Palatka, FL

 
 City Hall

Palatka is a city in Putnam County, Florida, United States. The population was 10,033at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,796. It is the county seat of Putnam County and includes East Palatka. The city is home to St. Johns River Community College and Ravine Gardens State Park and hosts a bluegrass music festival twice a year.

Gas stations on Road 15 : Putnam County, Florida

History



Bird's-eye View in c. 1880

The area was once the domain of the Timucuan nation, two tribes of which existed in the Palatka region under chiefs Saturiwa and Utina. They fished bass and mullets, or hunted deer, turkeys, bear and opossum. Others farmed beans, corn, melons, squash and tobacco. But war and disease devastated the tribes. Florida would then be taken over by the Seminole, who called the location Pilo-taikita, meaning boat (pilo) ford (taikita), or "boat crossing." Here the St. Johns River narrows and begins a shallower, winding course upstream to Lake George and Lake Monroe.

View of the Charles Boyd home : Palatka, Florida

Because of the Treaty of Paris, control of Florida changed in 1763 from Spain to England. In 1767, Denys Rolle, an English philanthropist and nobleman, established Rollestown on the east bank of the St. Johns River at the head of deep water navigation. His 78,000 acre (320 km²) plantation was a utopian commercial and humanitarian experiment, recruiting settlers off the streets of London, including paupers, vagrants, pickpockets and "penitent prostitutes." Two hundred indentured servants arrived to clear wilderness for agriculture and livestock. Unaccustomed to either hard work or a subtropical climate, however, they scattered. Rolle next imported slaves from West Africa to tend chickens, hogs, goats and sheep, or produce cotton, indigo, citrus and turpentine for export to England. A mansion was built and a village laid out, but trouble beleaguered the "ideal society." In 1770, a disgruntled overseer sold over 1,000 of his employer's cattle and disappeared with the money. Rolle hired new overseers and bought more slaves, but the plantation remained unprosperous. When Spain resumed control of Florida in 1783, Rolle abandoned the colony and chartered a ship to carry his household belongings, livestock and slaves to a 2,000 acre (8 km²) estate on Great Exuma in the Bahamas. The point in East Palatka, however, is still called Rollestown.

View of Florida Furniture Product's building : Palatka, Florida

With changes of sovereignty in Florida came numerous changes of ownership in Pilatka, as Pilo-taikita was first contracted. In 1774, naturalist William Bartram noted an Indian village on the west bank, but it would vanish. After the United States acquired Florida in 1821, Nehemiah Brush established a ferry and bought a 1,200 acre (4.9 km²) tract in 1826 and then an equal number in 1827. The site became a distribution point, where goods were shipped by a New York company to supply immigrants at the Grant of Arredondo, which lay to the west.

Hiawatha on the Oklawaha River, 1918

Hart Line's "Hiawatha" steamboat carrying passengers, 1919

The infusion of American settlers, however, created hostility among the Seminole people. When the government attempted to relocate the tribe starting in 1833, the Second Seminole War began. Pilatka was attacked and burned in 1835. Recognizing the site's strategic importance for control of the St. Johns River, the main artery into Central Florida, the military in 1838 established Fort Shannon, named for Captain Samuel Shannon. It included a garrison, supply depot and hospital. During 1842 the Seminole were driven from the area, and consequently Fort Shannon was abandoned by the army in 1843. But the piers and buildings it had erected (including 8 blockhouses, 5 of which burned in a fire of 1855) would spur development of the town. By 1847, it was growing rapidly. In 1849, Putnam County was created, with Pilatka the county seat. With the help of Judge Isaac H. Bronson, whose house in now a museum, it was incorporated a city in 1853.

Steamer Hiawatha in 1905

During the 1850s, Florida in general and Pilatka in particular gained a reputation as a haven for invalids escaping northern winters. Steamboats carried them up the river in increasing numbers. One visitor wrote that amusements included "sailing, fishing, rowing, walking, riding in buggy and on horseback, whist, enchre, backgammon and hunting." The trend was interrupted by the Civil War, when gunboats cruised the waters and Pilatka was destitute and largely deserted. On October 7, 1862, the USS Cimarron fired several shells over the town after seeing some Confederate cavalry. Mary Boyd pleaded with Union Commander Maxwell Woodhull to spare Pilatka, assuring him that the horse soldiers were not residents. He complied. Following the rebellion, tourists returned to find new hotels, including the Putnam House and the Larkin House. Steamers ran up the Ocklawaha River to Eustis, Leesburg and Silver Springs, or the St. Johns River to Enterprise and Sanford. Industries included logging, raising cattle and hogs, and orange groves. On May 24, 1875, the post office changed the spelling to Palatka, ending confusion with Picolata.

