style brown brick courthouse is in Crestview.  It was built in 2018 and designed by Sam Marshall Architects.  It is located on James Lee Boulevard at Main Street.  James Lee is United States Highway 90 passing through the city.  The building features columns.  There was a 1918 courthouse also in Crestview.  There is an augmenting Administration Building in Fort Walton Beach.  Milligan has also been a county seat.  Okaloosa County gets its name for the Native American for “pleasant place.”  The county seat is a geographical term for its location on a ridge.  The county was formed on September 7, 1915 from parts of Santa Rosa and Walton counties as the 52^nd county. 

Okaloosa County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-four Circuit Court Judges serve Okaloosa, Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties and Three County Court Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Okaloosa County (judicial.) Okaloosa County is the Florida panhandle on the border with Alabama and on the Gulf of Mexico.  Tallahassee, Florida is east and Mobile, Alabama is west of the county.  The center of the county is 16.9 miles South-Southwest of Crestview nearer Valparaiso.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Alabama and Walton County and the Gulf of Mexico and Santa Rosa County. 

The area of the county is 936 square miles.  It is 19 out of 67 counties in the state.  It ranks 26 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 226.1 persons per square mile making it 33 out of 67 in the state.  Okaloosa County has 41.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 10 crosses east to west in the county from Walton County to Santa Rosa County.  United States Highway 90 parallels Interstate Highway 10 from Walton County to Santa Rosa County.  United States Highway 98 travels east to west along the Gulf of Mexico from Walton County to Santa Rosa County.  The county is a tall rectangle.  Crestview is located slightly north of the county center.  Crestview is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 9.9% of the county population.  The county is pronounced OE-KA-LOO-SA.  This county is in the Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.