Liza’s Legacy

There are certain people who are remembered because their impact is felt long after they have departed this earth. Liza Mae Jackson is one of them.

As a pioneer of Fort Walton Beach, once known as the fishing village of Camp Walton, Jackson’s name is monikered on a waterfront park and a preparatory school, honoring and acknowledging her contributions and commitment to community.

Community was central to all Jackson did and was, but to attempt to assign her a singular role would be impossible. Throughout her 82 years, she was a philanthropist, hotel owner, world traveler, mother, wife, building contractor, community organizer/volunteer, public health advocate, and more.

Jackson, who was born in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1888, took up residence in Northwest Florida in 1914 when she and her husband, lumber businessman William B. Harbeson, moved to DeFuniak Springs after purchasing a lumber mill there. Jackson was an avid traveler, but she found a special fondness for Northwest Florida, where she lived the remainder of her life.

Liza Jackson Preparatory School

While Jackson had previously served as a secretary and enjoyed studying music, she stepped into her full passion and potential of civic and social service in DeFuniak Springs, being elected as the vice president of the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs, remodeling the DeFuniak Springs Woman’s Club, and investing in hotels in DeFuniak Springs, Fort Walton Beach, Tallahassee, and including the famous San Carlos hotel in Pensacola.

In getting to know the region, by 1915 the couple was spending considerable time in the fishing community of Camp Walton. Jackson quickly noticed there weren’t any doctors around and made it a priority to fund the first public health clinic. She worked to bring in a traveling public health nurse who she helped on visits, even assisting in delivering babies in homes. Her next mission was founding the Fort Walton Woman’s Club, which would in turn support and maintain the health clinic used by the Okaloosa County Health Department for 18 years.

“She was a visionary,” said Terri Roberts, Jackson’s great granddaughter and chief executive officer of Liza Jackson Preparatory School. “Back in the ’30s, she was making major decisions for Fort Walton Beach as the only woman at the table. That in itself says a lot about her.”

Jackson helped form the City of Fort Walton and served on the first City Council. She also served as the chairman for the Okaloosa Chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, organized the Fort Walton Beach Public Library, she was on the founding board of the Fort Walton Bank, developed housing for military personnel and their families, and much more.

Fort Walton Beach City Hall

She donated land for several churches including St. Simon’s on the Sound Episcopal Church and First Christian Church. Liza’s granddaughter, Liz McCartney is a founding member and still regularly attends
St. Simon’s church. She was passionate in her belief that a strong, vibrant, and healthy community needed to ensure access to public parks and recreation for its citizens. To that end, she donated the land for Liza Jackson Park, Seabreeze Park, and Fort Walton Beach City Hall and the Civic Auditorium. At the time the property for the City Hall complex was donated, a recreation center, ball field, and the public library were built on the property to ensure access to public parks and recreation for the entire community. As president of the Garden Club, she planted 500 palm trees on Main Street, many of which still stand today.

“She always saw the bigger picture, that in order for these communities to thrive, be successful, and prosper, facets such as community health, government, and schools needed to be a priority,” says Carmella Pappas, Jackson’s great granddaughter. “She was concerned with what was best for all.”

Roberts and Pappas recall their great grandmother as highly intelligent, caring, and generous—a matriarch that the family and community admired.

Jackson would be happy to see the families enjoying the beauty of the region she so loved at Liza Jackson Park and would be honored to know that Liza Jackson Preparatory School is educating and preparing future generations of community activists.