Mule drawn street railroad car

By the 1880s, several competing railroads crossed the community, which became an important junction. These included the Florida Southern Railroad, the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railroad, the St. Augustine and Palatka Railway, and the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad. But on November 7, 1884, Palatka suffered a devastating fire. Guests arrived that season to find no accommodations, and so continued on the train south -- the beginning of a gradual tourism shift elsewhere. It would also lose trade, shipping and transportation preeminence to Jacksonville. Nevertheless, with its downtown rebuilt in brick to be fireproof, Palatka emerged a finer place.

Winter in Florida, 1893

In 1893, A. E. and H. S. Wilson of Saginaw, Michigan bought the Noah J. Tilghman & Son sawmill, which manufactured cypress lumber. Renamed the Wilson Cypress Company, it expanded operations and became a major employer. At its peak, it was the second largest cypress mill in the world, but closed in 1944. The Great Freeze of 1894 and 1895 destroyed Palatka's citrus groves for 5 years, which were formerly a major attraction. The ill-fated Cross Florida Barge Canal was once intended to pass the city. Today, tourism remains important.

View of Union Railroad Station : Palatka, Florida

Notable residents:

Isaac H. Bronson, judge & congressman

Pop Lloyd, baseball player

William Dunn Moseley, first governor of the state of Florida

Joseph Stilwell, general

Jarvis Williams, football player

John L. Williams, football player

Michelle McCool, American professional wrestler

Willie Offord, football player

Alexander Strausz, cartographer, school superintendent, engineer and brewer

Johnny Tillotson, American singer, songwriter

Sites of interest:

Angel's Diner (Florida's Oldest Diner)

Old Atlantic Coast Line Union Depot, home of the Palatka Railroad Preservation Society

Bronson-Mulholland House (1854), home of the Putnam County Historical Society & Museum

Central Academy

Larimer Memorial Library

Palatka North Historic District

Palatka South Historic District

Ravine Gardens State Park

St. Mark's Episcopal Church

External links:

City of Palatka

Palatka Daily News

Palatka Florida Community News

Palatka Bluegrass Festival

Placing the cornerstone : Palatka, Florida, 1916

Larkin House in c. 1880

Second Street in 1880

Street scene : Palatka, Florida, 1916

Articulated train of the Ocklawaha Valley Railroad Company, 1915

Bird's eye view of park and city hall : Palatka, Florida, 1915

Looking north along River street : Palatka, Florida, 1914

Looking down Lemon street : Palatka, Florida, 1914

River Street, from a 1913 postcard

Saratoga Hotel building : Palatka, Florida, 1911

General view of the skyline at the waterfront part of the city : Palatka, Florida, 1910

Fountain in front of office

Putnam House hotel : Palatka, Florida, 1908

Protection of citrus against weather : East Palatka, Florida,1905

Advertising card for the Ocklawaha and Saint Johns Navigation Company

Collapse of railroad bridge : Palatka, Florida, 1903

Colonel H.L. Hart's garden, 1890

The Gray family in front of their home, 1890

Apopka, FL

Apopka (APK) is a city located in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,969 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2006, the city grew to 53,563. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Apopka is an Indian word for “Potato eating place”. Popka is coincidentally a Ukrainian term for a small butt.

Looking east at Road 500, 1956

History

The earliest known inhabitants of the Apopka area were the Acuera people, members of the Timucua confederation. They had disappeared by 1730, probably decimated by diseases brought to Florida by Spanish colonists.

Route through downtown area crossing Central Avenue, 1956

The Acuera were succeeded by refugees from Alabama and Georgia, who formed the new Seminole Indian Tribe. They called the area "Ahapopka," which means "potato eating place." By the 1830s, this settlement numbered about 200, and was the birthplace of the chief Coacoochee (known in English as "Wild Cat").

View of Lake Tsala Apopka

At the conclusion of the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, forcing surviving natives at Ahapopka to abandon their village and seek refuge deeper in the wilderness of the Florida peninsula.

