USA > Florida > Florida, 1513-1913, past and future; four hundred years of wars and peace and industrial development > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
With nearly one thousand, five hundred miles of sea coast and with hundreds of miles of navigable rivers, Florida offers a greater mile- age for still-water and inlet power-boat yachting than any other state in the Union. Safe navigation is possible by the inland waterway in small boats from Fernandina to Key West, and along a large portion of the west coast. The St. Johns river and its tributary streams offer from 500 to 800 miles of smooth water, reaching a score of thriving cities and towns, and bordered in the unsettled sections by wild coun- try abounding in game.
In its topography, Florida has no mountains and its highest eleva- tions rise but little more than three hundred feet above sea level. In the western portion of the state some ranges of foot-hills give charm- ing views; and through the southern and central portions, north of Lake Okeechobee, the country has the rolling aspect of western New York. Florida, therefore, is generally level, and its greatest natural beauties arc in the wonderful combinations of trees and water. The palm, in its several varieties, is everywhere the decorative tree, by the water courses, in the depths of the forests or overhanging the ocean beaches. Great live and water oaks, which have been growing since the times of Spanish rule, add their dignity to the gracefulness of the palm.
-
WINTER SURF BATHING AT DAYTONA BEACH
PONCE DE LEON HOTEL, ST. AUGUSTINE
ROYAL POINCIANA HOTEL GROUNDS AT PALM BEACH
SAMPLE OF FLORIDA'S PAVED COUNTRY ROADS
585
FLORIDA
It is the varied beauty of its scenery, in spite of the lack of hills and mountain ranges, that has attracted lovers of nature and art since Florida was first known. Photographers, amateur and professional, find here a wide field of settings for their poses.
GOOD ROADS
For the lover of the automobile nearly every section of Florida has good roads. Each successive season sees an increasing number of winter visitors and residents arriving from New York, from Illi- nois, or even from far away Canada, in their automobiles, after driv- ing a thousand miles or more from their northern homes. An active campaign is under way to secure the construction of hard-surfaced trunk lines from Jacksonville to every important city in the middle and southern sections of the state, which will become the arteries of a system reaching every part of Florida. This will be an accom- plished fact within a few years. Already it is possible to drive com- fortably from Jacksonville to Miami, nearly three hundred and seventy-five miles, down the east coast, at the working speed of the automobile engine. Tampa and Jacksonville are connected by several routes in practical use during a large portion of the year.
It would be difficult to estimate, cven approximately, the number of visitors who are added to Florida's population each year. The figures gathered from the railroads and steamship lines make the number above two hundred thousand, and it is probable that Flor- ida's residents are increased throughi four to six months of each year by a quarter of a million people. In this number are not in- cluded the thousands who are coming to Florida, not as tourists, but to make their homes and to win their livelihood on its farms and in its groves.
The old-time misconceptions of Florida as the home of malaria and tropical diseases, of unendurable summer heat and of other unknown threatenings, have been dispelled. Its greatest importance to the outside world is not as a tourist playground, but as a great industrial field, which is growing to vast commercial importance.
SPIDER LILY
YELLOW JASMINE
THE BRYANT OAK, NEAR JACKSONVILLE
So called because it was the subject, many years ago, of a visit from William Cullen Bryant, the Poet, who wrote a verse, still preserved on a bronze tablet, attached to the tree. It reads:
The Mighty Oak By Whose Immovable Stem I Stand And Seem Almost Annihilated, Not A Prince In All The Proud Old World Across The Deep E'Er Wore His Crown, As Loftily As He Wears The Green Coronal Of Leaves With Which Thy Hand Has Graced Him.
CHAPTER XXX FLORIDA COUNTIES
N A section of such vast area as that of Florida, the second state in size east of the Mississippi river, and extending through nearly six degrees of latitude, a wide variety of soil conditions and resources must exist. A study of such conditions in the northern tier of counties would give but little suggestion of those that prevail four hundred miles further south. I
An outline of these differences is undertaken in this article, in which the county is made the basis of description. The area of the state-54,851 square miles, or 35,104,640 acres of land surface, and 58,666 square miles embracing the water surface-is divided into fifty counties, each distinctive from all the others. The measurement of area is based upon reports of the United States Geological Survey of the Department of the Interior, and the population statistics are from the reports of the Decennial Census of 1910, the most recent available. It should be remembered, however, that with one-third of another census period already passed, a due allowance should be made for the increase of these figures.
