AWCA

09/27/2026

William Bartram spent the middle of June 1774 at a Seminole town on the lower Suwannee called Talahasochte, and what he found there was not a frontier settlement but a seaport. The men were building canoes out of single cypress trunks, hollowed and burned and adzed smooth, and the largest of them were commodious enough to carry twenty or thirty warriors. 🛶

They were not river boats. Bartram recorded that these canoes carried trading and hunting expeditions down to the sea coast and out among the neighboring islands and keys, and that the men would sometimes cross the gulph, extending their navigations to the Bahama Islands and even to Cuba. A party had lately come home from Havana when he arrived, carrying spirituous liquors, coffee, sugar and to***co. One of the returned travelers politely presented Bartram with a choice piece of that to***co, and told him the governor of Cuba had given it. That passage sits on page 193 of the Travels when Bartram finally published in 1791.

The town Bartram described is gone entirely, and has been gone for a very long time. Its site is locally believed to be Ross Landing, a bluff about six miles upstream of Manatee Springs in what is now Levy County, though nobody can put a stake in the ground and be certain. The spring is still there, and still enormous. State records give it a period of record median discharge of 204 cubic feet per second and an average of 189, and it was designated a National Natural Landmark in December 1971 after Florida acquired the tract in January 1968. It has also very nearly stopped. On the fifth of April 2005 the flow was measured at two cubic feet per second, and in October the year before it had run at 546. 🌿

09/25/2026

ty Beneath the Palms

Three brick forts once guarded the deep water pass at the mouth of the bay. Two of them you can still walk through today. The third is not ruined, not a foundation in the sand, not a marked outline. It is gone. 🧱

Work on Fort McRee began in 1834 and was finished in 1839, on the bare white sand at the tip of what is now Perdido Key, facing Fort Pickens across the channel. It was three storeys of brick with rows of arched gun embrasures, and the National Park Service describes its unusual wing design, two faces angled out so their fire converged on the main channel, running three hundred and sixty yards around the perimeter. It was named for Brevet Colonel William McRee, an army engineer who had served in the War of 1812.

On 22 November 1861 the guns opened from Fort Pickens and Santa Rosa Island, with warships including the USS Niagara joining from seaward, and they did not stop for two full days. The crossfire disabled about half of Fort McRee's cannon and set the fort alight. Three times that afternoon the woodwork burst into flame and three times it was put out. By the end the fort was exposed in front, flank and reverse, with half its armament dismounted. Colonel John Bordenave Villepigue was wounded in the arm and refused to be taken off. The Park Service records forty four casualties across the engagement without dividing them between the two sides.

Braxton Bragg wrote that for the number and calibre of guns and weight of metal brought into action, it would "rank with the heaviest bombardments in the world."

The Confederates vacated by May 1862. The wrecked brick was left to the weather and the shifting sand of the pass. Today nothing visible remains. 🌴

09/21/2026

PSA for all the noobs.

09/16/2026

Standing Up, Speaking Out. Some of us understand through experience.
Proud of y'all.

Good evening members of our community!

We want to take a moment to clarify something we believe is extremely important regarding the plans currently being discussed for the Navarre Beach Boardwalk and More inside the Navarre Beach Marine Park.

On the counties proposed project plans, you will see the words “Turtle Center Parking Lot.” This has caused several people to ask questions in regards to whether the NBSTCC endorses this project as proposed - to make it clear WE DO NOT.

We want the public and every County Commissioner to understand what was originally referred to and what the NBSTCC actually discussed with the county commissioner.

A copy of the original plans was recently provided to every County Commissioner approximately three meetings ago.

In 2023/2024, the NBSTCC had our first meeting with Ray Eddington to discuss a very specific issue at the turtle center: Parking.

It’s also important to clarify that the parking conversation originally came about because the county approached us regarding the significant number of visitors parking along the travel lane. This was creating challenges with traffic flow and safety in the area. Our discussions with the county were focused on finding a solution to help alleviate those parking and traffic concerns while better accommodating the large number of visitors coming to the center.

We discussed removing a section of the median directly in front of our administrative building to create additional angled parking spaces specifically for NBSTCC guests, shown in the yellow squares in the image below.

We also discussed our need for an additional bathroom. This is a huge request from so many of our amazing visitors. That conversation led to discussions about the county having plans to potentially construct a bathroom across the street from the NBSTCC and removing our existing animal food preparation/storage and administrative building, shown in the purple circle below.

During our second meeting with Ray, we made it very clear that if this building was going to be removed, a replacement building would be necessary.

This is not simply an office.

This building houses the food, supplies, equipment, and documentation necessary to care for the animals that call the NBSTCC home. Removing it without providing a replacement first would directly impact our ability to operate and care for our animal residents.

The county agreed to the concept of providing a replacement. We were asked to provide a scale drawing showing what we needed. NBSTCC Board members then met with Ray, Jared (Assistant County Administrator), and Rebecca (County Engineer for Santa Rosa County), and the agreement discussed was that the county would construct the exterior of the new building, while the NBSTCC would cover the interior build out and our operational needs.

The county paid a company to flag the property between the Turtle Center and the County Workers’ building to identify the locations of water and electrical lines for the proposed new animal care food preparation area and proposed parking area, again shown in the yellow squares below.