Man fishing in Lake Apopka by Johnson's Fishing Camp

Johnson's Fishing Camp at Lake Apopka

Walker's Fishing Camp at Lake Apopka

The early American settlers built a major trading center on the foundations of the earlier Indian settlement. Their population was large enough by 1857 to support the establishment of a Masonic lodge. In 1859 the lodge erected a permanent meeting place at what is now the intersection of Main Street (U.S. Highway 441) and Alabama Avenue.

Pat's Place on Highway 441 : Apopka, Florida

The settlers in the vicinity of "The Lodge" were largely isolated during the American Civil War, but the area rebounded once peace was re-established, and a population boom followed the construction of railroad lines through the region.

Masonic Lodge, Orange Lodge No. 36 F.A.M. : Apopka, Florida

In 1882 the one square mile surrounding "The Lodge" was officially incorporated under the name "Apopka."

In 1905, the Apopka City Council authorized incorporation of the Apopka Water, Light, and Ice Company. Councilman A.M. Starbird was appointed its manager, but it was not until voters approved a $9,000 bond in 1914 that he was able to contract with International Harvester Corporation to construct a power plant, so electricity was not available in the city until February 10, 1915. This independent utility company was one of many that were gobbled up by the Florida Public Service Corporation in the 1920s. They continued to manage the city's utility needs until the 1940s, when they sold off its ice plants to the Atlantic Company, its electric service to Florida Power Corporation, and its water services to Florida Utilities.

The Palms Hotel

Present-day Apopka

Apopka's mayor, John Land, has served for over 55 years (with a short three-year gap) and is one of the longest serving mayors still in office.

William Edwards Hotel : Apopka, Florida

William Edwards Hotel

Apopka is a fast-growing city and is expanding in all directions. Most notable are the new Lowes and Home Depot DIY stores to the north of the city on US 441 in the location of the previous Dunn Citrus grove (the stretch of 441 which runs through the city is named after Fred N. Dunn). Other businesses on the former Dunn Citrus site include Staples office supply and a second Chili's restaurant.

The new Apopka bypass (to be named after Mayor Land) will relieve some of 441's traffic, taking the route from what is now the 441 junction with SR 429, and then passing south of the city to rejoin 441 at its junction with Maitland Blvd. south of the city.

Points of interest

Carroll Building

Apopka Seaboard Air Line Railway Depot

Mitchill-Tibbetts House

Museum of the Apopkans

Ryan & Company Lumber Yard

Waite-Davis House

Camp Thunderbird

Education

Apopka is served by Orange County Public Schools.

A satellite campus of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy is located in Apopka.

University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Science Mid-Florida Research and Education Center is located in Apopka.

Notable residents

John Anderson - country singer

Sawyer Brown - country music band founded in Apopka

Rogers Beckett - former NFL safety

Jerry Lawson - former lead singer of the The Persuasions

Brandon Meriweather - former University of Miami All-American safety and presently a defensive back for the New England Patriots

Warren Sapp - All-Pro NFL defensive lineman

Monty Sopp - professional wrestler, former WWF/E World Tag Team, Intercontinental, and Hardcore Champion

Glenn Hubbard - dean, Columbia University Graduate School of Business

Apopka in Literature

Apopka is referenced in Zora Neale Hurston's famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

External link:

City Of Apopka

Destin, FL

Destin is a city located on the Emerald Coast of Florida, in Okaloosa County. The city styles itself "The World's Luckiest Fishing Village", and claims to have the largest fishing vessel fleet in the state of Florida. Destin is known for its white beaches and emerald-colored waters. Originating as a small fishing village, it is now a popular tourist destination – according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, over 80 percent of the Emerald Coast's 4.5 million visitors each year visit Destin.

Destin is a principal city of the Fort Walton Beach–Crestview–Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Nickname(s): The World's Luckiest Fishing Village

Geography

The city is located on a peninsula separating the Gulf of Mexico from Choctawhatchee Bay. The peninsula was originally an island; hurricanes and sea level changes gradually connected the island to the mainland.

Destin is near several other cities in the region. The city of Fort Walton Beach, Florida is located to the west at the inlet of Santa Rosa Sound into Choctawhatchee Bay. North of Destin across the bay is Niceville, Florida, with the Mid-Bay Bridge linking the two by road. At further distance are Panama City (to the east) and Pensacola (to the west), each about 50 miles away.

