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Valparaiso, Florida

Valparaiso, Florida
City
Valparaiso City Hall, September 2014.
Valparaiso City Hall, September 2014.
Motto: "Vale Of Paradise"
Location in Okaloosa County and the state of Florida
Location in Okaloosa County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 30°30′N 86°30′W / 30.500°N 86.500°W / 30.500; -86.500Coordinates: 30°30′N 86°30′W / 30.500°N 86.500°W / 30.500; -86.500
Country  United States
State  Florida
County  Okaloosa
Area
 • Total 12.7 sq mi (33 km2)
 • Land 11.9 sq mi (30.9 km2)
 • Water 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2)
Elevation 46 ft (14 m)
Population (2000)
 • Total 6,408
 • Density 504.6/sq mi (194.2/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code 32580
Area code(s) 850
FIPS code 12-73675
GNIS feature ID 0305048
Website City of Valparaiso Florida Website

Valparaiso is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,408. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, the city had a population of 6,336. It is part of the Fort Walton BeachCrestviewDestin Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Valparaiso was named after Valparaiso, Indiana.

Chicago businessman James E. Plew, who relocated to the Panhandle of Northwest Florida in 1922, became "one of Northwest Florida's pioneer developers," and settled on Valparaiso "as the most likely spot for development. He founded the Bank of Valparaiso, constructed the Valparaiso Inn [in 1924], organized the Chicago Country Club which constructed the Valparaiso Country Club golf course and was instrumental in many other development activities in the community."

"Other interests of Mr. Plew included the founding of the Shalimar Winery, which was established to use the surplus grape crop of the county. He also founded the Valparaiso Novelty Company, helped to establish a knitting mill in the community and was interested in a number of other enterprises to which he made investments to help their development."

Plew thought that a military payroll would boost the depression-stricken economy of the region. He leased from the City of Valparaiso the Valparaiso Airport, an arrowhead-shaped parcel of 137 acres (0.55 km2) cleared in 1933 as an airdrome. In 1934, Plew offered the U.S. government 1,460 acres (6 km2) contiguous land for a bombing and gunnery base. This leasehold became the headquarters for the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base activated on June 14, 1935, under the command of Captain Arnold H. Rich. This was the founding of Eglin Air Force Base. The field was assigned the ICAO airport code VPS for Valparaiso, which Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport retains to this day.


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