Then, for a period of time, we heard nothing.

Eventually, the community along with us was blindsided with an entirely different concept. A concept that included a way larger parking lot, a boardwalk, food trucks, retail space, and an huge event/venue center.

That is not what we discussed.
It is not what we requested.
And it is not a project the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center agreed to or endorsed.

We are sharing this information because we believe the public deserves to understand what was actually discussed with the NBSTCC, and how significantly the concept has since changed. Alex Fox (COO of the NBSTCC) attended the most recent County Commissioner’s meeting and spoke of these plans to all county commissioners.

The NBSTCC supports reasonable solutions to parking and infrastructure needs. We have worked in good faith with the county throughout this process, and we remain willing to do so.

But we also believe that transparency matters. The public, our supporters, and every County Commissioner deserve to know what the NBSTCC originally requested and agreed to — and what we did not.

Our goal is simply to make sure the facts and the original discussions are part of the public record and available to those that are asking if the NBSTCC endorses the current proposed project - We Do Not.

09/02/2026

A 180 indeed.

ty MP

BREAKING NEWS - FLOCK CAMERAS TO BE REMOVED IN SANTA ROSA COUNTY: Santa Rosa County Chief Deputy Randy Tifft has confirmed that Flock cameras will be removed in Santa Rosa County. Tifft said a news release from Sheriff Bob Johnson is forthcoming. Developing story...

UPDATE: SANTA ROSA COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ENDS USE OF
AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READER SYSTEM

Sheriff Bob Johnson has directed the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office to end its use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras. The agency will discontinue the program as Florida continues to examine the placement, regulation, data practices, and oversight associated with this technology.

The decision comes after the Florida Department of Transportation revoked access to state right-of-way locations used for license plate reader cameras. Sheriff Johnson said that development, combined with broader questions surrounding the collection and sharing of vehicle-location data, makes this an appropriate time for the Sheriff’s Office to step away from the program.

“These cameras have helped law enforcement, and I am not going to suggest otherwise,” Johnson said. “They can provide investigators with information that helps locate suspects, stolen vehicles, and people who may be in danger. But a useful tool still has to operate within clear rules that the public understands and trusts.”

Sheriff Johnson said his concern is not with the manner in which Santa Rosa County deputies have used the system. Rather, the issue is the larger environment in which ALPR information may be stored, exchanged, accessed, and governed as the technology expands beyond any single law enforcement agency.

“I am confident in the way our people have handled this technology,” Johnson said. “The bigger question is what happens to information once these systems become interconnected and more widely used. Citizens should not have to wonder who can see their information, how long it remains available, or where it may ultimately be shared.”

The Sheriff’s Office believes any future statewide framework should clearly address who may access ALPR information, the legitimate law enforcement purposes for which it may be used, how long data may be retained, when information may be shared outside the originating agency, and what auditing and accountability measures are required.
Sheriff Johnson said the agency would be willing to reconsider the technology in the future if Florida establishes a clear and consistent legal framework that balances legitimate law enforcement needs with meaningful protections for individual privacy.

“Sometimes leadership means being willing to stop using something that works until you are satisfied the rules surrounding it are where they need to be,” Johnson said. “I would rather step away now and allow the Legislature and appropriate state agencies to establish clear standards than continue forward while those questions remain unsettled.”

The change will not alter the Sheriff’s Office’s approach to protecting the community. Deputies and investigators will continue to rely on proactive patrol, criminal investigations, intelligence, direct observations by law enforcement officers, community cooperation, and partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies.

“Santa Rosa County was safely policed before license plate readers existed, and our deputies will continue doing their jobs without them,” Sheriff Johnson said. “Technology can assist good police work, but it does not replace good deputies, strong investigations, relationships with our citizens, or common sense.”

The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office will continue to monitor changes in Florida law and policy regarding automated license plate reader systems. Any future decision to resume use of the technology would be based on the legal standards in place at that time and the Sheriff’s determination that adequate safeguards exist for the citizens of Santa Rosa County.

“Our responsibility is straightforward,” Sheriff Johnson said. “We are here to protect people, enforce the law, and respect the rights of the citizens we serve. We can be aggressive about public safety without losing sight of privacy and individual liberty.”

08/25/2026

In the 1830s, a town on the Florida panhandle coast was so rich and rowdy it was called the wickedest city in the Southeast. 🏚️ A decade later it had vanished so completely that today you would never know it existed. This was old St. Joseph.

For a brief, glittering moment, St. Joseph was a booming port with fine hotels, a racetrack, and one of the busiest harbors in the region. It even hosted the convention that wrote Florida's first state constitution in 1838. Money and ambition flowed through its streets. Then the disasters came in a merciless string. A ship reportedly carried yellow fever into the port, and the epidemic tore through the crowded town, killing a huge share of the population and sending survivors fleeing in terror. 🌫️

As if that were not enough, a powerful hurricane later swept in and finished the job, driving the sea over what remained. Within a few short years the wickedest city in the Southeast was a ghost, its buildings gone, its people scattered or dead. The modern town of Port St. Joe eventually rose nearby, but the original boomtown simply disappeared from the map. ⚰️

It is eerie to think a whole thriving city could vanish so completely in a single decade. Had you ever heard of Florida's forgotten boomtown of old St. Joseph?