CRESTVIEW — When a new county suddenly appears on the map, leadership is also needed. Such was the situation in 1915, when Okaloosa County was created.
To lead the 52nd county, Gov. Park Trammell appointed a slate of officials who would serve until elections could be held and the new county's residents could choose their own leaders.
Leading the officials as the appointed county judge was John Thomas Mapoles, father of state Rep. William H. Mapoles, known as "the “father of Okaloosa County."
Other officials, as documented by Baker Block Museum Director Ann Spann in “The Heritage of Okaloosa County,” were: Sheriff B.H. Sutton; Clerk of Circuit Court James L. Clary; Superintendent of Public Instruction William C. Pryor; county surveyor W.D. Locke; tax assessor George H. Webb; tax collector J.A. Richbourg; county treasurer P.J. Steele; and Board of County Commissioners members John H. Givens, J.W. Baggett, W.J. Davis, R.A. Rosier and B.P. Edge.
W.J. Jones, W.F. Wilkinson and W.H. Spivey were appointed Board of Public Instruction members. J.F. Richbourg, W.L. Culberson, R.J. Diamond, J.C. Hicks and Allen J. King were appointed justices of the peace.
A sixth justice of the peace and three constables were also appointed, Spann stated. The county treasurer’s position was never filled after Steele’s initial appointment.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: OKALOOSA CENTENNIAL: Gubernatorial appointments constitute county's first leaders