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1 



•)THEi2=-«-«. 



EAST COAST 



FLORIDA 



A Descriptive Narrative 



J. M. HAWKS 

Of Hawks' Park, Fla. 



ILLUSTRATED. 




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East Coast of Blorida. 



CHAPTER I.— Early History. 

Discovery. Only twenty years aftei" the discovery 
of America by Columbus, viz., in the year 1512, 
Juan Ponce de Leon, a companion of Columbus on 
his second voyage, landed on the eastern shore of 
what he supposed to be an island, and named it 
Florida. This title was afterwards applied to the 
territory as far north as Virginia and west to the 
Mississippi. De Leon landed a short distance north 
of St. Augustine. Several fruitless attempts were 
made to settle colonies on the coast within the next 
four years. The wonderful discoveries of treasures 
in Mexico in 15 19 by the Spaniards turned the 
heads of that adventurous people. They expected 
to find similar quantities of gold and pearls among 
the Florida Indians. Stories were told of a moun- 
tain of gold at the northwest, of such glistening 
splendor tliat it could not be looked upon in the 
daytime, but must be approached at night. Strange 
stories were told of the natives. One of these ex- 
plorers reported that he had found a race of natives 
who had the art of developing giants from an ordi- 
nary race of people by extra feeding and stretching 
the bones of the young. This extra feeding is 
somewhat after the manner practiced by a swarm of 



4 East Coast of Florida. 

bees to produce a queen from an egg that would 
otherwise have hatched out a common worker ; 
another tribe had tails, and lived on raw fish. 
These tribes are probably living near that famous 
fabled fountain, in which to bathe would restore to 
old age the vigor of youth. The Indians firmly 
opposed the landing of the white men on their 
shores, and several attempts to settle colonies were 
broken up, and the projector driven out of the 
country. 

Settletnent. The first attempts to settle this region 
by the Spaniards were planned for rapine, defended 
by murder, and ended, as they desei-ved. in ship- 
wreck, starvation, and slaughter by the natives. 
Panphilo de Narvaez in 1528. landed on the gulf 
coast with 400 armed men and 80 horses, and after 
an eventful and fruitless search for gold, embarked 
in rude vessels improvised on the spot for Mexico, 
and all but four perished. Eleven years afterward 
Hernando de Soto, who had assisted Pizarro in the 
plunder of Peru and amassed a great fortune, land- 
ed at Tampa bay with a thousand armed men and 
two hundred and fifty horses ; but he too was doomed 
to a sad disappointment, the loss of his army, his 
great fortune, and his life, in this expedition in tlie 
vain search for gold. In 1^64 Laudonniere, in 
command of three ships loaded with soldiers and 
supplies for a settlement of French Huguenots some- 
where on the coast, first made land at St. August- 
ine, which was then an unsettled ^vilderness, and 
then coasted along to the next inlet, and entering 
the river we now call St. Johns on the first of Mav, 



Early History. 5 

named it the river May A few miles up, at St. 
Johns blufF, he landed and built a fort which he 
named Caroline. The next year Jean Ribaut was 
sent out from France with a fleet of seven vessels 
and five hundred and fifty persons, and supplies, to 
aid in permanently occupying the country. The 
settlers at Fort Caroline had become disheartened 
and homesick, and were to set sail for France on 
the next dav, when the arrival of Ribaut gave them 
new courage. But while the French were busy un- 
loading their supplies, and while four of their large 
transports were anchored outside the bar, a hostile 
Spanish fleet of war vessels came in sight command- 
ed by Menendez, who had come prepared to drive 
the French "heretics" out of the country. The 
French vessels put to sea chased by the Spanish ; 
but not overtaking them, the latter returned and 
entered a harbor which they named St. Augustine. 
They landed their supplies and built a fort. The ' 
French returned to their Fort Caroline and took all 
their able-bodied men on board, intending to attack 
the fort at St. Augustine ; but they were driven 
south by a storm, and wrecked on the coast north of 
Mosquito inlet. While this storm was raging, Me- 
nendez marched from his fort with five hundred 
soldiers, and captured Fort Caroline and butchered 
the garrison.* The shipwrecked soldiers walked up 
the beach to the next inlet, and were taken across in 
small parties by the Spanish and murdered. This 

*See History of Florida by Geo. R. Fairbanks, for a romantic 
and Interestiug account of the early settlements in Florida; for 
a more full description of De Soto's march, see Irving's Con. 
(|uest of Florida. 



6 East Coast of Florida. 

deed of blood gave the name Matanzas to the inlet 
and river. A hundred and fifty from the same fleet 
afterwards came up and surrendered, and were 
spared ; twenty others who refused to come in and 
surrender may have perished or been killed by Indi- 
ans. The relatives and friends of these victims of 
cold-blooded murder petitioned the king of France 
for some redress for these wrongs, but in vain : it 
was left for a private citizen to take the matter in 
hand, and punish the murderers and vindicate the 
honor of his country. Dominic de Gourgues with 
one hundred and eighty-four men and three vessels, 
one of which was small enough to be used with 
oars, came over from France and having the aid of 
the Indians captured a fort each side of the mouth 
of the St. Johns, and the old French Fort Cai'oline, 
killing and taking prisoners all but a very few that 
escaped by flight. When Menendez butchered the 
French garrison he excused the crime on religious 
grounds, and caused the inscription, " Not as 
Frenchmen^ but as Lutherans " to be suspended over 
the spot. Here DeGoui-gues hanged his prisoners 
of war, and over their bodies suspended a tablet on 
which was inscribed : " I do this not as unto Span- 
iards^ nor as to outcasts, but as to traitors^ thieves 
and murderers^ The French made no further 
attempt to colonize this region. The Spaniards 
rebuilt the fort and contiuued the settlement at St. 
Augustine.* The Indians did not at first take kind- 
ly to the Spanish missionaries, but killed a great 
*ror a very interesting and reliable account of the affairs in 
the early days of the Ancient City, see W. \V. Dewhurt's His- 
tory of St. Augustine. 



Early History. 7 

many of them.* A tribe known as the Atimucas or 
Tamucas, was driven out by the English from mid- 
dle Florida about 1705, and settled sixty-five miles 
south of St. Augustine ; from them the Tomoka 
river took its name. 

In 1763 the state was ceded to Great Britain ; at 
that time St. Augustine had nine hundred houses 
and nearly six thousand inhabitants, including the 
garrison of twenty -five hundred men. The first 
English governor, General James Grant, took great 
pains to have the country settled up ; liberal grants 
of land were made to soldiers and ofiicers ; forty 
families came from Bermuda and located at Mos- 
quito in 1766, to engage in ship-building, and 
immigrants came from other British islands. 

During the twenty-one years of English rule in 
this state, more real progress and improvement of 
the country was made than in the period of Spanish 
supremacy that had been nearly ten times as long ; 
but the shadow of the Spanish throne was destined 
once more to fall atiiwart and darken these fair 
shores. In 1784 the English and Spanish crowns 
made a trade by which Florida was given back to 
Spain, and only three months given the English to 
dispose of their property and quit the countr'y. 
Some went to the provinces, others to the Northern 
States, to Jamaica and other British islands. But 
it was a ruinous move both to the citizens and the 
countr3^ The Spanish held possession of the state 
thirty-seven years, or until 1821, when it was ceded to 
the United States. Within fifteen years the rich coun- 

*From their first treacherous treatment by the Spaniards, the 
Indians came to distrust all white men. 



8 East Coast of Florida. 

try to the south and to the north of New Smyrna 
was again settled, and this time cultivated by sugar 
planters. Between New Smyrna and St. Augus- 
tine there were eleven large estates where steam 
machinery was employed in the manufacture of 
sugar. In 1836 the Indian war broke out, and all 
the settlers fled from the frontiers to St. Augustine. 
Maj. Putnam and a small company from the latter 
place with a few volunteers from Mosquito, number- 
ing in all 40 men had a battle at Dun Lawton with 
150 Indians, but were compelled to retreat to their 
boats, and go to Bulow. One white man and two 
negroes were lost and 17 wounded; 16 Indians 
were killed. During the six years of this Indian 
war all the buildings outside of large towns were 
destroyed and the country laid waste. Not until 
1842 was it safe for the inhabitants to return to the 
ashes of their former homes. 

From 1842 until i86i there were nineteen years 
of quiet in which to buildup new homes. Then 
the war of the rebellion broke out paralyzing the 
industry of the State for four years. But since the 
close of the war the growth of Florida has been 
wonderful. Population in some counties has 
doubled several times. In the East Coast region 
south of St. Augustine for 300 miles there are now 
twice as many villages as there were inhabitants then. 
Railroads run in every direction, putting us in 
communication with the gi^eat net work system of 
America, and we are now cultivating tlie early 
market garden of the continent. 



Physical Geography. 



CHAPTER II,— Physical Geography, Defini- 
tion AND Description of the East Coast. 

" Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle 
Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime ? 

******* 
Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, 
Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine? 

******* 
Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, 
And the voice of the Nightingale never is mute? " 

— Byron- 
" Behold I have set the land before you; go in and possess 
the land." — Deui. : / — 8. 

The State of Florida is sometimes, for the con- 
venience of descri])tion, divided into North, South, 
East, Middle and West Florida. Such an arrange- 
ment is wholly arbitrary, as the boundary lines of 
such regions are imaginary. But the territory run- 
ning northerlv and southerly along within a few 
miles of the Atlantic Ocean is so well marked and 
isolated from the rest of the State, as to merit very 
properly the title of East Coast Region. As a type 
of this region take the land along the railroad, 
between New Smyrna and Orange City. First 
there is a high hammock on the bank of the Hills- 
boro river, which, with the Cottonshed hammock 
is say one mile ; then open pine woods two miles ; 
then the low hammock at Glencoe, and the dry 
scrub beyond, one mile ; then the low or flat pine 
woods twelve miles; then the high rolling pine 
woods six miles, and lastlv the river lands four 



lo East Coast of Florida, 

miles. Now every one of these tracts of land 
crossed by the railroad represents a strip or belt 
more than two hundred miles long with slightly 
varying features, crossed by the railroad at nearly 
a right angle. Beginning on the sea shore these 
belts occur o.n an average somewhat as follows : ist, 
the Beach Ridge, one mile ; 2d, the river basin or 
water-way, one mile ; 3d, the high hammock along 
the west bank of the river one-half a mile ; 4th, open 
pine woods belt, one and one-half miles ; 5th, the low 
hammock belt, one and one-half miles; 6th, the 
spruce pine belt or white sand-scrub, one-half a 
mile ; iTiaking a total of six miles. This typical belt 
will vary ; the beach ridge is interrupted by inlets 
and cuts, the water belt or river basin is occasionally 
interrupted by a marsh ; the high hammock is not 
always of the width here stated, and is sometimes 
entirely absent ; the low hammock is not continuous 
along the whole line, but the sand-scrub west of the 
low hammocks is very constant ; the flat woods are 
occasionally relieved by a creek, the banks of which 
are frequently higher than the surrounding country. 
In the vicinity of cape Canaveral, the coast region 
widens and the low hammock belt is wanting, and 
below Jupiter inlet the East coast includes every- 
thing between the ocean and the Everglades. 

