Wakulla County Deed & Recording Guide

Wakulla Springs has the kind of clear, deep water that attracts both wildlife and filmmakers. Scenes for Tarzan's Secret Treasure in 1941 and Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954 were filmed at or around the spring. Glass-bottom boat tours later made the underwater landscape a star in its own right. Today Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park protects the spring, river and surrounding forest, where manatees, alligators and birds remain considerably less interested in screen credit.

Crawfordville is the county seat and principal population center, although it is not incorporated. Panacea and Ochlockonee Bay are coastal communities associated with fishing, seafood and access to Apalachee Bay. St. Marks, an incorporated city at the meeting of the St. Marks and Wakulla rivers, has a long port history. Sopchoppy is known for its small-town center and annual Worm Gruntin' Festival. Shadeville and Medart are other familiar local place names along the county's main roads.

Wakulla has grown as a residential neighbor of Tallahassee while keeping large areas of forest, wetlands and coast. That produces deeds for subdivision homes, rural acreage, river parcels, coastal lots and timberland. Some descriptions come from plats; others use section, township and range or metes and bounds. Flood zones, private access and environmental features may affect the practical use of land, but a deed's first job is to identify precisely what interest and parcel are being conveyed.

The Wakulla County Clerk of the Circuit Court & County Comptroller records documents in Official Records at 3056 Crawfordville Highway, Crawfordville, Florida 32327. The recording desk lists 850-926-0326. Paper documents may be delivered at the office or mailed there, and the clerk supports electronic recording through participating vendors.

Standard recording is $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, with $1 for each indexed name after four. Documentary stamp tax on deeds is generally 70 cents per $100, or fraction, of taxable consideration. Documents must satisfy Florida requirements for signatures, witnesses, acknowledgment, preparer information and grantee address. Coastal charm does not waive a missing notarial certificate.

The clerk also documents an unusual preservation project. Using a state grant, the office scanned and indexed historical records from 1842 through 1962, including Deed Books A through 61. That work makes a substantial part of Wakulla's older land history easier to locate while protecting the original volumes from repeated handling.

The Wakulla County Property Appraiser's search can help locate parcel and assessment information. The clerk's Official Records index provides deeds and other recorded instruments. Both deserve review, particularly for older rural descriptions or parcels that have been divided.

A spring can play a monster's lagoon on film and still be a real place when the cameras leave. Property records work the opposite way: they cannot rely on appearances. A Crawfordville home, Panacea lot, St. Marks parcel or Sopchoppy acreage needs the real names, legal description and execution details in the permanent record. That is less cinematic, but it makes for a much better ending.