Grayton Beach, Florida

When Army Major Charles T. Gray built his homestead in 1885, the federal government owned much of the land and few people had reason to settle here; the soil was too sandy to farm, and there were better timberlands inland.

There were no bridges over the southern parts of the Choctawhatchee River, and what roads existed were merely sand trails crossing miles of low-lying forests.

In 1985, after years of lobbying by residents, Florida bought the village's beach front and the dunes and forest land to the west and north.

When the state tried to trade away parts of the 1985 purchase for land at Topsail Hill, many Grayton Beach residents and neighbors howled in protest.

Western Lake overflowed, leaving water knee deep in many houses, and had residents washing loads of sand and mud out of their homes.