From 1900 to 1910 Florida increased in population by forty-two and four-tenths percent, or twice as rapidly as continental United States as an entirety during the same decade, and more rapidly than any other southern state or than any state east of the Mississippi river. Nearly two-thirds of this increase came in the last half of the decade, between 1905 and 1910. There can be little doubt that the increase since the latter year has been at a ratio at least as great as during the last five years of the decade. Florida's inhabitants in 1910 were counted as more than 752,000, and there is as little room for doubt that the present population of the state approximates nine hundred thousand and that it will considerably exceed one million, two hundred thousand in 1920.
The density of population for the entire state-the average number of inhabitants to each square mile of land area-advanced
591
592
FLORIDA
from 7.1 in 1890, to 9.6 in 1900 and 13.7 in 1910. Compared with Florida's population, if this state had the density of population of Ohio, it would have six and a half million residents; that of Massa- chusetts would give it almost twenty-three millions, and that of the District of Columbia, would bring more than three hundred millions, or three times the population of the United States.
For convenience in map reference, the counties have been grouped according to congressional districts, which under the census returns of 1910, were increased from three to four.
FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Area, 15,872 Square Miles-Population, 168,001-Density of Population, 10.6
This district includes the eleven counties of Lee, De Soto, Manatee, Polk, Hillsborough. Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter and Lake. It extends along the west coast from the southernmost part of the state to the central part of Florida. It has a total area of 15,872 miles, and the population in 1910 was 168,001, giving a density of population of 10.6.
LEE COUNTY
Lee county occupies the southwestern corner of this state. It has an area of 4,031 square miles, more than four times that of the State of Rhode Island. Its population in 1890 was 1,414, in 1900 it was 3,071, and in 1910, 6,294, giving it a density of population of 1.5 to the square mile.
Included in this area is a considerable portion of the Everglade section, which contains immense quantities of cypress timber. Lee county was brought into existence under an act of the Florida State Legislature of 1887. It was cut off from the county of Monroe, of which Key West was the center of population. In its early history, Lee county was little known and its resources were unappreciated, but the vastness of its territory was its salvation. Although the population was scattering, the lands were in the hands of large corpo- rations, and the tax revenues from these financed the necessary gov- ernment of the county.
In the early days, and continuing until the present time, stock- raising has been a leading industry. In the earlier days of the county, before it had a separate existence, it was the source of supply for
593
FLORIDA
much of Cuba's beef consumption and this continued until after the Spanish-American war in 1898. In former times, some of the largest herds in the world ranged over its acres, but the gradual breaking up of the arable lands into smaller farms and plantations is threatening the existence of stock-raising on the range.
A splendid variety of soil in this county is particularly adapted to the raising of early vegetables and citrus fruits. Pineapples have been undertaken on a large scale in Lee county.
Fort Myers, the county seat, is situated on the Caloosahatchec river, eighteen miles from the gulf. It is an important point in Florida's history, having been closely connected with the Seminole Indian wars. It was garrisoned by United States troops prior to 1850, and about 1857 Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, then a young officer, was in command of the fort.
Within recent years, Fort Myers and the surrounding country has become a winter home of a large number of prominent and influential northern citizens. Mr. Thomas A. Edison has here a beautiful winter home, and many other people almost as well known spend a large share of each year in this vicinity.
Lee county has a longer coast line than any other Gulf county, and its waters are alive with many varieties of food and game fishes. More than two million dollars' worth of fish were shipped from Punta Gorda under refrigeration to northern markets in 1912. Its climate is particularly desirable, and in spite of its extreme southerly loca- tion its variations of temperature through the year are surprisingly small.
DE SOTO COUNTY
De Soto county, the second largest in arca in Florida, contains 3,754 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 4,944, in 1900 it was 8,047, and 14,200 in 1910.
