For your convenience, here's the list of all of the caches on this trail
1. GC4KQJ7 - City Hall
2. GC4KQWD - Mary Esther Library
3. GC4KQWD - That View
4. GC4KQWD - Valparaiso Library
5. GC4KQWD - Niceville Public Library
6. GC4KQWD - Crestview's Two Hills
7. GC4KQWD - Baker
8. GC4KQWD - County Seat
In 2013, Florida reached a significant milestone, the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de León's arrival on Florida's east coast. What makes this anniversary so unique is that Ponce de León's convoy of explorers was the first group of Europeans to document such a landing and give a name to Florida, La Florida. 2013 marks 500 years of history and diverse cultural heritage in Florida – a claim no other state in America can make.
At the turn of the last century the area that is now Valparaiso was uninhabited forest land, owned by the Federal Government and opened for homesteading.
In 1901, Allen Brown Jr. established a homestead here and acquired title to 15,000 acres of timbered land. In 1909 the entire area was purchased by the Consolidated Land and Lumber Company for eight hundred dollars.
All of the area from Shalimar to Rocky Bayou, including the land that is now Eglin Air Force Base proper, was included in the 1901 acquisition.
A small settlement was established, built around a sawmill located near the north side of Tom’s Bayou. Except for this settlement, the land was the same as it had been in 1890.
The settlement was visited by a Chicago industrialist, John B. Perrine, while on a boating trip along the Florida coast. Mr. Perrine wrote that he was impressed with the natural advantages, scenic beauty and healthfulness of this bayou country. He called the area Valparaiso, a Spanish word meaning “Vale of Paradise”.
Mr. Perrine never forgot this beautiful bayou country. By 1918, he had organized the Valparaiso Development Company and had purchased all the land originally acquired by Allen Brown. The area, which was once a part of Walton County, had been included in Okaloosa County when it was created in 1915. Perrine planned a model community and immediately petitioned Florida Legislature to grant a municipal charter. In 1921 this charter was granted and the City of Valparaiso was created.
Mr. Perrine died in November of 1921 and rests beside his wife in Valparaiso Sunset Cemetery. Mr. Perrine’s experiment had not been financially successful and shortly after his death the Valparaiso Development Company was forced into Federal Bankruptcy Court.
In 1922, Chicago financier Mr. James Plew purchased the assets of the Valparaiso Development Company for $546,000 and also assumed some larger mortgages which were still outstanding. He then organized the Valparaiso Realty Company, with himself as President and his son-in-law, C. W. Ruckel, as secretary.
Mr. Plew was primarily instrumental in the growth and progress of this area. In 1935, he laid the foundation of what was to become Eglin Air Force Base. In that year he leased 137 acres of land south of Tom’s Bayou to the City of Valparaiso for the annual sum of one dollar. This arrangement made it possible for the Florida State Highway Department to pave the original north-south and east-west runways on the Valparaiso Landing Field. The Valparaiso Landing Field was subsequently given to the Federal Government and was used as an auxiliary field for Maxwell Army Air Base. In 1937, Mr. Plew donated an additional 1500 acres for use as a gunnery range and the Federal Government made 340,000 acres of adjacent land available to the Army Air Corps. This entire area became Eglin Air Force Base.
You are searching for a micro with space for a logbook and small trade items. The the front of the logbook has one of the questions for the challenge coin. Please replace the cache as found to allow others to enjoy the hunt.