Choctawhatchee and Northern Railroad
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Railroad |
| Founded | 1927 |
| Fate | Project abandoned |
| Headquarters | Florida Panhandle , United States |
Area served | Florida Panhandle |
The Choctawhatchee and Northern Railroad was envisioned as a 28-mile railway in Florida's Panhandle, chartered in February 1927. Its planned route was to link Galliver and Crestview, situated on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, with Choctawhatchee Bay located in Okaloosa County. This railroad formed a component of the extensive Port Dixie development initiative, now known as Shalimar, Florida.
History
The Port Dixie Harbor and Terminal Company proposed a $29 million project that included constructing docks suitable for ocean liners, extending a rail line northward, and establishing a one-square-mile urban area featuring broad streets near the current housing area of Eglin Air Force Base in Shalimar. Despite these plans, no actual track was ever installed.
The success of a deep-water port depended heavily on dredging East Pass at Destin, which serves as the only passage from Choctawhatchee Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Although developers asserted that the ocean liner SS Normandie could dock without any dredging efforts, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that deepening East Pass was impractical. It remains uncertain if this engineering assessment influenced the project's financial backing or if other reasons contributed; nevertheless, the endeavor quietly dissolved.
Interest among locals reached its zenith in mid-1931 when M. C. Miller, secretary-treasurer of the "Port Dixie Railroad Line," shared encouraging updates based on reports from J. M. Hodgskins, the Philadelphia-based president. At a gathering of 1,500 people in Camp Walton, Florida, Hodgskins outlined ambitious plans encompassing a real estate company, railroad operations, port infrastructure, shipbuilding facilities, steamship services, a rubber tire factory, a nightclub, and a new townsite. Positive media attention sustained optimism through July 1931. Ultimately, the project's demise was sealed by the Corps’ refusal to authorize dredging at East Pass.
Subsequently, the United States Air Force constructed a rail spur connecting an interchange with the L&N at Mossy Head, Florida to Eglin Air Force Base near where Port Dixie was originally intended to terminate. This railway functioned from late 1951 until approximately 1980 before being abandoned and partially dismantled.