In 1928, there were 90 residents in Niceville, 50 in Valparaiso, and 30 in Camp Walton. Gas cost 15 cents a gallon, sturgeon was 16 cents a pound, red snapper 9 cents a pound, and shrimp 13 cents a pound at the local trade store.

Also, during the late 1920's subscription rates for the newspaper were $1 per year. Produce could be exchanged for subscriptions at 10 cents per pound for pecans, $3.50 for a cord of wood, and $1.00 for a bushel of peanuts. In the mid-1930's, the "News Journal" was bought by young Robert F. Sikes, a man with clear political ambitions, and the "He Coon" of Northwest Florida politics.