Crestview History Museum at the Bush House

The Crestview History Museum fills the Bush House, a 1926 Craftsman home that the Louisville & Nashville Railroad built for track supervisor Lorenza Bush. The City of Crestview renovated the house in 2022 with no original interior photos or floorplans to guide the work, and the museum opened on September 8, 2022. The house counts as one of the exhibits, with its original four downstairs rooms plus rear additions from the 1930s and 1940s, and it turns 100 in 2026.

The museum is at 198 S Wilson St in Crestview; for information, call the Crestview Welcome + Adventure Center at 850-689-4296. Exhibits rotate periodically and draw on the area’s cultural heritage. Past topics have included Crestview Businesses and Commerce, Healthcare in Crestview, Crestview Goes to War and an Alatex quilt display.

Admission is free, except for special fundraising events (as of September 2026). The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10am to 4pm, and on most second Saturdays. School groups, classes and community organizations are welcome to arrange tours, and the museum drew about 1,350 visitors in its first year.

The city’s Historic Preservation Board runs the museum and hosts community events on the grounds. Crestview History Day in June 2026 marked the city’s 110th anniversary and the house’s centennial. Crestview was chartered in 1916 and became the Okaloosa County seat in 1917, and the museum is a good first stop for anyone curious about the town’s railroad roots.