At the western tip of the peninsula is East Pass (also known as Destin Pass), separating it from Santa Rosa Island to the west. East Pass is the only outlet of Choctawhatchee Bay into the Gulf of Mexico. Many sources claim that the pass was dug by hand, with an inrush of water widening it within hours. This appears to be inaccurate: the pass appears in early maps and surveys from Spanish, French, and English surveyors, such as Thomas Jefferys's 1775 map The Coast of West Florida and Louisiana. Frequent dredging is required to keep East Pass navigable.

"Crab Island," a significant sandbar located in East Pass, is a popular anchorage in the area. The entrance to Destin Harbor, a lagoon between the beaches and the main body of the western portion of the peninsula, is located just north of the East Pass jetty. The lagoon is formed by a sand spit named Holiday Isle; many condominiums have been built along the harbor since the 1970s.

History

The earliest humans in the area arrived around 12,000 years before present. Agriculture was eventually introduced, and there are still signs of this early inhabitation in the area. Members of the Fort Walton Culture built a ceremonial mound in Fort Walton Beach.

Ft Walton Beach Temple Mound

Destin is named after Captain Leonard Destin, a New London fishing master, who settled in the area around 1845 or 1850. He built a New England colonial home at the location of the Monroe Point military reservation. Captain Destin and his descendants fished the area for decades.

The first condominiums were built in the 1970s, although Destin was not incorporated as a municipality until 1984. The city has experienced rapid growth since the 1980s.

Tourism

An image of a Destin beach, showing the emerald green waters typical of the Emerald Coast.

The white beaches and emerald waters of the Destin area draw many tourists. Florida's Department of Environmental Protection estimates that more than 80 percent of the Emerald Coast's 4.5 million yearly visitors travel to the region to visit Destin. Visitors can charter fishing vessels from the harbor, and there are 12beach access points in the city. Among the access points is Henderson Beach State Recreation Area. A portion of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the Okaloosa Day Use Area, is just across East Pass on Santa Rosa Island.

The sand on Destin's beaches is some of the whitest in the world. The sand comes from the Appalachian Mountains, and is made of finely ground quartz crystal giving the appearance of sugar. Residue flows down the Apalachicola River and is deposited into the Gulf of Mexico. Because of the currents the sand drifts west along the Gulf Coast and settles from east of Panama City to the Alabama coast.

The central plaza of Destin Commons.

Several manmade attractions have been built in and around Destin. Nearest the city's center is Big Kahuna's, a water and adventure park. Destin Commons is an open-air shopping mall located to the east of the city, with a 14-screen Rave Motion Pictures cinema, a Hard Rock Cafe, and numerous tenants such as Bass Pro Shops, Belk, Books-A-Million, Banana Republic, and Abercrombie & Fitch. Further east is the Silver Sands Outlet Mall, which claims to be "the nation's largest designer outlet center."











Several events also take place throughout the year as well. For the month of October, the annual Destin Fishing Rodeo draws anglers to Destin each year since 1948. Also in the month of October is the Destin Seafood Festival, where fresh seafood and local artists gather for one weekend every October.

In addition to an assortment of hotels and motels, many high-rise condominiums are located in Destin. The first condominiums in Destin were built in the 1970s, and construction continues today. Visitors can also rent private homes. Visitors play a large part in Destin's economy – the city's population of around 12,000 balloons to 40,000 during the tourist season.

Destin's surroundings include other popular tourist destinations. Sandestin, Florida, located to the east in Walton County, is a popular golf and beach resort. Further east along the coast is the master-planned community of Seaside, filming location of the 1998 movie The Truman Show. To the west are Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach, and the Civil War fortification Fort Pickens is located at the western end of Santa Rosa Island.

The Truman Show

Notable citizens

Mike Fischetti - Born in Destin, now presents UK children's TV show SMart

Kevin Greene - former NFL linebacker

Dave Hope - Bassist of the band Kansas

Tyson Ritter - Bassist/Vocalist of the band The All-American Rejects

Ernest Shahid - Commercial real estate developer

Nick Wheeler - Guitarist of the band The All-American Rejects

Danny Wuerffel - former Florida Gators and NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner

External links

City of Destin

Destin Area Chamber of Commerce

Emerald Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau

Destin Harbor

The Beachcomber - Destin newspaper

Henderson Beach State Park

Northwest Florida Daily News