On January 13, the Walton County Board of County Commissioners took a quiet but significant step to preserve the county’s rural character. With a unanimous vote, the board adopted the Walton Forever Land Acquisition Program — a locally controlled framework designed to protect agricultural, forested, and environmentally sensitive land through conservation easements and strategic acquisitions.
On Friday, February 13, 2026, the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa will host women from across the county who are ready to do more than raise money. They’re ready to build. The luncheon kicks off Habitat’s 2026 Women Build Workshops, a series of build days that prove when women lead, communities gain.
The SEASIDE Institute™ has announced the recipients of the 2026 SEASIDE Prize™, a recognition reserved for those whose work has shaped the fields of architecture, urban planning, and community development. The prize is awarded annually to individuals whose contributions have a lasting impact on how places are built and experienced.
In the heart of DeFuniak Springs, where arrivals once stepped from the train and into a season of music and welcome, Henry Park is opening a new chapter. Long a gathering place for travelers, townspeople, and musicians alike, the historic park now stands renewed—its restoration honoring both the community that shaped it and the future it continues to invite.
— It’s Already Here
If you live anywhere along Highway 331, you don’t need a market report to tell you something has shifted. You feel it in the traffic that no longer thins out mid-day. You notice it in the cranes rising beyond the tree line, the freshly staked parcels, the new signage appearing almost overnight. And you hear it—in grocery store aisles, at stoplights, over coffee—What’s going in there?
Every Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend since 2010, the 30A Songwriters Festival has turned South Walton’s quiet winter season into a destination built around music, storytelling, and community. On this episode of the HWY 331 Podcast, host Kerri Parker sits down with festival producers Jennifer Steele and Russell Carter to reflect on 17 years of a songwriter-focused festival that has become a cultural and economic cornerstone for Walton County.
