DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, FLORIDA

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IMAGES From Nostalgiaville
FLORIDA- DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, FL- 1/11/05

NOTE: A Click of your Mouse on most of the pictures will enlarge them for better viewing

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, FLORIDA

And here is the
"Spring" at Defuniak

And here are the Ducks at the "Spring" at Defuniak

HISTORIC "STUFF" about Defuniak Springs

THE CHAUTAUQUA HALL OF BROTHERHOOD
The original Chautauqua Institution was founded in 1874 on Lake Chautauqua in western New York state as a vacation school for Sunday school teachers. The idea of providing a retreat for improving religious and secular education for the general public spread rapidly throughout the nation in the 1880's, giving birth to independent Chautauqua's that became platforms for discussion of the latest thinking in politics, economics, literature, science and religion.

The first Florida Chautauqua convened on the banks of Lake DeFuniak in 1885. It was the second Chautauqua founded in America and was one of many nationwide that attracted noted educators and famous lecturers. The Hall of Brotherhood, containing an auditorium seating 4,000 people was completed in 1910 at a cost of $28,000. By the beginning of the 20th century the national Chautauqua movement had declined and the Florida Chautauqua closed in 1920. The Hall of Brotherhood was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, but in 1975 a hurricane destroyed the auditorium wing and severely damaged the rest of the structure. Since then, there has been an ongoing program to fully restore the building.

FLORIDA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: THE BEGINNING
Florida teachers and administrators numbering 700 met here in Chautauqua Hall for a "teachers institute" called the Florida Chautauqua. The meeting was called to order y J A Graham. City Superintendent of Schools, Key West, at 12:30 PM on Thursday March 4, 1886. The major purpose of the gathering was a short but intensive training period mainly in subject matter fields, for many teachers were mere "grammar School grads." Here was the beginning of the Florida Education Association.

A separate black teachers association was formed in 1890. On July 1, 1966 the black and white organizations merged. The name Florida Education Association was continued for this combined organization and, in 1975 the word "United" was added when FEA and Florida's American Federation of Teachers merged. The Florida Education Association has become a symbol of the achievements of the past and an inspiration to those who will promote excellence for Florida's public schools, colleges, and universities in the future.

FLORIDA'S FIRST CONFEDERATE MONUMENT
Shortly after the Civil War, the women of Walton County organized a "Ladies' Memorial Association," with Jeannett I McKinnon as president, to erect a marble monument honoring Walton County's Confederate dead. The Association raised $250, and the monument was first erected in 1871 at Valley Church. It was moved to Euchee Anna, the county seat, and then to DeFuniak Springs when it became the county seat.

WALTON - DEFUNIAK LIBRARY
The Walton - DeFuniak Library opened during the first decade of the existence of the town of Defuniak Springs. This community originated in the early 1880's as a station on the new Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad. The town was named for Frederick de Funiak, president of the P & A Railroad, a subsidiary of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Railroad officials promoted the development of the area's recreational resources.

In the mid-1880's, representatives of the widely popular Chautauqua association, an adult education movement combining education with religion and recreation, selected DeFuniak Springs as the Florida assembly grounds site. In 1885, the first annual session of the Florida Chautauqua Association was held here. Local women realized that library resources were needed for the Florida Chautauqua. In 1886, an "Aid Society" was formed which the next year became the "Ladies Library Association." By the end of 1887, the DeFuniak Library building was completed. The institution became the Walton County Public Library in 1966 and in 1975 was named the Walton - DeFuniak Library. At that time, the library building was the oldest structure in Florida built as a library and still serving that purpose.