During the depression, Plew sought a military presence to boost the economy so he leased the Valparaiso Airport from the City of Valparaiso and offered the U.S. Government nearly 1500 acres of land. Today that land is known as Eglin Air Force Base.
Editor’s Note: This is the last article in our eight-part series featuring the inaugural inductees in the Niceville Valparaiso Civic Hall of Fame. The series is sponsored by our Community Partner, Twin Cities Hospital. The 2017 inductees will be announced at the Civic Hall of Fame Luncheon on July 19.
James Ellsworth Plew was born in 1862 in Brown County, Illinois, and moved to Valparaiso as one of the pioneer developers in Northwest Florida in 1922. Here he founded the Bank of Valparaiso and constructed the Valparaiso Inn.
During the depression, Plew sought a military presence to boost the economy so he leased the Valparaiso Airport from the City of Valparaiso and offered the U.S. Government nearly 1500 acres of land. Today that land is known as Eglin Air Force Base. A plaque mounted at the East Gate of Eglin Field was installed commemorating his patriotism and generosity that made Eglin Field possible.
Plew passed away in 1938 leaving his wife Nettie Ramond Plew, daughters Mrs. Mildred Meigs and Mrs. Marion Ruckel as well as two grandchildren, Ramonde and Walter Ruckel.
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