This coast extends through more than six degrees 
of north latitude, viz : from 30 3-4 deg. to 24 1-2 
deg., and is washed along its entire extent by the 
Atlantic ocean. A brief description of some of the 
natural features of these various belts will now be 
given ; the beach is generally of a fine sand of d^z- 



Physical Geography. ii 

zling whiteness, hai'd packed and smooth as a floor, 
furnishing as fine a road for horseback or carriage 
riding or for the bicycle, as ever need to be ; but 
above the reach of ordinary high tides the sand is 
loose, and blown about by the wind. Along next 
to the bluft", which is only reached by the high storm- 
tides, lies the drift-wood, consisting of fragments of 
trees and lumber that have floated down the rivers 
from the interior, broken furniture and deck loads 
of lumber, and other freight lost or thrown over- 
board from vessels in storms, gulfweed and sea- 
weed ; shells in great variety ; and sea beans at 
certain times. Here and there along the beach are 
the parts of wrecks of ships and steamboats which 
have gone ashore, and are gradually sinking in the 
sand — Very few lives are lost on these wrecks, and 
a shipwreck on this coast is not a very dangerous 
aflfair ; and both the danger and suffering have been 
greatly lessened within a few years by the life 
saving stations and houses of refuge at certain points 
along the beach . The beach ridge or peninsula is 
not as subject to frosts as the mainland. The ad- 
vantage over the mainland at any given point 
amounts to about half a degreq or 30 miles differ- 
ence in latitude. This long line of beach is not 
the shore of the mainland ; for all along behind it 
and parallel with it, there flows a body of tidal 
water, which separates the beach ridge from the 
mainland. This beach ridge is nearly continuous 
the whole length of the Florida coast, excepting the 
breaks in it at the inlets, and at the coral islands at 
the south end. This long and narrow strip of land 



12 East Coast of Florida. 

acts as a barrier, preventing the encroachment ot 
the ocean on the mainland ; it varies in width from 
one-fourth of a mile, as at Turtle Mount, to five 
miles at Cape Canaveral ; but its most common 
width is about half a mile. Passing from the beach 
westerly the gi'adual change and improvement in 
the vegetation reminds the traveller of his progress 
down from the top of a high mountain — First are 
the sand drifts, changed by the wind so oiten that 
no grass or weeds can take root on them ; others 
close by are covered with a scattered growth of 
beach grass and weeds ; and a rank growing vine 
like the morning glory. The next green thing is 
the universal and the almost omnipresent saw pal- 
metto. Whenever this gets fairly rooted the sand 
hills become permanent. A few ridges further on 
and low bushes are seen amongst the palmettos 
These ai'e the bayberry, white bay and scrub oak. 
The sand drifts are soon noticed to be in long ridges 
with steep sides, and deep valleys between. In 
these valleys the bushes grow larger, and soon they 
reach as high as the tops of the ridges — Small live 
oaks and red bays are seen ; the oaks bend per- 
manently to the westward on account of the prevail- 
ing winds. The sand ridges become gradually 
lower, and the trees taller, larger and straighter. 
Cedars become common, and just before reaching 
the river there are several rods of hard wood land 
or hammocks, sometimes very rich and productive 
— Shell heaps and mounds are common on the 
banks of the river — Frequently there is a marsh of 
varying width between the banks and the open river. 



Physical Geography. 13 

As a general rule, where the beach ridge is low and 
very narrow, say a quarter of a mile, only bushes 
are found growing ; and the wider the ridge, the 
more hard wood growth on the river side. This 
ridge east of the Halifax is covered for several miles 
with spruce pines. At Cape Canaveral the ham- 
mock is first-class, as Capt. Burnham's celebrate^ 
orange groves and cane fields can testify. 

Rocks. The finest specimens are froin the beach 
opposite St. Augustine, Anastacia Island. Old 
Fort Marion, and most of the old houses in the 
town, and the sea wall are built of it. This rock 
occurs in layers, and crops ovit occassionally on the 
river shores ; notably at Pacetti's, and at Lourcey's 
Point, and from there all the way down to New- 
Smyrna, four miles. It underlies the land at the 
Haulover. East of Jupiter Sound, as before men- 
tioned lime stone occurs ; and a few miles north of 
Hillsboro inlet a ledge of rock resembles slate. 
The most remarkable shell mounds in the State are 
on this beach ridge. Green mound, probably 30 
feet high and covered with trees, 3 miles north of 
the inlet. Turtle mound 32 feet high, 12 miles 
south of the inlet. 

The next of these coastwise divisions to 
be noticed is the water belt, or river basin 
or series of tidal rivers, or sounds. There 
are a few exceptions to be mentioned as to 
the continuous nature of this tidal river basin, 
between the beach and the main ; and these excep- 
tional points have sensed to divide the waters and to 
give them various local names, for instance : be- 



14 East Coast of Florida. 

tween the mouth of the St. Johns and the inlet at 
St. Augustine, a swamp takes the place of the tidal 
river for a few miles : from this swamp the water 
flows both ways ; the portion running north and 
discharging its w^aters into the St. Johns near its 
mouth is called Pablo Creek ; and from the south 
end of this swamp to the St. Augustine inlet is the 
North River. From St. Augustine southerly about 
20 miles to Matanzas inlet the river bears the same 
name of the inlet. The beach ridge between 
Matanzas river and the ocean is Anastasia island. 
A few miles below Matanzas we find this inside 
coastwise river again interrupted by a swamp or 
marsh ; the brook running from it northerly is the 
Mata Compra creek emptying into the Matanzas 
river : on the south end arises Smith's creek, half 
a dozen miles or so in length, which helps, with 
Bulow creek, and Timoka river to make the Hali- 
fax, so named from an English lord. The Halifax 
may be considered a type of the coastwise river. 
It is about 30 miles long, and discharges its water 
into the ocean through Mosquito inlet. A mile 
from its outlet this river receives Spruce creek 
from the west through two crooked channels through 
the marsh, which is here half a mile wide and over 
two miles long to the north. Various channels of 
tide water meander through the marsh, many of 
which have no names. One of these terminating 
in a " pocket " is called Fools Creek. Sutton's creek 
is several I'ods wide, and navigable for schooners. 
Fowler's creek and bay are on the west side of the 
river ; they are in reality part of the river, separa- 



Physical Geography. 15 

ted from its main channel by extensive marshes - 
For about six miles up the river from the inlet, the 
channel is contracted and crooked ; made narrow 
by Mangrove islands vs^hich have grown up from 
oyster banks which are abundant here. The last of 
these, the Pelican islands, surrounded by oyster 
beds, stands about mid river ; above these for twenty 
miles the river is three-fourths of a mile wide, 
straight as an arrow, and free from islands and 
marshes, bordered on either hand by hammocks 
and pine woods, with villages every 2 or 3 miles 
nestling among the oaks and palm trees, and the 
river dotted over with white sails, it is one of the 
prettiest sheets of water in the country. 

Mosquito Inlet. This is a break in the beach ridge 
half a mile wide or more, through which the ocean 
tide pours in and fills these coastwise rivers ; from this 
inlet to the south for thirty miles or more the river 
is called the Hillsborough, named from an English 
lord. This inlet is probably at the lowest point for 
several miles, as both rivers discharge their waters 
into the sea together through this common channel ; 
and when the tide flows in, it divides, and a portion 
rushes on northerly up the Halifax : the other runs 
south up the Hillsboro. The tide here rises about 
three feet, and its current is strong in both rivers in 
the portions nearest the inlet, and where the chan- 
nels aie confined to comparatively narrow^ space. 
The ship channel throvigh the inlet varies consider- 
rbly, being changed by N. E. and S. E. gales ; buoys 
mark the channel, and there is at high tide frequent- 
ly ten feet of water on the bar. The government 



1 6 East Coast of Florida. 

made a surve}' of the harbor and inlet in 1885, pre- 
liminary to making further improvements. A first- 
class lighthouse of brick and iron was in i886 
commenced a mile north of the inlet. 

The Hillsboro River extends south over 30 miles ; 
for the first 15 miles, it is i 1-2 miles wide, but con- 
siderably filled with marsh and mangrove islands, 
among which the ship channel is somewhat crooked ; 
the southern half of the river is 3 miles wide, nearly 
free from islands, expanding like a bay. The water 
is more shallow and the channel obstructed with 
coral reefs ; this portion still retains the name of "the 
Lagoon." Our coastwise rivei-s are again inter- 
rupted by a narrow strip of land 800 yards wide, 
which separates the river just described from the 
Indian river ; a canal was cut through connecting the 
two rivers at the Haulover, a few years ago, admit- 
ting boats drawing 18 inches, and of9 feet beam. 
Here Nature, in one of her sporting moods, took 
a wide departui-e from lier general rule of narrow 
beach ridge and narrow inside river : the beach 
ridge widens until at Cape Canaveral lighthouse it is 
5 miles wide ; and the river is expanded into a bay 
^-»ver 15 miles wide, having in it Merritt's island 
which is 8 miles in width at its noilh end ; but 
within 30 miles she sobered down and worked in 
the usual manner to the south end of Biscayn^ bay, 
beyond -which coral islands take the place of the 
beach ridge. There is no interruption in this in- 
terior river basin south of the Haulover until the 
Haulover is reached that separates the waters of 
Lake Worth Creek from Lake Worth — This lake is 



Physical Geography. 17 

about 35 miles long and about 2 miles wide, sep- 
arated from the ocean by a beach ridge of a quarter 
of a mile wide. It is a part of the great system of in- 
ternal tidal rivers, only cut off from other waters at 
the north and the south ends, by marshes. A little be- 
yond the lake are the headwaters of the Hillsboro ;* 
and this again is near the New river, from which 
low grounds continue to the head of Biscayne Bay. 
The few occasional obstructions to the continuous 
channel of this great natural water highway which 
have been noticed above are now (1887) being re- 
moved by the East Coast Canal Company — The 
dredges of the company beginning at St. Augustine 
have cut through the sand bars and made a straight 
channel down the Matanzas, up the Mata Compra 
Creek and nearly through the intei'vening marsh to 
the head of Smith's Creek ; the channel of the latter 
is being deepened and widened, and the Matanzas 
will soon be connected with the Halifax by a canal 
30 feet wide and 6 feet deep. 

The next or third of these natural belts is the high 
hammock along the west bank of the rivers. This 
is an excellent quality of soil, light and sandy, but 
made rich by the decay of hard wood leaves and b' 
the animal remains, oysters, clams and fish left there 
by the Indians. The oyster shells are scattered all 
along and occur in banks sometimes several feet 
thick ; the highest and largest of these on the west 
of the river are at New Smyrna, the site of Turn- 
bull's house, and at Gad Bryan's grove at Hawks' 

*There are two Hillsboi-o rivers on the East Coast, ancl one on 
the Gulf. 



1 8 East Coast of Florida. 

