In Santa Rosa County every October, history ceases to be something static in a textbook; it comes alive again in festivals, lectures and other events on the Beaches to Woodlands Tour.

Many events on the tour – including the Munson Community Heritage Festival, the Arcadia Mill “Secrets of Santa Rosa” lecture series, the Milton Ghost Walk and many other events and venues – are based on the rich history and heritage of Santa Rosa County.

Those ties to history and deeply ingrained sense of place are key to the emerging heritage tourism market, something that is a critical component of the Pensacola metro area’s economy. The niche is being eyed by tourism marketing professionals in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties as a way to bolster tourism traffic in the so-called “shoulder season,” when beach-driven visitors ebb.

Tourism — as measured by bed tax — is a key component of the Studer Community Institute’s Pensacola Metro Dashboard. The dashboard, developed in consultation with the University of West Florida’s Office of Economic Development and Engagement, is an at-a-glance look at the social, educational and economic well-being of the community.

Vernon Compton, a member of the Santa Rosa County Tourist Development Council and chairman of the Santa Rosa Historical Society board of directors, said the county is ripe for heritage tourism.

“Heritage tourism has a large impact on tourism both in the state of Florida and in Santa Rosa County,” Compton said. “Many who visit Florida participate in some type of history-based activities while in Florida. And success with heritage tourism helps communities better preserve what makes them unique and special.”

Compton points to local historic resources such as the Milton Historic District and the Village of Bagdad Historic District; museums including the Museum of Local History, the Bagdad Village Preservation Area History Museum, the West Florida Railroad Museum and the Jay Historical Society Museum; and the Arcadia Mill site, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Arcadia Mill is part of the Beaches to Woodlands Tour. Photo credit: Beaches to Woodlands.

Other historic and history-based locations that could draw visitors include the Bagdad Mill Site Park, the former home to the Bagdad Mill, which the county in turning into a 20-acre passive park with fishing piers, picnic tables and other amenities.

At Riverwalk Park in downtown Milton, the Santa Rosa County Veterans Memorial Plaza displays a series of historic panels describing all of America’s wars with various statues commemorating different people and events.

These places and others are great draws for heritage tourists, he said.

“North Santa Rosa has such a rich history that has been preserved by local families, businesses and organizations for generations,” Compton said. “Industries that built not only our county and communities, but also our country, such as logging and lumber, agriculture and brick and shipyards abounded in the area. Some of those traditions continue today.”

The history-based events on the Beaches to Woodlands Tour – many of which take place at historic places or pay homage to historic times – help promote the county to tourists.

“Events centered on the history of Santa Rosa County provide an important connection for both residents and tourists to the heritage, the story of people and place that matters to so many,” Compton said. “These events help in sharing the stories of traditions, industry, activities, food, architecture, arts and local crafts and people’s lives, and the events, activities and opportunities and challenges that helped to shape them.”

Bed tax collections in Santa Rosa in October have nearly doubled since 2010, says Karen Harrell, who leads marketing efforts for the Beaches to Woodlands Tour. It’s hard to know if Beaches to Woodlands is the sole reason, but the increased focus on activities during that time frame is certainly significant, Harrell said.

Bed Tax collections in Santa Rosa County.

Organizers for history-based events on the Beaches to Woodlands Tour say the events help bring attention of their historic resources year round, help raise money for good causes and help bring out-of-town visitors to the area.

The Milton Ghost Walk is a walking tour of downtown Milton that highlights historic events that happened in downtown Milton. The walk starts at the Imogene Theatre, a 1913 structure owned by the society that was nearly destroyed in a 2009 fire. The theater, however, has been restored and now host public and private events nearly every weekend.

The walk, which lures hundreds of visitors to downtown Milton every October, is a major fundraiser for the society.

Marshall Fuqua, founder of the Munson Heritage Festival, surveys the tags of the cars parked at his two-day festival to gauge where visitors are coming from. The festival, which occurs every October at Krul Lake State Recreation Area, focuses on the pioneer arts and the history of logging and Native Americans in the Munson area.

This is the 12th year for the festival, which drew 7,800 people last year.

“About 15 percent of people are from out of state,” Fuqua said. “We’re starting to get more and more people from out of state as the festival gets more popular. I know we’ve got people coming from as far as Tennessee this year. I know we’ve had people from Louisiana.”

The annual Fenner McConnell/Matt Wantz Blackwater Heritage Century Ride – a cycling event with 100-, 62-, 40-, and 18-mile options – takes place partially on the Blackwater Heritage State Trail. The trail was originally home to a railway owned by the Bagdad Lumber and Land Company and was converted to a “linear park” by the state in the 1990s.

Last year, that event drew 346 participants and raised more than $35,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Florida and the Boys & Girls Club of the Emerald Coast. While most of the cyclists were from Florida, about 22 percent were from Alabama and about 5 percent each were from Mississippi and Louisiana.

Adrianne Sams, site manager for Arcadia Mill – an 18th century lumber mill and industrial complex in Pea Ridge – said the annual history lectures at Arcadia reap benefits throughout the year. In 2014, about 200 people attended the four lectures, the most ever.

“I think the exposure Arcadia receives through the Beaches to Woodlands Tour most certainly has an impact on visitation during the rest of the year,” she said. “The Beaches to Woodlands Tour is a widely popular and well-executed program that provides a year-round impact for places such as Arcadia Mill that strive for repeat visitation.”

Like all tourism, heritage tourism is good for the local economy, Compton said.

“A sense of place and authenticity matters to many travelers. They like to have opportunities to learn about local culture and history, and the more we make those opportunities available the better tourism and those supported by those efforts will do,” he said.

“History-based tourism is very supportive of local businesses and often the same visitors going to historic sites and events also want to try local restaurants, buy local arts and crafts and stay overnight in places that offer a tie to those resources such as lodging along our historic river and creek travel corridors.

“Events such as those that make up Beaches to Woodlands help people enjoy and learn more about our county, thus keeping it in people’s mind’s eye.”