Born And Raised In The South...,

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

St. Vincent Island, FL

St. Vincent Island is the western-most of 4 barrier islands in the northwestern Florida Gulf coast which include Cape St. George Island, St. George Island and Dog Island. St. Vincent Island is located just offshore in Franklin County, Florida south southeast of Cape San Blas and north of Cape St. George Island close to the mouth of the Apalachicola River and the town of Apalachicola on the Florida Panhandle.

History

St. Vincent was inhabited as far back as 240 A.D. In 1633, Franciscan Friars named the island while visiting Apalachee tribes in the area.

In 1750 Creek indians and Seminoles, offshoots of the Creek nation, entered area and inhabited the island.

In 1868 George Hatch bought the island.

In 1908, a Dr. Pierce imported Old World game animals to the island. In 1920 the island was use to graze beef cattle sold to Apalachicola markets.

In 1940, the first oyster lease was granted. The Pierce Estate sold first pine saw timber. St. Joe lumber Company built a temporary bridge to island for timber removal.

In 1948, the Loomis brothers bought the island and imported zebras, elands, black buck, ring-necked pheasants, Asian jungle fowl, bobwhite quail, and semi-wild turkeys.

In 1968 St Vincent was purchased by Nature Conservancy for $2.2 million. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service repaid the Conservancy with money from Duck Stamp sales and established the island as St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge.

RW75, 2008 Federal Duck Stamp

Geography

Live oak or evergreen oak

The island is made up of ridges and swales of sand dominated by live oak and other hardwoods. The oldest sand ridge is about 3000 years old. The island also has tidal marshes, 18 sq. miles (49 km²) of freshwater lakes and streams.

Wildlife

St. Vincent is home to numerous shore birds, an abundance of alligators, nesting ospreys and bald eagles, Peregrine falcons, wood storks, Sambar deer (native to Southeast Asia) and the native white-tailed deer. The island is also a haven for endangered species such as Loggerhead sea turtles, indigo snakes, gopher tortoises and the red wolf.

Two American Alligators

Ospreys

Bald Eagle

Peregrine falcons

Wood Storks

Sambar Deer

White-tailed Deer

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

Indigo Snakes

Gopher Tortoise

Red Wolf

External links

Forgotten Florida
Apalachee

Monday, May 18, 2009

Cape St. George Island, FL

Cape St. George Island (also known as Little St. George Island) is an uninhabited barrier island situated on Florida’s North Gulf Coast, south-southeast of St. Vincent Island, west of St. George Island and 8-10 miles south-southwest of the town of Apalachicola in Franklin County, Florida. It was formerly part of St. George Island, but was separated from the main island in 1954, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the ship channel known as Bob Sikes Cut.

Cape St. George Island, Florida.

History

Various Indian cultures occupied St. George Island for hundreds of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. Pottery fragments dating from A.D. 750 to 1450 occasionally are found on older portions of the island. Throughout the 1830's Apalachicola became Florida's largest port due to the booming cotton industry. With such a large volume of ships entering and leaving Apalachicola Bay a lighthouse was necessary. In 1831 the Florida Territorial Legislature was awarded an $11,800 Congressional appropriation to build a new lighthouse. The first lighthouse was constructed at the west end of the island in 1833 near West Pass, which was the main entrance to the bay. Due to the shape of St. George Island a second lighthouse was constructed at the southernmost tip to better guide ships. The second lighthouse only lasted three years due to poor construction and powerful storms. A replacement lighthouse was constructed in 1852 and stood over 500 yards inland from the Gulf. However, by 1990 beach erosion left the lighthouse vulnerable. The lighthouse finally succumbed to the weather when it toppled into the water July 10, 2005. A new replica of the Cape St. George lighthouse was finished December 1, 2006 on St. George Island.

Pine trees on Cape St. George Island were "catfaced" used to make turpentine from 1910 through 1916. During World War II the island served as a practice gunnery range for B-24 bombers stationed in nearby Apalachicola. From 1950 through 1956 the pine trees were again harvested for turpentine. The old buildings of the turpentine camp are still in existence at the Government Dock.

Cape St. George Island was purchased in 1977 under the Environmentally Endangered Lands program to protect it from development and to contribute to the protection of Apalachicola Bay. It is now Cape St. George State Reserve. The reserve is managed by the Florida Department of Natural Resources, Division of Recreation and Parks in cooperation with the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. The reserve's remoteness and wilderness qualities provide an opportunity to explore and enjoy a remnant of Florida's original natural landscape.

Geography

The island has extensive savannahs, old relic sand dune ridges and sand dunes and salt marshes. Ponds and marshes are found in the low swales between the old dune ridges. A small coastal hammock and black willow swamp can also be found.

Hammocks growing on a Florida marshland, in the southeast.

Black Willow Cultivated Specimen

A freshwater swamp in Florida

Vegetation

Cape St. George Island is covered by several plant communities. Scrub and sea oats can be found on the newer dunes, Slash pine flatwoods are found in the low swales and savannahs. Scattered cabbage palmetto are found on overwash portions at the east and west ends of the island.

Sea Oats

Slash Pine plantation

Cabbage Palm

Wildlife

There are few mammals on the island due to the distance from the mainland, raccoons are the most common. However, birds are very diverse and abundant during migration in the spring and fall. In 1997 a population of Red Wolf was introduced to the island. Most notable are the endangered peregrine falcon and bald eagle. Threatened loggerhead sea turtles nest on the beach during the summer, as do oystercatchers and the endangered snowy plovers. Cottonmouths are common in the ponds and marshes.

Raccoon

Red_Wolf

peregrine falcon

Bald Eagle

Loggerhead Sea Turtle

American Black Oystercatcher

Snowy Plover

Cottonmouth Snakes

Website

Light House Friends

Chattahoochee, FL

Chattahoochee is a city in Gadsden County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,287 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 3,720. It is part of the Tallahassee, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

View looking toward the Jim Woodruff Dam in Chattahoochee, Florida

Geography

Chattahoochee is located at 30°41′50″N 84°50′25″W/30.697257°N 84.840193°W/30.697257; -84.840193.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.6 km² (5.6 mi²). 14.1 km² (5.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.5 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (3.37%) is water.

View of Road 269 : Chattahoochee, Florida

Historic places

Amos Building, near main entrance

Florida State Hospital, the hospital involved in the famous United States Supreme Court decision, O'Connor v. Donaldson, is located adjacent to Chattahoochee. The former arsenal and current Administration Building of Florida State Hospital is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Building - #73000578) . The hospital was featured in a 1989 movie, Chattahoochee, starring Gary Oldman and Dennis Hopper, in which a war hero, Chris Calhoun, is involuntarily committed to Florida State Hospital where he sees doctors at the hospital humiliating patients and experiences filth and abuse.