Park, and at Packwood's place, these aix; lo to i £^ 
feet high. The forest growth on this quality of land 
is a variety of oaks, hickory, cedar, cabbage palm., 
bay, and occasionally pine. When not too shelly 
it is first rate land for the orange, and for garden- 
ing. This belt is the favorite location for towns 
and villages. On it are situated St. Augustine, 
Ormond, Holly Hill, Daytona, Blake, Port 
Orange, New Smyrna, Hawks' Park, Oak Hill, 
Titusville, Rock Ledge, Eau Gallic, St. Lucie. 
Jupiter light-house, Biscayne, Miami, Cocoanut 
Grove and Cutler. First rate land on this belt 
within half a mile of a post office in Volusia 
County is worth from $ioo to $500 an acre. 

Fourth belt. Pine woods can be counted on 
as one of the constant features in Florida. On 
this belt occurs much of the yellow pine timber 
from which the lumber is m ade on the coast. 
This is good famningland, and with proper manur- 
ing any crop can be raised to advantage, including 
oranges and other fruits. One peculiarity of this 
belt is the occurrence in it of savannas, which are 
shallow grass ponds containing a few inches of 
water during a rainy time, but are dry most of the 
year. They vary in width from 5 to 10 rods or 
more, and are often several miles long, almost 
always running parallel with the coast and the river, 
and were probably once lagoons connected with 
the river, or indeed beds of former rivers. In 
travelling up or down the coast one may go all day 
without crossing one ; but if he travel east or west, 
he is liable to meet them every half mile. These 



Physical Geography. 19 

savannas .xre too wet to pi-oduce trees, and only 
grass grows on them. Country coastwise I'oads 
frequently run along the borders of these grass 
ponds, which saves the labor of chopping trees 
from a roadway. Another peculiarity of this belt 
is that it sometimes has a subsoil of hard sandstone 
of an iron-rust color. Such land covered with 
gallberry bushes is supposed to be naturally unfit 
for the orange. Experiments have proved that 
with proper drainage and mulching, orange trees 
do well on it. Fifth belt. The low or heavy 
hammocks. These are more variable than any of 
the other belts, in width and in their continuity. 
They have usually a black, clayey soil resting upon 
a stratum of shell marl or clay ; sometimes both are 
found. Nodules of fossiliferous rock, probably 
limestone, are found on the surface and beneath it. 
These occur in irregular masses, rounded as though 
water-worn. Pieces of coral are found in digging 
ditches and wells. 

These lands are generally lower than the sandy 
belts each side of them, which circumstance has 
given them the name of swamp lands. Long 
and narrow ponds or muddy sloughs sometimes 
occur, rvTuning in the same general direction as the 
hammock. Alongside of these there are higher 
portions, which answer tolerably well as locations 
for dwellings. The growth of timber is very large ; 
live oaks are sometimes seen five feet through, and 
hickory or white walnut three feet through, and 
other trees proportionally large, except the palms, 
which grow taller, instead of larger, on this rich 



20 East Coast of Florida. 

land. Other kinds of wood there, are cedar, maple, 
bass or wahoo, elm, ash, sweet gum, sour and bitter 
sweet orange, bay and pine. The orange is a native 
forest tree, and was found growing here and men- 
tioned by the early Spanish explorers. These are 
the natural farming lands, and are the best in the 
State ; they are well adapted to the growth of the 
sugar-cane, corn, potatoes and vegetables of all 
kinds. The most profitable orange groves are on 
this kind of land ; for while they can be cultivated 
and made to do well on pine land, the growth is 
much more vigorous and thrifty in the hammocks ; 
besides, they have here better protection from the 
winds, an item of great importance that has been 
too much neglected heretofore. These are also 
natural grass lands. Neglected old fields, instead 
of growing up with broom grass in bunches, and 
weeds, become covered with a rich, succulent grass 
which forms a heavy sward or sod, affording the 
best of pasturage and hay. Examples of this are 
familiar in the fields of Dunn Lawton and " St. 
Joseph," near Matanzas. It was these lands that 
Dr Turnbull cultivated in indigo and sugar-cane. 
They have been planted since then in cane, but this 
industry was destroyed by the Indian war of 1836 to 
1842. Picturesque ruins of the old stone sugar-mill 
are still standing near New Smyrna, " St. Joe's," 
and at Bulow's, overgrown with vines and trees. 

In order to make these hammocks available to 
workingmen of small means, there must be a com- 
prehensive system of drainage perfected, by clearing 
out the old Turnbull canals and the side ditches that 



Physical Geography. 21 

connected with them, and then selling the land in 
small bodies on easy temns. A glance at a county 
map shows that these lands are covered by large 
grants of from one to three thousand acres each. 
These grants are generally held by heirs of the orig- 
inal grantees, who are living in various parts of the 
United States. The current price before the war 
was ten dollars an acre. Within a year or two sales 
have been made at thirty to fifty dollars an acre in 
large lots, and at Daytona, in ten-acre lots, for one 
hundred dollars per acre, all unimproved. No rail- 
road ah'eady running to the coast can long aflbrd to 
neglect extending itself along on one side or the 
other, the whole length of these bodies of rich lands. 

Sixth. The spruce pine scrub belt extends all 
along on the west border of the land just mentioned. 
It is apparently white beach sand, covered with a 
gi'owth of small spruce, pines and bushes : high, 
dry and healthy location for dwellings of those who 
cultivate the lower rich lands. This kind of land is 
of little or no value for agricultural purposes, but 
will come to be appreciated for residences of those 
having groves and gardens near on the hammocks, 
or flocks and herds grazing in the flat woods further 
west. 

Seventh belt. The flat woods or prairie, cover- 
ing a territory fifteen miles wide, more or less, ex- 
tending all along the coast. It is covered in some 
places with a thick growth of pine timber. The 
cypress swamps and ponds are in this belt. The 
soil is naturally good in many places, and this whole 
tract is capable, when reclaimed, of sustaining a 



32 East Coast of Florida. 

large population of stock-raisers, fruit-growers and 
farmers. The six foregoing belts or strips of terri- 
tory may all be comprised in one, which we pro- 
pose to call the East Coast Belt, as mentioned before. 
vSome information concerning the southern extremity 
of the East Coast belt is contained in the next chap- 
ter. Geologists suppose that in the early ages the 
ocean extended west to the red clay soil and fossil- 
bearing limestone of the middle part of the State? 
and all these eastern belts are the results of the 
winds and waves of the sea. A similar process of 
building up from the sea is going on at the present 
day. The cause of the beach ridge that extends all 
along the East Coast is a matter for philosophical 
speculation. M. E. de Beaumont, quoted by Vol- 
ney in his Notes on North America, estimates that 
one-third of the coast line of the continents is fringed 
with such bars or banks. Whenever a canal emp- 
ties into an open part of a river, a similar ridge is 
formed by the actioti of the wind meeting the force 
of the current. At the outlet of the canals on the 
Halifax this bar trends southerly, as the prevailing 
heaviest winds are northeasterly. Perhaps the 
Tomoka dnce ran directly into the sea, and in the 
course of ages the beach ridge has been piled up 
and grown toward the south. Perhaps the fresh 
upper portion of the Indian River once ran into the 
sea north of Cape Canaveral, aud Elbow Creek, 
Turkey Creek and St. Sebastian River helped to 
pile up the beach ridge that protects their mouths 
from the waves of the sea. 



Coastwise Travel. 23 

CHAPTER III.— Coastwise Travel in 1865 
AND 1869. Journey from Port Orange to 
Miami, and from Port Orange to St. Au- 
gustine. 

"The city was large and great, but the houses were not yet 
huilded." — Bible. 

The tourist or an emigrant who visits the East 
Coast of Florida to-day, riding comfortably and 
swiftly along in the cars or in the steamboat, and 
who finds plenty of good hotels all along his route, 
can hardly realize the change that a few years have 
made in these matters. In the old Arabian story, 
the charmed phrase, "Open Sesame," when spoken 
by the magician, threw back on their hinges the 
massive dooi's, and revealed the untold wealth that 
was hidden there. Greater than the magician's 
wealth is that which lies along the Eastern Coast, 
and has been practically locked up, waiting for the 
magician's word. The magical word has been 
spoken — it is " Transportation" — and now the rich 
mines of the coast, of health and wealth, are open 
to all the world. The following records of journeys 
show how we used to travel and live on the coast 
before the steam engine reached these shoi^es. 

In 1869 I lived at the site of the " Old Mill," the 
boiler of which had burst, and the company that 
owned it had collapsed. My friend Purdie, late 
from the Custom House at Hilton Head, S. C, and 
myself had risked all our available funds in stock in 
and loans to the aforesaid company, and with its 
failure departed our last dollar and all our long- 
cherished hopes of a town at that point. 



24 East Coast of Florida. 

For many months we had desired to make a visit 
to" the southern coast, and were at last led to decide 
on the journey by Lieut. -Gov. Gleason of Miami, 
who called at my house on his way home from Tal- 
lahassee. It was arranged that we should start in a 
few days after he left, and he would wait for us at 
Jupiter Light-house. We had borrowed a small 
sail-boat of neighbor Mailey, and stored it with 
rations raw and cooked and such other things as we 
thought would come handy, including a spade, a 
hatchet, and stock of "■ lightwood " for the ready 
kindling of fire. A colored man was to go along 
with us, so we waited for him beyond the time set 
for starting, and finally sent up the river six miles 
after him, but he had changed his mind, and Purdie 
and myself started on without him. It was 4 
o'clock P. M. on the 5th of May when we spread 
the sail of the Madeline to the breeze and pushed 
o.x from the wharf, and with wind and tide glided 
down the river Halifax, across the inlet and up the 
Hillsboro. That night we staid at my shanty on 
the Alvarez place (now Hawks' Park) , where 
Drawdy had a corn-field. The next morning at 5 
o'clock we made coffee at Drawdy's and took it on 
board, not waiting to get breakfast on shore. We 
called at Turtle Mound, and at Capt. Collier's at 
Castle Windy. J. D. Mitchell lived at Oak Hill, 
William Williams (Bill Scobie) a mile beyond, and 
Arad Sheldon another mile further on. These were 
the only houses on the Hillsboro river from New 
Smyrna to the Haulover canal, excepting the shanty 
of Drawdy and Henry Sawyer's half a mile below. 



