Upon being ceded to the War Department by the U.S. Forestry Service back in 1940, the vast expanse of 800 square miles encompassing Gulf Coast shoreline and pine forests was designated as a primary location for gunnery and bombing training during the era of World War II.

Traces of test bombs dropped by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle’s B-25 squadron in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack are believed to still linger within the boundaries of Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou State Park, with a concrete bomb possibly originating from his squadron.

Post-war, the advancing wave of urban expansion rendered the region unsuitable for continued use as a bombing range.

By the late 1950s, Colonel Fred Gannon, who served as the Director of Civil Engineering at Eglin Air Force Base, put forth a visionary proposal to transform the erstwhile bombing range into a space for public enjoyment. The engineering team, guided by his innovative vision, commenced the initial development of the park according to his meticulous designs.

It was in 1966, soon after the completion of extensive road and trail infrastructure, that the state government procured the lands, thus integrating them into the esteemed network of the Florida State Park system.