[1] During the First World War, 130 Germans operated a "dye" plant at Port Dixie, "actually an explosives factory and probably a submarine base as well."

On Garnier's Bayou near the present Eglin (Air Force Base) housing development of Shalimar, a $29,000,000 Port Dixie Harbor and Terminal Company was chartered to build wharves for liners, a rail line north, and a city of one square mile, with streets 100 feet wide.

Badly needed new homes were constructed beginning in 1942 by Clifford Meigs and his associates to provide adequate facilities for commissioned officers assigned at the rapidly expanding Eglin Field, immediately north of what was initially referred to as "Shalimar Park".

The Plew Heights housing project near Valparaiso, Florida had been erected in 1941 to take care of civil service employees and enlisted personnel, but the government made no provision for commissioned officers.

The incorporation was directly related to state law that prohibited clubs in unincorporated areas from staying open from midnight Saturday until Monday morning, which would negatively impact the gambling operations at the casino of the Shalimar Club, the opening of which "was the social event of 1947.

"The collapse of Okaloosa gambling was brought about by the glare of outside publicity, reform zeal from within and the direct intervention of Gov.

"[2] The 1949 article led to the governor suspending Okaloosa County Sheriff Isle Enzor and two constables in 1950 for failure to enforce the state gambling laws.

"Back on the job and converted to the cause, Sheriff Enzor began cracking down, and soon even the Shalimar Club was turning to more 'legitimate' forms of entertainment.

The Louis Woodham Concrete Company, which would provide construction materials for the growing Shalimar area, was established at Dixie Point at the end of Ferry Road by 1956,[13] and would survive into the late 1970s before being replaced by condominiums.

A Coast Guard tripod navigation marker in the bay just offshore of Meig's Beach, Port Dixie, was removed after merchant commerce ceased to Ferry Point.

During World War II, Eglin water range 60 was located in the bay immediately south of Port Dixie, with a battleship-size target float anchored off of Black’s Point.

The mostly residential area of Okaloosa County between Shalimar and Lake Lorraine continues to be referred to as Port Dixie.

Shalimar has one commercial artery, Eglin Parkway, and most business enterprises are located within a block of State Road 85.

An Okaloosa County courthouse annex, erected in 1975 on land made available by the Meigs family, was razed in the last week of June 2014, after standing vacant for several years.

Ground was broken on 29 September 2014 for a new $12 million 64,000 square foot 3-story Okaloosa County Administration Building on the former courthouse annex site.

The new facility, under construction by Lord and Son, will house a variety of services, including a large space for County Commission meetings, Supervisor of Elections events, a gross management department, information systems, as well as facilities for the tax collector and supervisor of elections.

Founding member Velma Bruner rented out a small log cabin behind the Aegean restaurant off Eglin Parkway, which the volunteers turned into a library-thrift shop.

The new location is thought to be the final resting place of a founder of the Fort Walton Beach community, Augustus "Gus" Tart.

The thrift store runs off of donations from the Shalimar community, including clothing, shoes, toys, excess books, and more.