Walton County Heritage
Association and Museum


Preserving the History and Heritage of Walton County, Florida

Fred de Funiak, Engineer

A new book about DeFuniak Springs' namesake is now available at the Museum.
See the Events page for photographs of the special booksigning event.

Legend has it that Frederick de Funiak, who immigrated from Europe in 1861, won the right to name the town in a card game. The New York Times published his death notice in March 1905: “Col. Frederick De Funiak died at his residence here today. Col. De Funiak was born in Rome, Italy, sixty-five years ago, and was a veteran of Garibaldi’s army. He was for a long time chief engineer of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and has been connected with the railroad building in many parts of the country.” Two of his sons followed his footsteps albeit on different paths. Frederick Junior had a distinguished career in the United States Army, and Ernest was the Freight Traffic Manager for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in Birmingham from 1904 until 1918. (Images of America: DeFuniak Springs, page 14)

 

 

©2009 Walton County Heritage Association, Inc.