History is the Echo of Humanity.

About Us

The City of Fort Walton Beach Heritage Park & Cultural Center is the flagship of the Indian Temple Mound Museum, Camp Walton Schoolhouse Museum, Garnier Post Office Museum, and the Fort Walton Temple Mound.

Together these three museums and National Historic Landmark form a cultural center which presents the history of the Fort Walton Beach area from prehistoric times, some 12,000 years ago, the first school in 1912, and through the close of the post office in the 1950's.

Indian Temple Mound Museum

In 1962 the Indian Temple Mound Museum opened as the first
municipally owned and operated museum in the State of Florida.
The current museum building opened to the public in 1972 and is located on Highway 98 in the heart of historic downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

The museum houses interpretative exhibits depicting 12,000 years of Native American occupation. Over 6,000 artifacts of stone, bone, clay and shell are here, as well as the finest collection of Fort Walton Period ceramics in the Southeastern United States. Exhibits also include artifacts from the European Explorers, local pirates, Civil War soldiers and early settlers.
                                                                                                             
Fort Walton Temple Mound

The prehistoric temple mound, located on the
 museum grounds, represents one of the most outstanding artifacts left by the early inhabitants of this community. Built as a ceremonial and political center by the Mound Builder Culture between 800-1400AD, this mound is the largest on salt water and possibly the largest prehistoric earthwork on the Gulf Coast. The Fort Walton Temple Mound stands 12 feet tall and measures 223 feet across its base. An estimated 200,000 basket loads of earth were used to create this earthen structure. In 1964 the Temple Mound was designated a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Historic Register.                                                                               

The temple, on top of the mound, was used as the residence of the leader, a temple for religious ceremonies, and a place to direct the activities of the village. It was and still is a sacred burial ground.

After the Mound Builders abandoned the mound in the 1500's, the mound lay dormant; its history quiet as European explorers moved through the area. Interest in the mound would not rekindle until the Civil War in 1861 when Confederate soldiers of the Walton Guard encamped here to guard the waterway known as "The Narrows". The soldiers displayed curiosities taken from the mound in a small museum tent. Unfortunately, the tent was set ablaze by enemy troops, destroying the artifacts. In 1883 the mound was examined by the Smithsonian Institution and has since been excavated nine times to reveal artifacts and information about the people who once called this community their home. 

 2009 Friends of the Museum Annual Report