The first mayor of Shalimar was the founder of the town. In 1943 Clifford Meigs initially developed the place to house military officers who worked at the nearby Eglin Air Force Base. Meigs’ town saw the light of day, unlike the previous plans for Port Dixie. [1] The name ‘Port Dixie’ would stick and continued to be used for the Lake Lorraine area.

In early Shalimar was the Shalimar club, run by Roger Clary [2] The club, like the rest of Okaloosa County was rampant with gambling. Clary came to Meigs to suggest that Shalimar incorporate as a town. The reason Clary wanted this was because state law illegalized clubs staying open from 12:00AM Saturday to Monday morning in unincorporated zones. [1]

Meigs agreed to incorporate the town in 1947 saying “The owner came to me and suggested incorporation, and while I didn’t think I had much to gain then, I agreed. With only about three other freeholders in the area, it was a simple matter to get incorporated.” The club would only get a few years as soon after the Tampa Tribune would bring attention to the Gambling problem in the County and Governor Fuller Warren would end it. [1]

As to the way Meigs ran Shalimar, it was very unique. Instead of encouraging rapid growth early on by selling a bunch of the land, like most towns. He actually kept almost all of the 100 acres for better quality development. In 1950 Shalimar’s population was 195 total people. [2] The town council members weren’t elected by the citizens but rather appointed by the same council and there hadn’t been an election to decide the Mayor before. [4]

Clifford Meigs’ philosophy when developing Shalimar was “to keep the operation of the city simple and inexpensive with a tax-free basis.”[3] According to Councilman Davis Hanks. There was little in taxes only a utility tax and a flat $5 water rate, [4] which as of February 2025 is equal to $53.54.

Clifford Meigs served as mayor until he passed away on July 25, 1960. Before his death he sold a lot of his land and donated land to Choctawhatchee High School, [5] later renamed to Meigs Middle School in his honor. [6]

During Clifford Meigs’ term his brother, Clyde Meigs, was a city councilman. After the death of Clifford Clyde was chosen as mayor of Shalimar by the city council to fill out the rest of Clifford’s term in November of 1960. [7] [8]

Clyde Meigs wasn’t to different from his brother when it came to running the town. When he first became Mayor he “pledged to continue to operate the town in the same tradition as his brother.” [4]

After his term Clyde Meigs served as a City Council member until his death on September 9, 1964. There is a Y.M.C.A. Camp named after him because he was one of the charters of the organization and supported it until he passed away. [8]

The first woman mayor was Sara Tras. She became the wife of Clifford Meigs in 1955 but after he passed away she Married James Tras. [9] During her time as Mayor she oversaw the opening of a new Post Office in March of 1965 at the Shalimar Office Center. The architecture of the Office Center was based off of that seen in old Spanish Mission. [10]

Mrs. Tras said of the project “This is what we hope to bе the beginning of a new neighborhood shopping center built on this same architectural style.” This was the fifth time the post office had moved, today it still resides at the same Spanish inspired building. [10]

Sara Tras left the office late June 1965. [11]

James Tras, nicknamed Jim, became mayor of Shalimar on June 30, 1965. After being appointed to the position by the Town Council. [11] During his time in charge he and the town council took a stand against vandalism, which was a big issue back in the day. If the Playground News is to be believed, it wasn’t uncommon to find damaged buildings and mailboxes and to hear random gunfire around town. [12] The town council declared that April 17-21 1967 would be Cleanup week. [13]

One minor issue that came up was a group of people in Port Dixie wanting to join Shalimar so that they could avoid County laws relating to trailer courts. Tras didn’t hear about the situation until he was asked about it by reporters. [14]

 Jim Tras was also interested in the larger local community, as mayor he advocated for the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce to have leadership over all of southern Okaloosa County. [15] In 1969 Tras decided not to run for re-election as Mayor. [16] Afterwards he ran for County Commissioner the next year. Tras wanted the County to “[incentivize] diversification of industry  and business” and for “Emphasis [to] be placed on agriculture, forestry, and other home-owned business.” [17] In an interview Tras expressed a desire for advance water treatment in sewage, believed that efficient transportation can be funded with taxpayer subsidy and to allow private businesses to develop. One policy he ran on though was to oppose any new taxes. [18]

Tras did continue to be involved in Shalimar Politics. He was elected and became commissioner in 1969. [19][20] He would eventually become Planning and Zoning Board Chairman, but mayor Kathleen Bowman would try to remove him from office due to him failing to schedule board meetings. She sent a letter to Tras on February 4 that requested for his resignation, but it wouldn’t get to Tras until February 9. Which gave Tras less than a week’s time to respond. Bowman and the commissioners gave Tras more time to respond. [21] On March 12 Tras the commissioners decided unanimously to keep Jim Tras. [22]

James Tras ran for mayor in 1991 he got 36 votes, 24.48% of the voter base, which wasn’t enough to win. [23]

On June 24, 1969 Pop Sullivan was elected mayor of Shalimar. [16]  A retired Navy Sailor,[24] even though he was a senor citizen Sullivan was quite physically active. In 1973 he issued a challenge to his opponents in the upcoming March of Dimes March event that he would raise more money and walk more miles than all of them combined. Another challenge he made was that he would raise as much money as one of the schools in the area. “I may be considered to be a senior; however, I have issued the challenge to those ‘youngsters’ and I dare them to take me up on it.” Sullivan said. [25] The Mayor would go on to raise the most amount of money in the adult division and get an aware for being the oldest marcher at 74 years old. [26]

As mayor Pop Sullivan introduced a department for ensuring the inhabitants of the town are following the Florida Electrical Code, as is required of the town by the state of Florida. [27] [28] Sullivan and the town council also proclaimed October 8-14 1972 as Fire Prevention Week. [29]

Playground Daily News, July 13, 1973, Page 5

Pop was followed up by Thomas Maulden in 1973. [30] Before then Maulden had been a Councilman.

In august of 1975 the Shalimar government turned its eye towards Barnett Bank of Pensacola for failing to keep clean 100 lots of land in the town. This violated the town’s clean up ordinance put in place by Mayor Maulden. Shalimar Residents had reported seeing snakes and foot-long rats around the property and a petition had been brought to the Shalimar Council in June demanding the that the town make Barnett Bank comply with the ordinace. On July 7 a letter was mailed to the bank informing them of the issue, Shalimar didn’t recive any reply. Maulden ordered for workers to clean up the lots calling them “unsightly and unhealthy.” The town looked into having the State’s Attorney Office look into the case and considered taking legal action aganist the bank. [31] [32] [33] A week later Barnett Bank sent workers to clean up the property finally ending the ordeal. [33]