Coastwise Travel. 25 

The landmarks showing the entrance to the Haul- 
over canal, on the west side, were two stakes stand- 
ing in the water half a mile from the shore. The 
water is about two feet deep in this part of the 
river, and is not affected by the tides, but the wind, 
whether north or south, varies the depth of water 
several inches. We had no difficulty in finding the 
canal, but the entrance to it was so shallow that we 
had to unload our boat and drag it through into the 
canal, where there was deeper water. It took us 
two hours to get our boat through into Indian river, 
which we accomplished by 4 o'clock. We con- 
cluded to stop over night at a house about half a 
mile from the canal. We made fast our boat to a 
stake a quarter of a mile from the shore, so that oin- 
provisions might be safe from the lean and hungry 
dogs and hogs that roam along those shores. With 
our trousers rolled up above our knees, and with 
shoes and stockings in our hands (the usual sty^,, .. 
those shallow waters where there are no wharves) , 
we waded ashore and engaged lodgings for the 
night, our boat being too small to sleep in. The 
land here was level and fertile, underlaid with co- 
quina rock. The canal was cut through this rock, 
and the sides in some places having been under- 
mined by the current, had fallen in. The ridge 
along the east side of the canal, formed of the rock 
and soil that had been thrown out in making it, 
was fringed with cedar trees, along which a foot- 
path extended from one river to the other. The 
new canal for steamboats is being made half a mile 
faither west. Our prospect of getting supper with 



26 East Coast of Florida. 

the family looked rather dubious, as the woman in- 
formed us that the}' had nothing in the house to eat, 
but the boys were out hunting. So we evaded back 
to our boat and brought off some pork, flour, sugar 
and coffee for ourselves and the family. By the 
time we had returned, the boys came in with six 
ducks, which, together with our own rations, made 
quite a feast. No useless floor covered the ground 
of the kitchen and sitting-room, and on our first 
arrival the good woman was spinning yarn on a 
large wheel, and at the same time smoking a pipe ; 
a hen with young chickens was tied by a string in 
one corner of the room. There were no spare beds, 
and so before dark we found two wide boards about 
6 feet long, which we placed on the table at bed- 
time, and proceeded to arrange our couch for the 
night. With our own blankets under us, and our 
mosquito nets suspended above us, and with all our 
clothes on, we got a fair night's rest. As the boards 
projected beyond the table at each end, it required a 
little care to mount into place ; and then to turn in 
the night from side to side, and not fall off or drag- 
down our nets, was a work requii-ing considerable 
skill and caution. The next morning we alighted 
from the table betimes and desired to get an early 
start, but it takes about two hours to get a meal in 
this country over the open fireplace, whether there 
is anything to get or not. No charge was made for 
our entertainment. We packed up our blankets 
and the remainder of the rations, and as we "toted" 
them from the shore to the boat, the sun from high 
up in the sky reproached us for being so late. On 



Coastwise Travel. 27 

reaching the boat, what was our horror and dismay 
to find that the box containing our cooked provis- 
ions had been unco'\-ered and the contents devoured 
bv the dogs ! After uttering a few interjections, we 
were compelled to view the remains in sad silence, 
for there were no words adequate to the occasion. 

The river hei-e is six miles wide. In setting sail 
for Sand Point, now Titusville. we bore west of 
south till we passed Black Point on our left, when 
the houses at the Point could be seen about 8 miles 
oH on the right bank of the river. A dark, heavy 
hammock forest extends for miles along the west 
side of the river. In that hammock Aurantia was 
situated. This settlement was started by Bliss & 
Co., of New York city, several years ago. It was 
abandoned on account of being too low. At Sand 
Point we waded ashore, as usual, and took a brief 
look around the place. Col. Titus, a noted leader 
in the border war in Kansas and Missouri, where he 
and Col. Montgomery (Tall Jim) hunted each 
other, kept a hotel there at Sand Point, and there 
were two stores in the neighborhood. The location 
is level and apparently healthy, and the town had 
•' great expectations."' Our larder was replenished 
here by R. S. Sheldon, of New Smyrna, who kind- 
ly gave us a ham of venison. We did not make any 
more landings that day. A few miles south of Sand 
Point our boat struck a half-sunken log in the river, 
and we feared for a minute we should sink, but the 
boat was not injured. Toward night, having been 
wet in a shower, we put up at Gardner Hardee's, 
who was clearing for orange groves in some excel- 



38 East Coast of Florida. 

lent high hammock land. Here is a bold shore, 
w-ith deep water. Thinking there would be no 
mosquitoes where there were no signs of marsh or 
moist ground, we left our nets on board the boat. 
But after we had retired we regretted this, as the 
" insects " were fearful, and we got but little sleep. 
This was our first visit below Sand Point ; every- 
thing was new and interesting to us. We were 
surprised at the width of the river, and at the high 
banks for miles along its western side, but the 
houses were " few and far between." 

Merritt's Island is thirty miles long, triangular in 
shape, its base at the north eight miles wide, taper- 
ing to a point of rock at the south end but a few feet 
^1 width. It is mostly pine land, and at that time 
had perhaps half a dozen settlers on it. From this 
island westerly to the shore of the river at Sand 
Point is seven miles, but the river grows narrower 
toward the south. That portion of the Indian River 
on the east side of the island is called Banana River. 
It is in some places five miles wide. 

Banana Creek is the body of water extending 
from Indian River proper to Banana River, across 
the north end of the island. It is filled with low 
islands, amongst which the channel is of rather 
blind and difficult navigation for strangers. On 
Saturday morning, 8th of May, we left Hardee's at 
5.30, and in three hours we had reached Elbow 
Creek, where a little incident caused us to land here 
and remain the most of the day. The wind was 
directly aft, and too strong for our little boat. A 
wave came over the stern, half filling the boat, and 



Coastwise Travel. 29 

drenching everything we had on board. We sailed 
into the mouth of the creek and landed at Mr. 
Adams' and staid, drying our clothes, till 4 P. M. 
We set sail again, but had gone but a few miles 
when we made a landing under the high bank on 
the right side, and prepared to camp out for the 
night. Our bill of fare was ample: fried pork, 
broiled venison, fried cakes from a pail of batter 
raised with yeast in the most approved style, coffee 
and syrup. A few bushes laid on the ground under 
our blankets made a good bed, and our sail made a 
good roof, under which we slept soundly. Sunday, 
the 9th, we breakfasted early and got started on om- 
way at 6 o'clock. The wind, still fair, but more 
moderate at first, soon blew a light gale, it seemed 
to us, but we kept on, dining at Payne's, at Fort 
Capron, at 3 P. M., and proceeding on fifteen miles 
further, we camped for the night on the Judge 
Herman place, having travelled that day over sixty 
miles. In the morning we passed Cape Malabar, 
Turkey Creek and St. Sebastian River. These 
streams come into Indian River on the right. The 
entrances to them are rather inconspicuous, and 
would be likely to be overlooked unless the traveller 
was on the watch for them. 

Cape Malabar, which many suppose to be on tlie 
outside in the ocean, is a low bank of Avhite sand, 
extending from the west shore of Indian River half 
a mile or so into the stream. 

About fifteen miles below St. Sebastian, the river 
banks ahead appear to approach each other, leav- 
ing a narrow gateway for the river. This is The 



30 East Coast of Florida. 

Narrows. The contraction in the width of the 
river is apparently caused by the growth of oyster 
banks on the east side of the river, which have 
become covered witli forests of mangroves. The 
channel which is left is being, encroached upon in 
the same manner. This condition of the river con- 
tinues to the Indian River Inlet, which has a depth 
of water on the bar of four or five feet. Mr. Payne 
was Deputy Collector there. The frost of iS68 had 
killed a large avocado pear tree there. 

Fort Pierce, or St. Lucie, is three miles below. It 
is an elevated location, and a good site for a town. 
The store and post-office was then kept by Capt. 
Frank Smith, the representative in the State As- 
sembly for Brevard County. This was then the last 
house north of Jupiter Inlet, a distance of thirty- 
seven miles. The land-marks by which the Her- 
man place had been described were two tall cocoa- 
nut trees standing near each other, and the hedges 
of lime bushes. The cocoanut trees had been in- 
jured, and perhaps killed, byathe frost of the last 
winter. We landed on a great rock, which was 
overhung by a sea grape tree a foot in diameter. 
The old orange grove was on high ground, but it 
had been neglected, and the trees, overrun with 
sour sprouts arid bushes, were dying or dead. That 
portion of Indian River south of the inlet is called 
St. Lucie Sound, although there is no apparent 
change in the direction of the river that would seem 
to call for a new name. The water is more shallow, 
which may account for the enormous amount of 
turtle grass that grows there. It greatly obstructs 



Coastwise Travel. 31 

the passag-e of boats. The phosphorescence was 
verv brilHant here at night, the wake of the boat 
resembling a stream of fire. 

Next morning we set sail at 4.30 o'clock, and 
landed at Mt. Elizab'^th, a high palmetto hammock 
at the confluence of the St. Lucie and Indian rivers. 
We also made a landing at Gilbert's bar on the east 
side. The Narrows are a series of crooked channels 
among the hundreds of mangrove islands. In pass- 
ing through we probably got out of our direct way 
and into it again several times without knowing it. 
About the only island of solid land we saw seemed 
to be a camping-ground, and we went ashore there. 
The trunks of the mangrove trees here are held up 
several feet from the surface of the mud islands by 
roots which branch off like the legs of a spider. 
Larger and finer specimens of air plants in blossom 
than we had ever seen before, were abundant on the 
branches of these trees. Following the tide, which 
was on the ebb, toward the inlet, we finally emerged 
from the watery fore, t into a broad expanse of the 
river known a?, Jupiter Sound, which is about half a 
mile wide. Here the relation between the beach 
ridge and mainland is the reverse of what it is far- 
ther north, along the Upper Indian and Hillsboro 
rivers. Instead of the sandy, barren condition of 
the beach, as on those rivers, it is here a rich. aMuv- 
ial soil, considerably mixed and covered with bould- 
ers of limestone, and covered with a growth of hard 
wood indicating first-rate hammock land. On the 
west side of the sound the land rises to a consider- 
able height— about fifty feet — but it is composed of 



32 East Coast of Florida. 

sand-heaps that look like snow-drifts in the distance, 
and are thinly covered with a growth of stunted 
pines and scrub oaks. After the doubt and anxiety 
we felt in the dark forest of the Narrows, a sense of 
i^elief and security refreshed us as soon as we entered 
the sound and saw the friendly light-house in the 
distance. We arrived there at 3 P. M., and found 
our friend Gleason waiting for us and ready to pro- 
ceed in the morning. We had time to look around 
the place and go vip to the top of the light-house, 
which is 170 feet high, from which we had a fine 
view of the surrounding country. On the east lay 
the Atlantic Ocean ; on the north Jupiter Sound 
stretched away to the Narrows ; on the south, close 
by, was Jupiter River, a fresh water stream, while 
seven miles away lay Lake Worth ; to the west ex- 
tended a great ocean of pine woods farther than the 
eye could reach. 

From Jupiter to Miami is a hundred miles. It 
was then an unbroken wilderness without a human 
inhabitant or a road, and the only ways of reaching 
that distant point were by sailing vessels outside, 
along near the shore, or walking along the sea 
beach. Gov. Gleason had a project in his head for 
a canal to connect the whole series of internal rivers 
along the coast with Biscayne Bay, and he wanted 
to view the la)- of the land and water along the pro- 
posed route a part of the way. And the plan was 
to go up the creek through the sawgrass marsh with 
a flat-boat, and haul it over into the lake, then pro- 
ceed in it to the south end of the lake, when we 
would have only about sixty miles to walk. During 



Coastwise Travel. 33 

the night Mike Axter, the mail carrier, arrived from 
Miami on foot, as was his customary way of taking 
the mail. Mike was a stout Norwegian, over six 
feet high, and a great walker. He was a valuable 
acquisition to our company, which now consisted 
of five : Gleason, Wells, a young man from Sand 
Point, Mike, Purdie and myself. On Tuesday, the 
nth of May, the day was fine as could be desired. 
Wells' flat-boat, the Lucy Long, had been stored 
with four or five days' i^ations and such outfit of 
other articles as we expected to need on the way. 
We started with light hearts and bright hopes, ex- 
pecting to be afloat in our batteau on the bosom of 
Lake Worth in three or four hours. At first we 
sailed up the creek, which was deep and clear of 
sand-bars ; the wind failing, we had to row. The 
country through which we passed was not very in- 
viting ; there were some fertile spots, but most of 
the land was covered with oak and other scrub, and 
small pines. 

