Adam J. Gerlach
(1846-1920)

Died aged c. 74

Adam J. Gerlach, was born in 1846 in Indiana and came to Camp Walton in 1912. The following year, along with his son-in-law and daughter, he purchased the Gulfview Hotel. The Gulfview was built in 1906 as a hunting and fishing lodge and is one of the earliest structures remaining in Fort Walton Beach. Gerlach was instrumental in bringing the Roman Catholic Church to Camp Walton. After the lobby of the Gulfview Hotel became too small to accommodate Sunday Mass, he petitioned Bishop Allen in Mobile to establish a Catholic church in the community. In 1914, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the first church building in Camp Walton was completed. Adam Gerlach died in 1920.

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