In climate it would be difficult to find on the mainland of the United States any more enjoyable; its extremes of summer tempera- ture rarely reach ninety-five degrees, and the occurrence of frost is rare. Its lands are classed as hammock, high pine and flat woods. No section of like extent is capable of a wider variety of soil produc- tions. Oranges and vegetables are among its largest products. Immense areas of yellow pinc and cypress in addition to hickory, live oak, ash, palmetto, magnolia and some mahogany, make this one of the most valuable timber counties in the state.
Livestock has been the principal industry and thousands of cattle Vol. 1-38
##14478
GASPARILLA LIGHTHOUSE ENTRANCE TO CHARLOTTE HARBOR
595
FLORIDA
have been shipped to Cuba in years past. Bananas, pineapples, guavas, mangoes, avocados and cocoanuts, besides a number of fruits unknown outside of Florida, are raised successfully here.
Immense deposits of pebble phosphates have been discovered in De Soto county, and this industry has brought enormous investments and large returns to this section. The principal cities are Arcadia, the county seat, which, incidentally, has for several years been the largest shipping point of citrus fruits in the world; Punta Gorda, on Char- lotte Harbor, a great shipping point for fish; and Wauchula, famous for citrus fruits and vegetables. No county in Florida is developing more rapidly than is De Soto.
MANATEE COUNTY
Manatee county has an area of 1,337 square miles. Its popula- tion in 1890 was 2,895; in 1900, it was 4,663; and in 1910 it was 9,550.
The general lay of the land is level, broken by some gently rolling country. Its soil is mainly of the pine land class, which is productive of citrus and other semi-tropical fruits. A considerable portion of the county remains to be developed by irrigation and drainage, by which it will be made one of the most productive sections in the southern half of the state.
The principal industries are fruit and vegetable growing, and the raising of livestock. Immense tracts of open prairie extending almost the whole length of the county north and south, down the Miyakka River valley, offer perhaps the finest and largest unbroken cattle ranges east of the Mississippi river. The agricultural resources of this county are receiving the attention of home-seekers and of cap- italists, and its growth commercially seems to have been confined to the last ten years.
Bradentown, the county seat, is a thriving, progressive little city on the banks of the Manatee river, in the midst of a prosperous and fertile section.
POLK COUNTY
Polk county is one of the important interior counties of Florida. It has an area of 1,907 square miles. It increased in population from 7,900 in 1890, to 12,470 in 1900, and to 24,148 in 1910. This county occupies a position midway between the Atlantic ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and the dividing ridge or "backbone" of the state extends into this section. It has some of the highest elevations in the state,
596
FLORIDA
which afford splendid drainage and desirable agricultural lands. Its soils are divided generally into hammock, high pine, flat woods, prairie and muck, much of it underlaid with a poorer subsoil of clay, marl or phosphate. Its high elevations and its lower lands give it a variety of soils and soil products hardly to be expected in a section so far south. Corn is a staple crop and sugar cane is extensively culti- vated, yielding large profits. Potatoes, sweet and Irish, rice, oats, rye, millet, velvet beans, cassava and a large variety of forage crops are extensively and profitably raised. Its list of vegetables and fruits equals in variety those produced in any other county of Florida. Cattle-raising has also been and still is a large and paying industry.
Phosphates have been discovered over large areas. Kaolin, gyp- sum and marl also have been discovered, and these deposits await the investigation of capitalists.
Bartow, the county seat of Polk county, has become the railroad center of this section, and these connections give easy access to and from other portions of this state. Lakeland, in the northwest part of the county, is also an important railroad and shipping center. The territory about it produces the earliest strawberries in the New York markets, and the rich lands have large possibilities in their early fruits and vegetables. Among the other important centers of popu- lation are Winter Haven and Fort Mead, both of them important and growing cities.