Noon came, but no signs of the lake. There 
were several branches in our stream, and there was 
some doubt as to which was the right one. By the 
middle of the afternoon we reached the border of a 
great sawgrass marsh, in which several smaller 
streams had their origin, and united here to make 
the creek up which we had toiled. We selected 
one of these channels and went on, poling the boat, 
as the &tream was too narrow to allow of rowing. 
After a little, Mike got out and waded, taking the 
boat's painter over his shoulder, and rendered great 
assistance by towing. Our stream gradually grew 



34 East Coast of Florida. 

shallower, and affbrcled a scanty supply of water for 
eyen our flat-boat. Then Wells volunteered to step 
out into the creek and push behind ; he was soon 
followed by Purdie and myself, one at the painter, 
the other behind. Toward night the channel wid- 
ened and deepened, and we came to dry land on 
our left suitable for camping on, so we cleared away 
the scrub, and spread our sail over poles and made 
a good tent, completing it just in time to have it 
protect us from a drenching rain. 

The next morning, the i3th, we started with fresh 
hopes of being soon at the Haulover, but our creek 
soon became as bad as ever, and even the Governor 
had to get out into the mud, which was deeper than 
the water, and help push the boat through the lily- 
pads and sawgrass. This grass is higher than a 
man's head, and the edges of the long blades are 
armed with teeth like those of a sickle ; by care- 
lessly striking the hand down by a blade of this 
grass, it could cut through a finger to the bone. 
A man climbed the mast to look around, but nothing 
but the tall grass was near us ; to the east were pine 
trees, and we concluded to investigate on foot. 
Three of the party walked easterly through the 
marsh to the pine woods, from which they could 
see the lake ; they brought back some dry wood, 
and we bent over the tall grass, and used a board 
for a hearth, on which we made a fire and boiled 
some coftee. It was evident that we had come up 
the wrong channel, but we disliked to go back ; so 
we pushed on as near the land as we could get the 
boat, and went ashore and camped for the night. 



Coastwise Travel. 35 

The question for debate that night was : shall we 
cut a trail, get rollers, and haul the boat over the 
ridge through the mile of pine woods into the lake ? 
The boat was large and heavy, our provisions nearly 
half gone, and we concluded to abandon the boat, 
taking along the sail and ropes and light articles. 
We concluded to go to the shore and build a raft on 
which to cross the lake, but on reaching the shore 
there was a scarcity of proper material, and we de- 
cided to walk round the north end of the lake. On 
account of the thick scrub along the shore, we found 
it easier to wade along in the water most of the 
way. The surface of the water was thickly strown 
with dead fish, mostly catfish, and another kind re- 
sembling shad. We afterwards learned that the 
cause of this destruction of the fish was the closing 
up of Lang's inlet from the lake into the sea ; while 
that was open the lake was salt ; now that the tide 
was shut out, it was becoming fresh again. We 
estimated that there were many thousand barrels of 
these decaying fish, and the air was filled with the 
unpleasant odor. 

We soon discovered that it would probably take 
all day to walk round the end of the lake, and dis- 
covering a sort of cape or tongue of land projecting 
into the lake, we concluded to cross over on to that 
cape, as the stream which separated us from it was 
about five feet wide. This was a large creek that 
emptied into the lake, and was too deep to be 
forded. And as some of the party could not swim, 
Purdie volunteered to swim across and carry one 
end of a rope, which he made fast to a stake, and 



36 East Coast of Florida. 

the others were aided across. Our clothing was got 
over dry, in a bundle tied up in a rubber blanket. 
There were half a dozen huge alligators watching 
the movements at our rope ferry, and only a few 
yards away, apparently not daring to risk an attack ; 
but as the last man got safely across, these slimy 
monsters lashed the water with their tails, no doubt 
swearing mad that they couldn't have had a little 
variety in their diet of dead fish. Soon as we were 
safely over a tremendous shower came on, from 
which we kept dry with the sail ; but we soon got 
wet in crossing the land through the weeds and 
bushes in the old field we went through. Arriving 
at the eastern prong of the lake, we made a raft of 
small dry logs and piled our clothes and other goods, 
and with ropes attached, it was hauled across. The 
water was only about waist deep, but the mud was 
so black we could not see the bottom. I kept a few 
rods ahead of the raft, with a long cane looking out 
for deep holes and stray alligators, but found none 
of either, and we landed without further incident. 
The only mishap with the raft was the wetting of 
all our bread, sugar and coffee, and the getting of 
our clothes covered with ants, myriads of which 
crawled up out of the half- rotten logs of our raft. 
The beach ridge was quite narrow at that point, 
and in a few minutes we were on the ocean shore. 
Mike immediately strode off down the beach, and 
was soon out of sight. The Governor and Wells 
made a cache, and left all their heavy articles, such 
as the guns, ropes, etc. The day was nearly spent 
when we all started on our long walk. It was 



Coastwise Travel. 37 

nearly night when we overtook Mike at CroweWs 
Well. This was a watering place very important to 
travellers along that highway, since the water of the 
lake had been spoiled for drinking and cooking pur- 
poses. The well consisted of a pork barrel with 
one head out, set a few inches down in the sand, 
to catch rain-water ; long pieces of bamboo cane, 
split in two, reached out from the barrel in all di- 
rections and served as conductors to the reservoir. 
With some of this water Mike had boiled coffee in 
his tin pail over a fire of driftwood that was blazing 
cheerfully on the sand, and was eating his supper ; 
he treated us to coffee and biscuit. Mike carried 
the mail over this route every two weeks ; he went 
in light marching order, the mail being much the 
lightest portion of his burden. His outfit consisted 
of biscuit, coffee, a tin pail and cup. hatchet, 
matches, pipe and tobacco, carried in a corn sack. 
He usually walked night and day, resting at inter- 
vals as occasion required. Here we were, at the 
end of three days of tedious work, only nine miles 
on our way ; ninety miles to walk, and about two 
days' rations In view of these last two considera- 
tions, Mike was sent on ahead with all speed to get 
some one at Miami to come up twenty miles and 
meet us at the head of Biscayne Bay with provis- 
ions. The United States mail pouch and its carrier 
soon disappeared, and we saw them no more till we 
reached our journey's end. Gleason had been over 
the road many times, ^nd was acquainted with- 
every nook and corner, and the distance from one 
noted point to another. We camped that night 



38 East Coast of Florida. 

near Lang's inlet, and some of our party went for- 
aging over on an island for sweet potatoes. They 
came back with nearly a bushel, and reported that 
there was a field of four acres of them that had stood 
there through the last winter. Lang, who formerly 
lived there, had been driven away by the horrible 
odor of the dead fish, and was living on Indian 
River. 

Friday, the 14th of May, was our fouith day out 
from the light-house. We were not now afraid of 
going hungry ; each man had about a peck of sweet 
potatoes ; these, roasted, are a good substitute for 
bread. The beach along here was narrow, and 
composed of coarse, loose sand, into which we 
slumped, as into snow, about two inches at every 
step. The walking was tiresome, and twenty miles 
was a fair day's march. We soon learned that it 
was much easier to march Indian file, stepping in 
each other's tracks. Whenever the leader stopped 
to aiTange his luggage, the others passed on and he 
fell behind. All day we were on the lookout for 
another cask of water, but found none. About 
noon we saw a stake on the bank at our right, indi- 
cating a path, which we followed, hoping it might 
lead to a spring. We found where a well had been 
commenced, and we dug further down with our 
spade some eight feet, finding only coarse, dry 
sand. Three of us remained for some time, resting 
in the shade and prospecting for water. The next 
well we dug was near the border of the lake, and 
perhaps thi-ee feet deep. The water in it was black 
as coffee, tasted like epsom salts, and had the odor 



Coastwise Travel. 39 

of rotten eggs. The third well, a little farther from 
the lake, aftbrded clear water, but very brackish and 
sulphury ; but we were compelled by thirst to drink 
of it. Gleason facetiously called it an aperient min- 
eral spring. Not long after, when we had resumed 
our march, the following collocpy was heard : 
'' Oh, Governor." 
''What say.^" 

•' There is virtue in the water of that mineral 
spring." 

" No doubt of it, but what makes you say so ? " 
' ' Because it operates in jvist three-quarters of an 
hour." 

Wells, who had impatiently left us before we 
found our mineral spring, had not been seen since 
one o'clock. The sun was getting low, and we 
began to look out for a good place to camp for the 
night. G. was lame and feverish, and Purdie as- 
sisted in carrying his heavy rubber valise. I walked 
on ahead, and a little after sunset halted and kindled 
a fire ; the flames soon spread in the dried grass and 
ran up on the ridge, lighting the scene for miles 
along the shore. This attracted Wells' notice, who 
was only about a mile ahead ; he came back for us, 
and we went on to his camp-fire, where he had 
roasted some potatoes, and made coffee with water 
from the lake. After supper one of the party went 
to move further from the fire, and being blinded by 
the blaze, and being too tired to look carefully, sat 
square down on a bunch of prickly pears ; but tired 
as he was he quickly changed his base, and suffered 
for his carelessness more than a month afterwards. 



