Talk:History of Tallahassee, Florida/Sandbox
Early history[edit]
The name "Tallahassee" is a Muskogean Indian word often translated as "old fields," or "old town." This may stem from the Creek (later called Seminole) Indians that migrated into this region in the 18th century. The area had previously been occupied by the powerful Apalachee Indians, who cultivated large fields of crops in the region's red clay hills. The Apalachee's success as agriculturalists did not go unnoticed by the Spanish, who sent missionaries to the area throughout the 17th century. Several mission sites were established with the aim of procuring food and labor for the colony at St. Augustine. One of the most important mission sites, Mission San Luis de Apalachee, has been partially reconstructed as a state historic site in Tallahassee.
16th century[edit]
The Spanish missionaries were not the first Europeans to visit Tallahassee, however. The Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto spent the winter of 1538-1539 encamped at the Apalachee village of Anhaica, which he had taken by force. De Soto's brutal treatment of the natives was fiercely resisted, and by the following spring De Soto was eager to move on. The site of Anhaica, near present day Myers Park, was located by Florida archaeologist, B. Calvin Jones, in 1987.
Also see History of Leon County
19th century[edit]
1820s[edit]
Locating a capital[edit]
The founding of Tallahassee was largely a matter of convenience. In 1821, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States. A territorial government was established, but the impracticalities of alternately meeting in St. Augustine and Pensacola — the two largest cities in the territory at the time — led territorial governor William Pope Duval to appoint two commissioners to establish a more central meeting place.
In October of 1823, John Lee Williams of Pensacola and Dr. William Simmons of St. Augustine selected the former Indian settlement of Tallahassee (roughly midway between the two cities) as a suitable place. Their decision was also based on its location near a beautiful waterfall - now referred to as the Capital Cascades - and the old capital of the Apalachee chiefdom. In March of the following year it was formally proclaimed the capital. Florida did not become a state, however, until 1845 (Tebeau:122).
On the 1st of November, 1823, John Lee Williams wrote to Congressional Delegate (and later Florida Governor), Richard Keith Call, about the location of the capital:
"Doct. Simmons has agreed that the Site should be fixed near the old fields abandoned by the Indians after Jackson's invasion, but has not yet determined whether between the ... old fields, or on a fine high lawn about a mile W. In both spots the water is plenty and good."
Founding of Tallahassee[edit]
In 1824, The City of Tallahassee, the county seat and only incorporated city in Leon County, was established following a decision by the state legislature to locate the capital of the new Florida Territory midway between the population centers of St. Augustine and Pensacola.
In 1824 General Marquis de Lafayette was awarded a land grant by the United States Congress. The grant consisted of a 6 mile by 6 mile square of land in what is today Northeast Tallahassee. Although the Marquis never visited his property in Florida, he sent people to grow limes and olives and to produce silk from moths. However, the colony failed, and most of the residents went to New Orleans or to back to France. Those who remained lived in an area of Tallahassee that still is called Frenchtown. Lafayette eventually sold his property.
The following outline represents a brief historical sketch of the area:
In 1827, Ralph Waldo Emerson, after a visit, called Tallahassee "A grotesque place of land speculators and desperados."
1830s[edit]
First bank[edit]
Around 1830, Tallahassee's first bank was established by William Williams. The Seminole Wars, unsound banking practices, and the Panic of 1837 caused the closing of the bank in 1843. In 1847, the bank was purchased by cotton plantation owners William Bailey and Issac Mitchell. It later became a Freedman's bank from after the Civil War until 1879. The building has been used as a church, feed store, art house, coffee house, dance studio, locksmith's shop, beauty shop, and shoe factory. In 1971 the bank was moved from the original site on the west side of Adams Street, between College Avenue and Park Avenue, to just east of the Capitol on Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Avenue.
Capital building[edit]
The rough hewn frontier capital gradually grew into a town during Florida's territorial period. In anticipation of becoming a state, the territorial government erected a greek revival masonry structure that would befit a state capitol. The structure opened in 1845 in time for statehood and eventually become known as the "old Capitol" which stand in front of the current new capitol high rise today.
Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad[edit]
In 1834, The Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad is constructed connecting St.Marks with Tallahassee to ship cotton to northeastern ports. It is reported to be the third oldest railroad in the United States). Also in 1834, Thomas Brown, who would later serve as Florida's governor, built an inn called Brown's Inn and was located on the west side of Adams Street between Pensacola and Lafayette streets
1840s[edit]
First mayor[edit]
In 1841, Francis W. Eppes, grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a successful cotton plantation owner became Intendant mayor of Tallahassee. Eppes served as mayor until 1844. Eppes described the town's Marion Race Course "A hotbed of vice, intemperance, gambling and profanity." He held that the rest of the town was little better. Eppes would again serve from 1856-1856.
