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Welcome to Fort Walton Beach ...

The coastal city of Fort Walton Beach is located in Okaloosa County<1>.



While we don't have a date for the founding of Fort Walton Beach, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1953.

A typical abbreviation for Fort Walton Beach: Ft. Walton Bch.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Fort Walton Beach has a population of 22,415 people<2> (see below for details).

Fort Walton Beach is near sea level<3>.

Time Zone: Fort Walton Beach lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area codes for Fort Walton Beach: (850) & (448)<4>

The ZIP codes for Fort Walton Beach: 32547-32549<5>

Websites for Fort Walton Beach ...

Official Website:   www.fwb.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.fwbchamber.org/

Junior League:   jlec.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Fort Walton Beach had an population of 22,415 people. This is an increase of 14.91% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 12.23% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Fort Walton Beach had a population of 19,507 people (or 10.79% of the total population of Okaloosa County). This makes Fort Walton Beach the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Fort Walton Beach represents 0.1% of the total population of Florida (which has 18,801,310 people), making it the state's 107th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 19,507 people, the population of Fort Walton Beach decreased 2.33% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 19,973 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Fort Walton Beach.

Communities near Fort Walton Beach ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Fort Walton Beach.

  • Niceville
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Destin
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Destin
    • Destin is located in Okaloosa County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 14,284 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Destin <6>
  • Valparaiso
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hurlburt Field
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Eglin Village
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eglin Village have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eglin Village
    • Eglin Village is located in Okaloosa County
  • Miramar Beach
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Four Mile Village
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Four Mile Village have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Four Mile Village
    • Four Mile Village is located in Walton County
  • Navarre
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Sandestin
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • The Village of Baytowne Wharf
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for The Village of Baytowne Wharf have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Village of Baytowne Wharf
    • The Village of Baytowne Wharf is located in Walton County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Fort Walton Beach. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Fort Walton Beach.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Fort Walton Beach. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Fort Walton Beach.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Walton Beach. See our Newspapers Page for Fort Walton Beach.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Fort Walton Beach ...

Looking for more information about Fort Walton Beach? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Fort Walton Beach, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Fort Walton Beach.

Adding Fort Walton Beach to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Fort Walton Beach in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Fort Walton Beach was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

From that list, the Fort Walton Beach post office opened in 1953.

We also found Fort Walton Beach on a map titled Shell Oil Road Map for Florida (1956).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Fort Walton Beach.

The official website for Fort Walton Beach: www.fwb.org/

The official website for Okaloosa County: www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/

The official website for State of Florida: www.myflorida.com/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Florida's counties, including Okaloosa, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Fort Walton Beach.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Fort Walton Beach - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>Area code (448) is an overlay for area code (850).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Fort Walton Beach). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Fort Walton Beach or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).

Our list of ZIP Codes for Fort Walton Beach includes: 32547, 32548 & 32549.
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024