40 East Coast of Florida. 

Some of these cactus thorns will prick through the 
leather of a boot as easily as an awl. We lay down 
in our blankets on the sand rather low-spirited, as 
we feared that Gleason would not be able to go on 
in the morning. But when the next day came, 
which was Saturday, he felt much better, and was 
ready to march with the rest of us ; but he lightened 
his load by leaving his blanket on a log for Mike to 
bring, and giving his valise into Purdie's care. He 
started on ahead barefoot, carrying his shoes in one 
hand, and a long cane in the other ; the back of his 
neck was blistered the day before, and he dexter- 
ously managed to shield it from the sun with a por- 
tion of some white undergarment ; it was a serious 
matter, but we had to laugh. The Governor was 
two miles ahead when we started. Wells had 
about a load for a mule ; this he tied up in his 
woolen blanket, and swung first on one shoulder, 
then on the other ; he took the lead, Purdie was 
next, well loaded with his own luggage, and yet 
able to assist a weaker neighbor. I carried a mos- 
quito net, and a rubber blanket rolled up and the 
ends tied together in the form of a hoop and carried 
on one shoulder ; my shoes and stockings tied to- 
gether and suspended from the handle of my spade, 
which I carried on the other shoulder; then in the 
hand that was least engaged I carried a handker- 
chief full of sweet potatoes, and some rare shells 
which I occasionally picked up on the march. 
There was no hope of getting water to drink until 
we arrived at the south end of the lake, which 
toward noon we hourly expected to do. Some 



^ 



Coastwise Travel. 41 

cocoanuts we found on the beach gave us some 
relief. Many times that long forenoon one of us 
had gone up to the top of the beach ridge, hoping 
to see the end of the lake, but the hateful, stinking 
water was still there. It was nearly noon when we 
espied the Governor far ahead, out of hearing, wav- 
ing Jiis handkerchief on a pole. We all knew in- 
stantly what it meant, and sent up a shout of rejoic- 
ing. Tears of joy moistened every eye. He had 
passed the lake and found fresh water in a swamp. 
How we all enjoyed that clear, sweet water, as we 
sat there near it eating our scanty lunch that noon. 
No artificial drink ever tasted half as good as that, 
and water never tasted so good before. That night 
we camped at sunset on a great ledge of rock that 
jutted out across the beach into the sea. Sunday, 
the 1 6th, we arose from our hard bed and started 
before 6 o'clock, and soon passed Boca Retoms, 
where stood a little board shanty, from which it is 
six miles to Hillsboro Inlet. We crossed this inlet, 
wading and carrying our clothes on our head. On 
the south shore of the inlet we halted at an old 
Indian camping-ground, and rested thi^ee hours. 
On our march that forenoon, a large jack fish, or 
salt water trout, jumped out of tlie sea and lay on 
the shore waiting for us. We took it along, and at 
dinner had the luxury of roast fish. At this camp 
we dug the last well on the journey, finding excel- 
lent water, but I took the spade along on my shoul- 
der for the good it had already done. We used the 
last of our coffee at breakfast, and being cook that 
day, I prepared tea of the bay -berry leaves at din- 



42 East Coast of Florida. 

ner, but we found it unpalatable. I cooked my last 
potato, and was able then to put my handkerchief 
to its legitimate uses. As we were starting on our 
march, we were surprised to see on the opposite 
bank of the river ;i rare, strange sight for that coun- 
try. It was the last thing one would expect — three 
men evidently following us. One was dressed in a 
flaming red shirt, and the two others in ordinary 
citizen's costume. Our first thought was that they 
were Indians; the next, tliat it was a relief party 
up from Miami to meet us, and they had passed us 
without seeing us. We waited for them, and when 
they came up we found they were, like three of our 
own party, bound for Miami, on a prospecting tour. 
Our new friends were John A. McDonald, surveyor, 
and a Mr. Strickland, from Orange County, arid the 
man in the red shirt was from Oregon ; he was a 
hunter, carried a heavy rifle, and was very deaf. 
This new party had left the light-house yesterday 
morning, walking all the way on the beach, and 
overtaken us in a day and a half, whereas we had 
been five days and a half in making the sayiie dis- 
tance ; but then, our experience was richer than 
theirs. They generously shared with us their bread 
and butter. On resuming our march we found the 
sea beach much broader and firmer, making excel- 
lent walking ; and we went on with new courage, 
comparing notes of our observations In various parts 
of the state. We travelled ten miles that afternoon, 
and camped ^t Fort Lauderdale , ox the Cocoanut Trees, 
Our soldiers in the Seminole war had camped here, 
hence the name ; it is on the New River. 



Coastwise Travel. 43 

Monday, the 17th, I awoke at daylight and found 
that Purdie had ah'eady started ofl' alone down the 
beach. His mosquito net had got pulled oft' the 
stakes, and he couldn't sleep. This morning we 
ate the last of the provisions ; but we were soon 
after rejoiced to meet Andrew, one of Gleason's 
colored men, with a large basket of victuals that had 
been sent to meet us. It was a marvel to us to see 
such nice flour bread spread with butter, and sand- 
wiches with slices of most delicious corned beef. 
It was probably a marvel to Andrew to see how 
quick eight men could lighten his basket. 

Nexv River had that day too deep and swift a cur- 
rent to be forded, and we crossed in a batteau so 
leaky that it would carry but two at a time, and 
then it would sink before we could reach the shox^e ; 
but as it took us across the deeper water it answered 
our purpose. We kept our clothing dry in the 
usual manner, by carrying it on our heads. At 
noon we met State Senator Hunt, Gleason's partner 
at Miami, three miles above Baker's haulover. He 
had come up, as requested by Gleason, with a boat 
to meet us. In this boat we sailed and poled down 
'' Dumfundlin " Bay to Biscayne Bay, arriving at 
Gleason's and Hunt's residence at the mouth of 
Miami River an hour after dark. As we landed. 
Hunt fired a gun as a signal to the family of his 
arrival . 

Miami. Here at last in a new, strange country. 
Only a little can be mentioned here out of what 
would readily fill a volume. Notwithstanding all 
the fatigue, thirst and scant food we were subjected 



44 East Coast of Florida. 

to on the way, there was a charm in the new scenes 
of this tropical landscape that far outweighed the 
little, temporary inconveniences of the journey. 
Perhaps the largest portion of the vegetation was 
already familiar to us in the region of Mosquito 
Inlet One of the marked changes was in the size 
of the trees and shrubs. Port Orange is the farthest 
northern limit of the mangrove bushes which there 
cover the low mud islands ; at Jupiter Narrows the 
mangroves are sometimes a foot through. The 
single specimen of sea grape growing farthest north 
at Port Orange " old mill," half a mile above Pa- 
cetti's, is a bush which blossoms, but does not pro- 
duce fruit. On St. Lucie Sound the sea grape trees 
are a foot in diameter. wSome of the novel things 
we meet are gum elemi, India rubber or wild fig, 
gum elimbo, cocoa plum. Not far from Hillsboro 
Inlet are cocoanut trees growing wild. It seemed 
strange that over such large extent of territory there 
should be no sign of human habitation. Two years 
after this journey Mr. Hutchinson, auctioneer at 
Pensacola, informed me that he and a few friends 
had settled and lived awhile on the southwest shore 
of Lake Worth. And Mrs. Manahan, an intelligent 
Jewess of Augusta, Ga., told me in 1852 that she 
knew of a party from Charleston, S. C, who made 
a settlement on this coast some years before, and 
abandoned it. 

Mr. Hunt's wife and an invalid son were at the 
North. Gleason's family there consisted of his wife 
and two sons, all bright and healthy. Wells had 
come to stay, and was at once at home. The deaf 



Coastwise Travel. 45 

liunter also concluded to remain a few months. 
The others would look round and see what they 
could, and return with Gleason, who was to go very 
soon to attend the extra session of the Legislature in 
June. For a week we were the guests of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor and Mr. Hunt. With them we 
tramped over the land, sailed over the bay, and 
rowed up the river and creeks ; the time was 
crowded with new sights and scenes which shifted 
every hour through the day. This is the site of 
Fort Dallas, which was garrisoned by our soldiers 
in the Seminole war. The block houses are now 
occupied as dwellings. The most prominent fea- 
tures in this region are the limestone, which forms 
great ledges, reminding one of the granite hills of 
New England, and the Everglades, a great rocky 
basin of shallow water, through the rim of which 
several streams have forced their channels, and after 
descending rapid falls of about ten feet, run easterly 
to Biscayne Bay ; such are Miami River, Arch and 
Snake Creeks. The Everglades, called in some of 
the old books the "Great Glade," commence on the 
north at Lake Okeechobee, including township 44, 
ranges 37 and 38, south and east, and sweep across 
the state southwesterly, covering an area about forty 
miles wide and eighty miles long ; their nearest 
point to the Atlantic is at New River, where they 
reach within five miles of the sea. This whole 
region east of the Everglades to Biscayne Bay goes 
under the general name of Miami. The best lands 
extend from townships 50 to 57 south, including 
both. 



46 East Coast of Florida. 

Surface and Soil. The upland is light and sandy, 
and in many places so thickly covered with lime- 
stone as to prevent its being plow^ed. Some of this 
stone is white and soft, and easily cut with a spade ; 
another variety is hard and flinty, and full of irreg- 
ular potholes of various depths, and from one to ten 
inches in diameter. The principal growth is pitch 
pine, which is generally cross-grained, and not eas- 
ily split into rails while green. There are a few 
small patches of hammock covered with a growth 
of hard wood and vines. The scrub palmetto and 
cabbage palm, so common in other parts of the 
state, grow on both varieties of this upland. The 
coonti also grows in abundance. The savannas 
correspond to northern intervale lands. They are 
about perfectly level, free from rocks, of an alluvial, 
clayey formation, and so strongly alkaline (probably 
lime) as to effervesce when vinegar is poured on it. 
These intervales vary in their degrees of moisture 
according to their elevation above the level of the 
bay, and they are all subject to an annual overflow 
of fresh water from the Everglades. These inter- 
vales occur in long, wavy belts, sometimes parallel 
with the bay, bordered on each side by the pine 
woods, and their margins clearly defined by the saw 
palmetto, which makes a dense border of evergreen 
along the edge of the upland ; this palmetto is very 
trying to the patience, and tearing to the thin pant- 
aloons of those who ti^averse it. It seems likely 
that these low plains were formerly lagoons or shal- 
low rivers which have been filled up by annual de- 
posits of sediment from the water which overflowed 



Coastwise Travel. 47 

them. They are natural grass lands, and also pro- 
duce the orange, guava, banana and cocoanut. 
^\'ith comparatively slight expense, most of these 
intervales or savannas could be dyked to prevent too 
great overflow, and flood-gates established at canals 
leading from the Everglades, making a cheap and 
excellent system of irrigation. The whole region is 
health}^ ; we could hear of no sickness, and the near- 
est physician was at Key West, 150 miles distant. 
About fifteen miles south of Miami River is a level 
tract of fertile country known as the Indian hunting- 
ground. At that place John Addison, foi'merly of 
Manatee, had a promising field of pine apples. At 
the mouth of the. Miami there were between 70 and 
80 cocoanut trees in a row, planted there by the sol- 
diers. Guavas and limes grow abundantly without 
much attention. 

About 35 miles away, on an island in the Ever- 
glades, there is a remnant of the tribe of Seminole 
Indians. Some of them are at the store every day. 
We saw old Tiger Tail and his son, the young chief. 
The constitutional right of these Indians to be rep- 
resented in the State Legislature had not been ex- 
plained to them. They raise garden vegetables, 
and bring them down in their boats to sell at the 
white settlement. The nearest market is Key West. 
A schooner made the voyage and brought up the 
mail every two weeks. It is understood that the 
steamships which touch at Key West will land pas- 
sengers and freight at Biscayne at the light-house, 
whenever the freight or passage money amounts to 
five hundred dollars. Having finished our visit, we 



48 East Coast of Florida. 

started to return to Jupiter on Sunday, the 23d of 
May, and camped that night at New River, which 
was so swollen with late rains that we could not 
cross till 3 P. M. the next day. Our next camp 
was at Hillsboro Inlet. We found turtles' eggs, 
caught two possums, and saw a bear that night. 
The water was deeper at the inlet than when we 
crossed before ; it came up to our arm-pits. On 
the morning of the 27th, at daylight, we arrived at 
Jupiter, after having walked all night, and ti^avelled 
40 miles in the last 24 hours. At Jupiter our party 
separated, and Purdie and I went back together, 
getting air plants in the NaiTows, and stopping at 
Capt. Fi-ank Smith's that night. Next day we 
called at Mr. Payne's. A schooner was in port 
frorn the Bahamas with three families for Sand 
Point. We camped that night a mile north of Cape 
Malabar. Next morning was rainy and but little 
wind, and we only reached Mr. Adams' at 9 A. M., 
where we had breakfast. Gleason and party came 
along at 10. We staid that night at Dr. Whitfield's, 
on the island. The doctor's family had i"ecently 
arrived from Philadelphia, and were living in tem- 
porary houses without floors. We slept on a rug 
on the ground in the kitchen. Dr. W. is an indus- 
trious and energetic man, and we predicted for him 
a bright future on his pleasantly located island 
homestead. 

