Blog
The history of Bellamy Bridge; even a ghost story
For hundreds of years, the Bellamy Bridge had been used as a crossing point on the upper Chipola River. Before the Battle of Upper Chipola in March 1881, the people of the Lower Creek town of Ekanachatte used the area along the west side of the river as a hiding place...
World of Orchids; one too many hurricanes
A 1,000 foot-long boardwalk that trails off into the wetlands around Kissimmee, Florida is all that remains of the World of Orchids. Home to thousands of orchids, many of which were rare and unusual was scheduled to open to the public in 1992. Hurricane Andrew changed...
Milton Hershey and Cuba
While there are signs that point to the Camilo Cienguegos City, 30 miles east of Havana, no one knows the city by that name. Ask for “AIR-shee” and everyone knows what you are looking for. Founded in 1916 by Milton S. Hershey, the town is now a ghost of its former...
Seaboard Air Line Railroad and Homestead
History The history of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad is quite complicated. The rail service began on March 8, 1832, as the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad (“P&R”) having been chartered by the legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina. The service was to go from...
Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery; deserving of restoration
One of the oldest black cemeteries in Miami-Dade County is Lincoln Memorial Park at 3001 N.W. 46th Street. Luminaries and many black pioneers who helped shape the cultural landscape of early Miami are laid to rest there. On the 20-acre property, there are thousands of...
Moncrief Cemetery District; abandoned and forgotten
Walking through the cemetery you must watch where they are stepping as it is entirely possible to step into one of the many open graves. Headstones are sideways, fallen backward and large tree branches lie across graves. With rotten wood and only half-standing, a...
Old Dixie Highway’ organized in December 1914 in Chattanooga, TN
Carl G. Fisher of the Lincoln Highway Association came up with the idea of The Dixie Highway in December 1914 in Chattanooga. The planned route would go from Chicago to Miami and was part of the National Auto Trail system, which grew out of the earlier Miami to...
The rebirth of The Ambassador Hotel in downtown Jacksonville
First, as upscale apartments in downtown Jacksonville, the Ambassador Hotel opened in 1924 on 310 West Church Street. By 1943, it was converted into a hotel by a personal friend of Ed Ball, the executor of the DuPont Estate, Charles Griner. Wanting nothing to do with...
Fort Clinch an exciting and interesting historical attraction on Amelia Island
A 19th-century masonry coastal fortification, Fort Clinch was built as part of the Third System of seacoast defense by the United States. The fort is located on a peninsula near the northernmost point of Amelia Island in Nassau County, Florida. It lies to the...
S. H. Kress building in Tampa now on the Historical Register
H. Kress & Co. better known as a “five and dime” retail department store was established by Samuel Henry Kress in 1896. Until 1981, the were hundreds of stores on “Main Street” in cities and towns across the United States, with their ornament architecture. Opening...
Once forgotten and abandoned; now restored to its original beauty
With his wife, a Coca Cola heiress, Anne Bates Leach, businessman Willaford Leach in 1936 purchased Mt. Elizabeth and the surrounding property in Martin County. After he built the Mediterranean Revival home, he named it Tuckahoe, a Native American term for Welcome....
Used during the Cold War; the Yellow Water Nuclear Weapons Storage Area
During the Cold War and just before the United States entered into World War II, the United States government purchased a 2,600-acre tract of land from Duval County Florida. Immediately construction began on what was to become the U. S. Naval Auxiliary Air Station,...