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY
Hillsborough county, in 1910, had an area of 1,329 square miles, and the population was 78,374, the largest of any county in Florida. The Legislature of 1911 created from this area a new county, Pinellas, which included all the territory lying west of Tampa Bay and of a line running north from Safety Harbor. The separate statistics for the two counties have not been published, except in minor particulars, therefore the area and population given include both counties. This population, in 1890, was 14,941; and in 1900 it had increased to more than 36,000. No section of Florida has seen more rapid development agriculturally and industrially than this. Tampa, the largest city and county seat, is the second largest city in this state, and it is grow- ing at a rate which in time may rival Jacksonville's supremacy in this respect. It is the shipping point for the largest proportion of Flor- ida's phosphates. From this port go to the outside markets a very large production of lumber, and it is said that a hundred billion feet of standing timber is included in the Tampa territory. Tampa also
597
FLORIDA
employs in its cigar industries about fifteen thousand workers; and its daily average output exceeds one million cigars. It is the largest cigar manufacturing point in the world.
The recorded history of this county began in 1529 with the landing of Narvaez, the commander of a Spanish exploring expedition. In later years, De Soto landed here and began his exploration of Florida and the lower Mississippi territory. This county was prominent also during the Seminole wars, and it was a point of mobilization of the United States armies during the war with Spain in 1898.
Its important agricultural industries are cattle-raising, vegetable and fruit crops, a large variety of the vegetables maturing for the early northern markets.
The temperature and climatic conditions of this region are salu- brious, owing largely to the great bodies of water upon which it is located. Tampa is an especially attractive point for tourists, and its citizens are progressive, active and energetic.
PINELLAS COUNTY
As already intimated, Pinellas county was created by the Legis- lature of 1911, and separate figures of its population were not included in the census reports of 1910. It is a thickly populated county, richly productive of vegetable and fruit crops which mature early, and it is probable that no equal section of this state in area is growing more rapidly in importance and wealth.
It is located between the gulf on the west and Tampa Bay on the east, which gives it a climate unsurpassed by any section in this lati- tude. The county seat is Clearwater. Probably its most important city is St. Petersburg. Located in the northwest corner of the county, on the Anclote river, is Tarpon Springs, which is the center of the sponge-producing industry in the United States. This unique fishery is described at length elsewhere in this book of Florida.
PASCO COUNTY
Pasco county has an area of 767 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 4,249, in 1900 it was 6,054 and in 1910, 7,502. By an act of the Legislature of 1887, Hernando county was divided into three parts and to these were given the names Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties. It is a very rich and desirable portion of the original Her- nando county. It has a soil of exceptional fertility and climatic con-
598
FLORIDA
ditions are most favorable. It is particularly rich in the production of citrus fruits, strawberries and watermelons, and the guava, banana and pineapple may also be raised. Its recent development has been rapid and its promise for the future is most excellent.
Its capital, Dade City, not many years ago an insignificant hamlet of the forest, has grown into a thriving city with fine educational and social resources. Among the other important cities and towns of the county are, San Antonio, Richland, Owensboro and a number of others of less population and wealth.
HERNANDO COUNTY
Hernando county has an area of 497 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 2,476, in 1900 it was 3,638 and 1910 it was 4,997.
The entire county has a rolling and hilly surface, in several places reaching an altitude of more than three hundred feet. There are several beautiful rivers and many small clear water lakes scattered through the pine woods, which abound with many varieties of fresh water fish. It has a stretch of twenty-five miles along the gulf, with an abundance of fish which attract sportsmen and tourists in great numbers each season. Its hills are covered with a rich growth of oak, hickory, red bay, magnolia, cedar and other valuable timber.
Among its soil products are a high grade of sea island cotton, rice, corn, oats and peanuts. The sweet potato is an important yield and cassava is a profitable crop. The pecan and hickory thrive here and strawberries, blackberries and dewberries are becoming increasingly important in the commerce of the county.
Hernando county has at least one billion feet of standing hard- wood timber. Millions of feet of red cedar and immense quantities of cypress offer great inducements for the investment of manufac- tures wherein the hardwoods are essential.
The little city of Brooksville is the county seat, located on an ele- vation three hundred and thirty feet above sea level and is one of the highest points in the state. Its healthfulness is marked by the fact that it has never had an epidemic of any disease.
CITRUS COUNTY
Citrus county has an area of 620 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 2,394, in 1900 it was 5,391, and in 1910, 6,731.
Embraced within the limits of this county is a section of high roll-
599
FLORIDA
ing land, lakes and streams. It is devoid of low and swampy land and its natural conditions make it as healthful as any spot on earth.
