04/07/2026
UNTRUE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION is being shared about the Milton Historic District and the Fisher Hamilton Building as being an impediment to the four-lane project and encouraging the demolition of the nationally significant historic resource. Please attend the public workshop by the Florida-Alabama Transportation Planning Organization(TPO) today at 4:30 PM at the Milton Community Center located at 5629 Byrom Center. Public comment will be taken on transportation priorities, which includes Highway 90 through Milton. If you love the historic resources of the City of Milton, incorporated in 1844, then please attend and provide your written comment. Protecting the Fisher Hamilton Building does not prevent the FDOT four laning effort as described in the FDOT PD&E study, the very study that led to the selection of the current corridor for four laning. The following statements are directly from the FDOT documents themselves, all quotes from the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Cultural Resource Assessment Survey documents.
• One of the most memorable visuals of the City of Milton is the Johnson Drug Store on the north and the Fisher Hamilton Building on the south of U.S. 90, flanking the western approach to the Blackwater River Bridge. Under Alternative 1, the Fisher Hamilton Building would be impacted. To mitigate the effects of the roadway widening to the building, the FDOT has offered to relocate the structure(s) approximately 60-feet to the south of its current location. As a result, the look and feel of entering and exiting the historic Downtown Milton will be very similar. The Johnson Drug Store and Fisher Hamilton Buildings will continue to flanke the western approach to the Blackwater River. The proposed new location of the Fisher Hamilton Buildings will allow the building to continue to be in the Milton Historic District. Alternative 1 will preserve the aesthetic look and feel of Downtown Milton while meeting the project needs.
• Mitigation of the impacts to the Fisher Hamilton Buildings is being proposed through relocation. The relocation destination is within the historic district and adjacent to the U.S. 90 Corridor, like the existing condition. The relocated building could have an improved foundation which will protect from future flooding events.
• The Milton Historic District has been greatly changed since its first listing in 1987. However, due to the proposed mitigation strategy of relocating the Fisher Hamilton Building, Alternative 1 will not cause the Historic District to be considered ineligible for listing. The relocation of the Fisher Hamilton Buildings does constitute an adverse effect; however the proposed mitigation effects would provide a benefit which might help secure the continued, long-term integrity of design, materials, and workmanship for the resource.
• As mentioned previously, the Fisher Hamilton Buildings will require relocation due to the Alternative 1 alignment. Relocation is being suggested as a minimization and mitigation strategy for those resources. Relocating the buildings 60 feet to the south as proposed, will maintain the aesthetic look and feel of the U.S. 90 Corridor being flanked to the north and south by the two same buildings. This relocation option will also maintain the building's orientation within the District and along the waterfront and Willing Street.
• U.S. 90 travels through an area listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Milton HIstoric District has a rich history in the lumber and mill industry and is located along the Blackwater River. It is made up of turn of the century, vernacular commercial, residential, and religious buildings. The district has suffered from devastating fires and flooding which has damaged or destroyed several historic buildings. As a result, the alternatives developed during this study all included options to preserve the remaining historic structures within the district.
• The Milton Historic District (8SR00394) was listed in the NRHP on November 12, 1987, and remains eligible for listing. The District contains 162 resources, including 117 contributing and 45 non-contributing resources. Additionally, six previously recorded structures that are contributing resources to the Milton Historic District are recommended eligible for individual lising in the NRHP. Resources 8SR00572 (Imogene Theatre) and 8SR00684 (Masonic Hall) are recommended eligible under Criterion A for community planning and development planning and Criterion C for architecture. Resources 8SR00724 and 8SR00725 (both numbers refer to the Fisher Hamilton Building) are recommended eligible under Criterion A for commerce and Criterion C as excellent examples of late nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial architecture. Resources 8SR00200 (Milligan-Whitmire House) and 8SR00526 (Chadwick-Hartsell House) are recommended eligible under Criterion C as excellent examples of Folk Victorian residential architecture.
• The Florida State Historic Preservation Office determined the Fisher Hamilton Buildings (8SR00724 and 8SR00725) are contributing resources to the NRHP-listed Milton Historic District (8SR00394). The Fisher Hamilton Buildings are excellent examples of late nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial architecture. The buildings retain the majority of the seven aspects of integrity (location, setting, design, workmanship, materials, association, and feeling). The exteriors retain a high degree of integrity with the original massing, siding, and detailing. Therefore, it is the opinion of SEARCH that the Fisher Hamilton Buildings (8SR00724 and 8SR00725) within the US 90 APE remain eligible for listing in the NRHP as contributing resources to the Milton Historic District. Search also recommends that resources 8S00724 and 8SR00725 are also eligible for individual listing in the NRHP under Criterion A for commerce and Criterion C as excellent examples of late nineteenth and early twentieth century commercial architecture. The buildings are some of the last remaining commercial buildings dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Fisher Hamilton Building (8SR00724) and it subsequent addition (8SR00725) are prominent fixtures along US 90 and Willing Street at the main corner of the commercial portion of the District, which also includes the historic Santa Rosa County Courthouse to the south. A large portion of historic resources along Willing Street and what was formerly known as Grace Street, an area that has since been converted into a park, have been demolished. The area of demolition along Willing Street extends from US 90 to Pine Street. The demolition of a large portion of resources such as 8SR00728, 8SR00623, 8SR00074, and 8SR00726 along the south side of US 90 make the Fisher Hamilton buildings even more integral to the historic setting and feeling along this portion of the Milton Historic District as they are some of the last remaining buildings representative of Milton's historic commercial core