The next day we returned down Banana River, 
calling to examine the limestone formation of the 
south end of Merritt's Island, and sailed for Sand 
Point; but failing to make it out in the dark, we 



Coastwise Travel. 49 

camped on a sand bank half a mile to the south of 
the town. Without much delay we went on the 
next day, and staid over night at Mitchell's, at Oak 
Hill. He had a ten-acre grove partly in bearing. 
The next day, June ist, we arrived safely at home- 
Route to St. Augustine. Having been absent on 
leave from my regiment, which was at Hilton Head, 
for the purpose of examining the country in the 
region of New Smyrna, I wished to return by way 
of St. Augustine. At Bill Scobie's, on the lagoon, 
I made a bargain with him to take me to Bulow's, 
from which place I was to walk to St. Joseph and 
to Celia Mier's. Scobie, now known as William 
Williams, is a tall and strong colored man, intelli- 
gent, industrious and prosperous. At Old Stone 
Wharf he had to wait and help Brantley load the 
schooner Hess (Capt. Brown) with cattle for Nas- 
sau, and it was past one o'clock when we left New 
Smyrna. We called at Bobb's Bluft', at Pacetti's, 
and took along a keg of syrup for Mr. Mier that 
Capt. Burnham, of Canaveral, had left there. 
Above McDaniel's, now Port Orange, there was 
not a house on the Halifax. An unbroken forest of 
]iine and hammocks lined the shores all the way. 
We arrived at Bulow at 10 P. M., and vScobie hid 
the keg of syrup, and sent word by me where the 
owner could find it, and then led me out through an 
old field and through thick, dark woods, and put 
me in the sandy road with the comfortable assur- 
ance that to Grifliths', the next house at '• St. Jo, 
was only 13 miles. About midnight I came to a 
pai'ty camping out ; the horses hitched to the carts 



50 East Coast of Florida. 

and men asleep on the ground near a fire. I did 
not wake them, in fact took pains to go quietly 
round them. In crossing a little stream I slipped 
oft' the foot log into the water, which was only about 
waist deep. The advantage of this was, it wasn't 
necessai'y afterwards to take oft' shoes and stockings 
for every little pond in the road. It was 3 o'clock 
A. M. when I reached St. Jo, and went to bed at 
Grifiiths'. Rising at 6, I breakfasted early and 
walked on, and soon met Mr. Mier and family in a 
cart. I went home with them, and got Mr. M. to 
take me to St. Augustine in the cart. He rode on 
the horse and I sat on a bundle of corn fodder. We 
arrived at the ferry too late to cross over, and I slept 
in the cart that night, and Mr. M. on the ground. 
Next day we entei'ed the city, and I helped Mr. 
Mier to get some provisions at the Post Commis- 
sary, which would only sell on the order of a com- 
missioned ofticer in the service. I reached my reg- 
iment by steamboat via Jacksonville. Another 
route I afterwards travelled on horseback, was up 
the beach to the old salt works near Matanzas ; 
thence westerly by an old road to St. JoscDh. I 
generally made it a point to stop over night here, 
or at Virgil Dupont, because at both places they 
had plenty of milk and clabber. I have stopped 
several times at John Munsy's, because I once found 
honey there. 



Growth of the Coast. 51 

CHAPTER IV. — Growth of the Coast in the 
New Era. 

" Peace hath her victories no less renowned than War." 
The Eastern Coast of Florida, being aside from 
the line of main operations during the war, escaped 
the destruction which attended the march of armies. 
The cities of Fernandina and St. Augustine were 
occupied early in the war by the Union forces, and 
there was no fighting on the whole line of the coast, 
the aftair at New Smyrna not being a fight. But 
there was a halt in the march of improvements, and 
healthy industry was paralyzed. It was some time 
after the •' surrender,'' as southern people some- 
times call it, in speaking of the close of the war, 
before immigration from other states commenced. 
The only railroads that touched the coast were those 
from Fernandina to Cedar Key on the Gulf Coast, 
and from St. Augustine to Tocoi on the St. Johns. 
Within five or six years a railroad has been built 
from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, 40 miles, and 
another, built in 1885, from Jacksonville to Pablo 
Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, north of St. August- 
ine, where a great summer watering-place is rapidly 
growing up ; and another to Palatka, 18 miles. 
Further south a railroad (the "White" road) con- 
nects Palatka with Ormond and Daytona on the 
Halifax. The Blue Springs, Orange City and At- 
lantic R. R. to New Smyrna is graded and a third 
of the road in operation, the whole line to be com- 
pleted before the last of the year 1886. Thirty 
miles south of the last-named road the St. Johns 
and Atlantic R. R. connects Enterprise on the St. 



52 East Coast of Florida. 

Johns with Titusville on Indian River, making five 
i"ailroads to the coast, four of which have been buiU 
within a year or two. These are great steps toward 
the development of the resources of the coast, and 
they make the necessity of the next steps more ap- 
parent and more easy to be taken. These roads 
touch the coast only at certain points. What this 
region needs and will have is a coastwise road run- 
ning along close on the border of the rich marl 
hammocks that run parallel with the Atlantic shore. 
In this belt of heavy hard wood land are to be the 
future gardens, farms and groves of tropical and 
lialf-tropical products of this climate. It will be a 
great and unnecessary expense to the producers to 
haul their crops five or six miles to the river boats, 
then have them reshipped at the railroad stations on 
the river. This will answer the purpose for awhile, 
and for such crops as potatoes, lemons, and some 
other vegetables, honey in barrels, sugar and syrup ; 
but it will not do for our perishable fruits, such as 
oranges, limes, strawbenues, bananas, pine apples, 
and other kinds not yet known in the northern 
markets. The coast, having had a taste of rail- 
roads, now calls for " more," and will never be sat- 
isfied until the cars that are loaded and locked in 
her groves and gardens shall only be unlocked and 
unloaded in the great markets of the north and west 
to which they are consigned. Six counties border 
on the Atlantic Ocean ; they are Nassau, Duval, 
St. Johns, Volusia, Brevard and Dade. Of these, 
the following have their county seats on the coast : 
Nassau at Fernandina, St. Johns at St. Augustine, 



Growth of the Coast. 53 

Brevard at Titusville, and Dade at Miami. The 
capital of Duval, Jacksonville, is 12 miles from the 
coast, and Enterprise, the capital of Volusia, is 30 
miles from the sea. The growth of the coast belt 
has been most rapid on the Halifax, Hillsboro and 
Indian Rivers, and Lake Worth. Brief mention of 
the settlements along the East Coast will now be 
made, beginning at the north. 

Amelia Island, the most northern portion of the 
Florida coast, represents the beach ridge or "penin- 
sula" in the region further south. The city of Fer- 
naiidina is on this island, about two miles from the 
beach, to which a horse railroad extends. This is 
the only seaport on the East Coast of Florida, con- 
nected with New York city by a line of ocean 
steamships. The Mallory line has been in success- 
ful operation for several years. Fernandina, county 
seat of Nassau County, is favorably situated for a 
large city, it being the terminus of the railroad that 
extends across the state to the Gulf, and a road to 
Jacksonville. 

Mayport, at the mouth of the St. Johns, named 
from the river May, as this river was first named by 
the French, A considerable portion of the town 
stands on white drifts of sand. It is a popular 
watering-place, and is growing fast. There are 
upwards of a hundred cottages here, many of them 
owned and occupied in summer by business men in 
Jacksonville. 

The Wallace Addition extends from Mayport to 
Pablo Beach. Here are 75 good-sized buildings and 
several hotels. The Jacksonville and Atlantic R.R. 



54 East Coast of Florida. 

connecting this place with Jacksonville, a distance 
of about 12 miles, will make this a great point for 
summer resort for those who live in the interior. 

Dr. Webster's Addition extends from Pablo Beach 
to San Diega. Summer cottages are being built all 
along the beach nearly to St. Augustine. 

Saint Augustine has been already noticed in con 
nection with the early history of the East Coast 
Its growth since the w,ar has been phenomenal 
Splendid private residences and immense and costly 
hotels have been built, and two railroads to the St 
Johns ; one to Jacksonville, and one to Palatka 
The values of real estate have advanced in this city 
from ten to twenty-fold since the war. 

There has been no considerable immigration to 
the banks of Matanzas River. Mr. Washington has 
an orange grove on the beach ridge, south of Matan- 
zas Inlet. In Graha?n Hammock, northeast of Bu- 
low. Dr. Greeley, of Nashua, N. H., has a fine 
orange grove. 

Bulow is one of the old sugar estates. Beed, 
Knox & Beed have 55 acres in orange grove, most 
of it budded on to the native sour trees as they 
stood, the balance set out in regular rows. Forty 
acres are bearing. Estimated crop of 1886, 4000 to 
4500 boxes. At Haj'wood's, north of the Tomoka, 
may be seen along the stage road nine miles of wire 
fence. At the time of his death the owner of the 
place was engaged in farming on a large scale, and 
in planting out a 500-acre orange grove. On the 
Tomoka river is the new town of Garfield, recently 
laid out in town lots and 3 to 5 acre farms. The 



Growth of the Coast. 55 

deltas of the Tomoka and Bulow Creek are of an 
alluvial formation, and are as rich as any land in the 
state. When properly known and appreciated, this 
large marsh will be drained, dyked and cultivated. 
The high ridge from Mount Oswold to Ormond, six 
miles, is a fine site for villages, and will not prob- 
ably long i-emain in its present wild state. 