Its mineral resources are principally phosphate rock which is prob- ably more abundant in Citrus county than in any other equal area in Florida. The area in which hard rock phosphate exists is unknown and probably has never even been approximated by prospectors.
Its agricultural products vary widely, corn, oats, sweet potatoes, peanuts, Irish potatoes, sugar cane and cabbage are among the prin- cipal articles of agricultural export. Its county seat is the city of Homosassa, which has become a favorite resort and winter residence for tourists from all parts of the country.
SUMTER COUNTY
Sumter county has an area of 599 square miles of land surface. Its population in 1890 was 5,363, in 1900 it was 6,187 and in 1910, 6,696.
The topography of the country is generally undulating, although large portions are entirely level. The timber growth is mostly pine with scattering hamlets of various hardwoods. A considerable por- tion of the county is occupied with lakes and small fresh water streams, and along the banks of these, lands of great fertility are found. The agricultural products include sea island cotton, corn, oats, potatoes, peanuts, velvet beans, cabbage and citrus fruits.
Sunterville is the county seat. It is surrounded by a rich farming and fruit growing section. It has good schools and churches, most of the religious denominations being well represented throughout the county.
LAKE COUNTY
Lake county has an area of 1,047 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 8,034, in 1900 it was 7,467, and in 1910 it was 9,509. The decrease in population between 1890 and 1900 was due to the extreme cold weather of 1894-95 which destroyed the citrus groves. This disaster has been overcome and the county is well on the way toward greater prosperity and increased population.
Nearly one-sixth of the area of this county is covered with beauti- ful lakes of fresh water, from which circumstance the county takes its name. Lake county contains many varieties of soils which are adapted to fruit growing, vegetable raising and general farming. So rich are these lands that three crops the year are not unusual.
600
FLORIDA
Formerly the orange industry was the principal occupation of farmers in this county. The experiences of 1895 destroyed this busi- ness and although discouraged, the orange growers undertook to renew their groves and some of the finest citrus-producing farms are to be found in this county. Long staple cotton, sugar cane, cassava, velvet beans and cowpeas and beggar weed are raised with profit. Within recent years the cattle industry, under the improved conditions of graded stock, fenced fields and winter feeding has become an in- creasingly important industry. No section of Florida offers more inducement for this industry than Lake county.
Immense deposits of kaolin of a very high grade have been uncov- ered in this section. Some of these mines exceed in extent any others yet discovered in the history of the world. The clays of this section vary in their qualities and are available for a large variety of commer- cial uses.
Lumber manufacture is also an important industry.
Tavares is the county seat. It is equipped with excellent educa- tional, social and municipal facilities and its affairs are managed by men of energy and integrity. Among the other important towns of the county are Eustis, Umatilla, Astor, Mount Dora, Sorrento, Yalaha, Lady Lake, Fruitland Park and Leesburg. The last named city is the most populous incorporated town in the county.
SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Area 11,422 Square Miles-Population 197,086-Density of Population 17.2
This district includes the thirteen counties of Nassau, Baker, Hamilton, Columbia, Suwanee, Bradford, Alachua, Marion, Levy, LaFayette, Taylor, Madison and Jefferson. This district, the most populous in the state, includes in general the northern tier of counties along the eastern part of the Georgia line, extending thence across to the gulf and including some of the richest interior parts of central Florida.
NASSAU COUNTY
This county occupies the northeastern corner of Florida, and the St. Mary's river separates it from the State of Georgia. It has an area of 630 square miles and its population by the 1910 census was 10,525.
601
FLORIDA
The general topography of the county is level and the soils vary from low rich swamp lands to high pine lands. The agricultural resources of the county have not been developed to more than a frac- tion of their possibilities. The wide extent of pine lands adapted to turpentining and timber have delayed the agricultural development of this area. It has been demonstrated that all the crops of grain, fruits and vegetables that can be raised in the northern half of Flor- ida, can be cultivated here with profit. The large area of streams and water covered lands in the western part of the county and the influ- ence of the ocean, afford a protection from the cold of winter quite as effective as in the interior counties two hundred miles further south.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.