Crestview, Florida - Wikipedia

Crestview was largely an outgrowth of the arrival of railroad service to the western Panhandle of Florida.[7] The Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad Company, chartered in 1881, opened its line between Pensacola and Chattahoochee in January 1883. Two express passenger trains, the Atlantic Express and the Gulf Express, as well as a local accommodation train that made stops along the route, were in daily operation. The express trains took about six hours for the journey, while the local train took thirteen hours. When the railroad company was unable to cover its debt obligations, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad covered the shortfalls until 1885 and then foreclosed, absorbing the route into its system as the L&N's Pensacola and Atlantic Division.[8]

In 1894, sawmill operator W. B. Wright opened the 26-mile (42 km) Yellow River Railroad between Crestview and Florala, Alabama via Auburn, Campton, and Laurel Hill. The L&N provided the line with freight cars and purchased the operation in 1906,[9] renaming it the Yellow River Branch. Without significant shippers to sustain the line, it was eventually used for freight car storage in the early 1980s and was abandoned in May 1985, with 25.3 miles of track removed.[10] Parts of the former right of way were paved as local streets.

Crestview was officially incorporated as a city in 1916.[1] The 1920 US Census recorded the population of Crestview at 500 residents.[11]

On July 23, 1920, Crestview hosted Okaloosa County's first public hanging. Robert Blackwell was convicted of murdering Nancy and Bud Davis in 1917 and was sentenced to death. A week before his execution, Blackwell confessed, and his confession was printed in local newspapers on the day of his hanging.[12] The second and final public execution in Okaloosa County took place on September 23, 1921, when Putnam Ponsell and Jacob Benjamin Marin were hanged for the murder of John F. Tuggle. This double hanging was the last public execution in Florida.[13]

In 1937, Smith-Johnson Company, Inc. opened a garment factory in Crestview, which utilized 250 machines and employed around 300 workers.[14]

A modern bus terminal served by Greyhound Lines' Jacksonville-Los Angeles route, with connections north to Atlanta, Memphis, and New York,[15] opened on the corner of Ferdon and Pearl Streets on May 9, 1941. The terminal featured waiting rooms, a lounge, smoking rooms, a restaurant, and a loading concourse. It was segregated.[16]

As nearby Eglin Field expanded into a major testing base, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad laid a long sidetrack in Crestview in the spring of 1941 to handle the influx of oil tank cars required for a vast paving project on ten new airfields. A fleet of trucks operated around the clock to offload an estimated 180 carloads of petroleum products.[17]

A recreation center for enlisted men at Eglin Field was opened in Crestview on June 21, 1941, through the efforts of the Community Recreation Council, the Works Progress Administration, and the Okaloosa Progressive Association.[18][19]

In January 1943, a misunderstanding involving Crestview's constabulary led to the town being briefly off-limits to military personnel from Eglin Field. The Pensacola News Journal reported on January 31, 1943, that the restriction had been lifted after a conference between town officials and Eglin authorities. The incident was triggered when the town marshal attempted to arrest a soldier for reckless driving and an Eglin officer for interference. The overzealous marshal was suspended following the event.[20]

On July 31, 1949, the L&N inaugurated the Gulf Wind streamliner through Crestview, connecting New Orleans and Jacksonville in partnership with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, replacing the heavyweight New Orleans-Florida Limited. This service was discontinued on April 30, 1971, when Amtrak took over most U.S. passenger rail services.[citation needed]

In the 1960s, Crestview was home to the studio of the Apache Records label.[21]

As part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round, Crestview experienced significant population growth when the U.S. Army's 7th Special Forces Group relocated from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to a newly built facility on the northern end of the Eglin Air Force Base reservation, about six miles south of the city.

In 2007, longtime mayor George Whitehurst resigned, leading to the election of David Cadle, a retired director of the Crestview High School band, The Big Red Machine.[22] Cadle was succeeded in 2019 by JB Whitten, a retired U.S. Air Force member, high school teacher, and Crestview city council member.[2][23]