Antebellum Tallahassee[edit]
During the antebellum period, Tallahassee was at the center of the fast growing "middle counties" of Florida, which held the bulk of the antebellum state population. For several decades before the Civil War, nearby Gadsden County was the most populous in the state. Cotton and tobacco plantations and smaller farms were the main draw for population growth as well as economic and political power. Many cotton plantations such as the William Bailey Plantation, Barrow Hill, Francis Eppes Plantation, La Grange Plantation were built within what is now Tallahassee.
1860s[edit]
Civil War[edit]
Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi not captured by Union forces during the Civil War. The Battle of Natural Bridge was fought outside Tallahassee, mostly by students of what would later become Florida State University, which is the only non-military academy or service academy school to have such a claim.
Reconstruction[edit]
Following the Civil War, much of Florida's industry shited to the south and east, a trend that continues to this day. The end of slavery caused the cotton and tobacco trade to suffer, and the state's major industry shifted to citrus, naval stores, cattle ranching, and even tourism, all of which occurred to the south and east due to climate and geography. This growth was especially noticeable around the Jacksonville area and the St. John's River.
Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad[edit]
During the 1880s and 1890s Tallahassee was served by the Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad which ran from Georgia to Tallahassee and on to Carabelle in Franklin County.
20th century[edit]
Throughout much of the 20th Century Tallahassee remained a sleepy government and college town, where politicians would meet to discuss spending money on grand public improvement projects to accommodate growth in places such as Miami and Tampa, hundreds of miles away from the capital. By 1901, the infrastructure development continued to trend growth to the south, first by the Plant System Railroads to the fledgling port of Tampa and then the Flager railroad to the remote outpost of Miami. However, Tallahassee was firmly entrenched as capital and in that year the 1845 capitol building was expanded with two new wings, and a small dome.
Teens and 1920s[edit]
In 1919, The Florida Legislature passes a new city charter for Tallahassee, authorizing a Commission-Manager form of government. The position of directly-elected mayor ends and a system of rotation among city commissioners for mayor begins.
In 1928 the City of Tallahassee purchased a 200 acre tract of land for $7028 for its first municipal airport. It was named Dale Mabry Field in honor of Tallahassee native Army Captain Dale Mabry. The airport was dedicated on November 11, 1929 with its first manager being Ivan Munroe.
1930s[edit]
In 1931, The Lively Vocational Technical School is established.
1950s[edit]
Tallahassee bus boycott[edit]
thumb|150px|Reverend C. K. Steele and Edwin Norwood On May 26, 1956, two Florida A&M University students were arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department because they refused to give up their seats next to a white passenger. Carrie Patterson, a FAMU junior, was a 21 year old wife and mother from the small town of Lakeland, Florida. She was able to return home just twice a year. Wilhemina Jakes, a FAMU senior, was a 26 year old born in Hardeeville, South Carolina and was from West Palm Beach, Florida. Both young women were studying elementary education at FAMU.
Rev. C. K. Steele and Robert Saunders representing the NAACP began talks while blacks started boycotting the city's buses. This boycott was similar to that in Montgomery, Alabama with Rosa Parks. Former bus patrons began a car pool lasting through May 26 of 1957, several other events took place which would change segregation in Tallahassee. The Inter-Civic Council ended the boycott ended December 3, 1957.
On January 7, 1957 the City Commission repealed the bus-franchise segregation clause because of a recent federal ruling that outlaws segregated buses in Florida. Tallahassee's bus terminal would later be named after Steele.
1960s[edit]
Civil Rights Protests[edit]
On March 16, 1960 the Tallahassee Police Department used tear gas to break up a student protest demonstration in the city. Protestors also attempted a boycott against “the Mecca,” a popular eatery across from the gate of Florida State University in Tallahassee. Similar protests were launched against McCrory’s, Woolworth's, Walgreens, and Sears.
The new capitol building[edit]
By the 1960s, there was a movement to move the capital to Orlando closer geographically to the growing population centers of the state. That motion was defeated however, and the 1970s saw a long term commitment by the state to the capital city with construction of the new capitol complex and preservation of the old capitol building. In 1961, Tallahassee Regional Airport is opened.
In 1966, The Tallahassee Community College is established.
Recent history[edit]
Tallahassee has seen an uptick in growth in recent years, mainly in growth in government and research services associated with the state and Florida State University. However, a growing number of retirees are finding Tallahassee an attractive alternative to South Florida's high housing prices and urban sprawl.
1990s[edit]
In 1997, Tallahassee citizens selected Scott Maddox as their first directly-elected Mayor since 1919.
Sources[edit]
- 1839 History
- K.C. Smith, Museum of Florida History
- Paisley, Clifton; From Cotton To Quail, University of Florida Press, c1968.
- Florida Department of State
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