Ormond on the Halifax. Situated iS miles north 
of the inlet, on both sides of the Halifax River. 
The main village, containing the stores, post-office, 
school-house, and church edifice (Union) are on the 
right, or west side of the river. The corporation 
extends west a mile and a half from the river, and 
includes the Younge tract, an old English grant of 
a thousand acres. The width of the town along the 
river is a mile and a half, and it extends easterly to 
the Atlantic Ocean about a mile, estimating the 
river and the beach ridge to be each half a mile. 
Extending south 7 or 8 miles from the head of the 
Halifax where it receives the waters of the Tomoka, 
there is an elevated ridge of land sloping gently up 
from the water, so that in about 400 yards it is 20 
feet high. Ormond village stands on this ridge 
about six miles south of the head of the river, 
" shaded with beautiful palmettos, live oaks, pines 
and magnolias. On this high ridge, which has the 
most perfect natural drainage, overlooking the river, 
and but a mile from the Atlantic Ocean, the condi- 
tions are most favorable for the enjoyment of health. 
Fish and game of all kinds abound. Here the tour- 
ist and invalid will find both sport and health." 
The ever beautiful river, the many Indian mounds, 



56 East Coast of Florida. 

ancient ruins, and the great ocean beach ofter many 
attractions. The settler will find here some of the 
very best lands in the state, in every variety of loca- 
tion and price. This place was first permanently 
settled in the fall of 1875 by 15 families, mostly 
from New Britain, Ct., after which place the village 
was at first named. About the year 1S67 or 1868 
W. W. Ross, from Kansas, brother of the U. S. 
Senator, came this way, after looking through Cali- 
fornia, Texas, and other parts of the sovith, and 
found a place that suited his taste better than any- 
thing he had before seen. He accordingly entered 
a homestead on the river front, and built a small 
house at Palmetto Point, in which his brother-in- 
law, S. P. Wemple, and family lived about two or 
three years. There was probably a post-office for 
awhile at the house, named Palmetto. Mr. Ross 
returned to Kansas, and Mr. Wemple returned 
north, and is a prosperous manufacturer of flour in 
the northwest. A few years ago the citizens of 
New Britain, by a vote, changed the name of their 
village in honor of one of the early settlers on the 
river. Abundance of clear, pure water is obtained 
from artesian wells driven 70 to 100 feet. A 3-inch 
well bored 15a feet, at a cost of $1.50 per foot, 
yields 30 to 40 gallons per minute. Price of river 
front lots, $300 to $1000, as to size and location. 
Lots fronting on side streets, 100 x 215 feet, from 
$50 to $200. Land on east side of river, $3 to $5 
per front foot, extending from river to ocean. High 
hammock, $40 to $100 per acre. Low hammock 
near town, $50 to $100. The first settlers within 



Growth of the Coast. 57 

the present limits of Ormond were the Bostroms. 
Tlie two brothers, Andrew and Charles, took up 
government homesteads on the east side of the river, 
where they now live. The " Bostrom House" now 
kept by Andrew was the' first house in Ormond, 
and for several years was the farthest north of any 
on the river, and for some time the only house north 
of Port Orange. The brothers planted orange 
groves there, which are now bearing. They built 
a substantial wharf and levelled a road across the 
sand-hills to the beach, which for several years was 
the only wagon-road across the "peninsula," or 
beach ridge, to the ocean. Two ancient avenues 
were discovered here, leading from Indian mounds 
on the bank of the river, through the woods to the 
more recent sand-hills. These were no doubt con- 
structed by the mound-builders, and extended to the 
beacli, when the ocean waves washed the shore 
where the present forest stands, many thousand 
years ago. The Bostroms, in company with Molli- 
son, of St. Augustine, first settled and improved 
Silver Beach, on their first arrival here from Hilton 
Head, S. C, where Andrew was in trade during 
the war. Bostrom's avenue leads out on to " Hali- 
fax Beach," naturally one of the grandest ocean 
shores in the southern world. The shore is un- 
broken northerly to the Matanzas Inlet, and south- 
erly to the Mosquito Inlet — in all, a distance of 40 
miles, every rod of which is rich with historic inter- 
est. What scenes of storm and shipwreck these 
mute sands have witnessed, and what secrets are 
hidden under these dark waves ! They know where 



58 East Coast of Florida. 

rests the treasure-ship loaded by the Spaniards with 
Peruvian gold. It is but yesterday to these ever- 
lasting waves and sands that Ribaut's fleet was 
stranded here, and his little army marched up along 
this beach, hopeful of reaching their friends in Fort 
Caroline, little thinking how soon would be the 
meeting on the Eternal vShores, whither all were 
sent by Mendez' sword. Let us hope that in the 
new era which has dawned upon this coast, peace- 
ful, happy homes and seaside cottages shall line the 
avenues and surround the squares of Halifax Beach. 
The railroad from the St. Johns to Ormond, con- 
necting with the J. T. & K. W. railway, insures 
the steady growth and prosperity of the place. 

Industrial a?id Educational Statistics. Dealers in 
general merchandise, two, each having long, sub- 
stantial steamboat wharves ; real estate dealers, one ; 
carpenters, five ; one each of blacksmiths, shoe- 
makers, painters, machinists, dairyman, draughts- 
man, wagon-maker and taxidermist ; Ormond Arte- 
sian Well Co. Resident clergymen, 2 ; school- 
teachers, 3 ; truck farmers, 15 ; orange growers, 82 ; 
boarding-houses, 3 ; grove-makers (contractors), 6 ; 
barbers, 2 ; boat-builders, 2 ; teamsters, 5 ; Ormond 
Cornet Band has 12 pieces. The municipal gov- 
ei^nment is organized under a state law. The 
guardian spirit of Ormond and the upper Halifax, 
who looks after the interests of that region, bringing 
thither the best breeds of stock and poultr}', and in- 
ducing the citizens to send their fruits for exhibi- 
tion, and attends the World's Fairs to call attention 
to them and see that the prizes go where they be- 



Growth of tpie Coast. 59 

long, and who keeps a peniianent museum in Jack- 
sonville of all the coast products— is John Anderson. 

Holly Hill. This is a pleasant and promising vil- 
lage of 15 families. It has a post-office and store 
and job-printing office. It is three miles south of 
Ormond, on the bank of the same river, and 15 
miles north of the inlet. The river front was en- 
tered as a homestead by a Mr. Baxter, from Wash- 
ington, D. C. The place was named by Mr. Flem- 
ing in honor of his old home in Delaware. The 
lands back of the settlement are a part of the Fitch 
grant, latterly owned by Mr. Fleming. The Con- 
gregational Church is supplied by a minister from 
Daytona. Fortv acres of hammock and two river 
front lots are reserved for an Episcopal Church. 
River front lots are worth $500 to $Soo ; building 
lots back from the river, $300 to $400 ; hammock 
land, from $75 to $150 per acre, according to loca- 
tion and quality. The railroad will greatly aid this 
place. There is a school here of 15 pupils. 

Daytona. The " Gem of the Coast" stands on a 
ridge of high hammock on the west bank of Halifax 
River, 12 miles from the inlet. Its beginning hap- 
pened in this wise : In April, 1S70, while the writer 
was in Jacksonville, he met three western men look- 
ing for a chance for investments, and invited them 
down to Port Orange to look at the country. They 
were Mr. Day, of Mansfield, Ohio, Judge Linden- 
bower and Mr. Walkley, of Kansas. They came 
with the writer as passengers on the schooner 
Rover, Capt. Bennett, arriving in port on the 20th 
of April, and on the 32d visited several hammocks 



6o East Coast of Florida. 

along the Halifax, and among others looked at the 
Williams grant, an old sugar plantation broken up 
by the Indian war, on which the town is built. Mr. 
Day purchased the grant, and in the tall the settle- 
ment was commenced, and named for Mr. Day. 
One of the first buildings was the Colony House, 
designed to accommodate settlers on their first ar- 
rival until they could build for themselves. This 
was a wise arrangement, and should be adopted in 
every new settlement. With alterations and addi- 
tions, this structure became the Palmetto House. 
The town was well laid out, the streets being loo 
feet wide, straight, and crossing each other at right 
angles. The Avhole town site being a hard wood 
forest, consisting of live oaks and a varietv of other 
oaks, palmetto, bay, hickory, magnolia, wild or- 
ange, intermixed with cedar and pine, allowed each 
man to carve out his lot to suit his taste, leaving 
such trees as he liked along his sidewalk and in his 
door-yard and lawn for shade and ornament. A 
few blocks back from the river the lots contained 
several acres for gardens and farms. To show the 
condition of the place in 1875, some extracts are 
made from an account signed "H" in Alden's 
pamphlet on Florida: "These tracts have recently 
been surveyed into lots of from i to 40 acres in ex- 
tent, and may be had at prices varying from $1 to 
$10 per acre. River front lots in Daytona are held 
at higher prices. Not to reflect in the least upon 
the inducements offered by other sections of the 
State, there are not probably so desirable locations 
to settlers from the North to be found as in that ex- 



Growth of the Coast. 6i 

tent of country lying between the head of the Hali- 
fax and the head of Indian River. The most at- 
tractive portion of this area is to be found upon the 
banks of the Halifax. Daytona numbers at present 
a population, all told, of some seventy persons. 
Nearly every section of the country is represented, 
the majority being from the Northern States, We 
have some twenty framed houses, several of them 
neat and tasty cottages. There are two stores, one 
of them sevei-al years established, doing a thriving 
business, and keeping on hand, at fair prices, every- 
thing desired by settlers in a new country. We 
ha\'e several good house carpenters, a blacksmith 
shop managed by a competent and thorough work- 
man, an experienced physician and surgeon, a brick- 
layer, a boat-builder, and a shoemaker. We have 
during the summer an excellent private school. We 
have a commodious boarding-house, kept with scru- 
pulous neatness. The grounds present a striking 
and pleasant contrast w^ith what is sometimes wit- 
nessed in new countries. Visitors here will be pro- 
vided with every reasonable comfort, and find them- 
selves suiTOunded with the refinements and ameni- 
ties of the best social life. We have neither church, 
jail, minister nor lawyer, yet there is no settlement 
of its size, either North or South, East or West, that 
contains a more respectable, law-abiding and indus- 
trious population. The climate of this part of Flor- 
ida is nearer perfection than any other one thing in 
the world. The river front is most desirable. A 
clean, bold shore, a hard bottom, free from mud or 
grass, a dry bank from three to five feet high at all 



62 East Coast of Florida. 

stages of the tide, a watei- view three-fourtlis of a 
mile in breadth and unobstructed by islands, a depth 
of water sufficient for all practical purposes, are 
among- the natural advantages that at once present 
themselves to the eye of the visitor. The opposite 
bank — the finest on the Peninsula — is a clear, shelb 
shore of nearly half a mile in extent known as Silver 
Beach. There a good road has been constructed 
across to the ocean beach, a distance of half a mile. 
It is the most magnificent sea beach on the Atlantic 
Coast. For many miles in either direction it is as 
smooth and hard as a floor, varying in breadth from 
lOO to 600 feet, and of an inclination to the water so 
slight as to be hardly perceptible. At low tide, as 
a highway it is unparalleled." 

Mark the contrast that eleven years have wrought. 
Daytona now has I300 to 1500 inhabitants, an 
organized municipal governnTent, with schools, 
churches, newspapers, markets, ice factor}-, bakers' 
shops, stores, and in fact everything to make life 
worth the living, and to enable one to get the most 
comfort and enjoyment out of it. There is a Ma- 
sonic Lodge and a Post of the Grand Army of the 
Republic. Of the two newspapers, the Halifax 
Journal, edited by F. A. Mann, is the oldest. The 
East Coast Messenger, edited by J. M. Osborne, is 
democratic, and the former republican, but neither 
are bitter partisans. The hotels are the Palmetto 
House, by Mrs. Hoey, Daytona House, by W. H. 
Richardson, Ocean View, by W. H. Trainer, and 
Stanley House, by Gatch & Williamson. Photo- 
grapher, shoemaker, tailor, dealer in books and sta- 



Growth of the Coast. 63 

tionerv, jeweler, furniture dealer and undertaker, 
ice manufiicturer, attorney-at-law, tinner, stove 
dealer, blacksmith, well-driver, butcher, dairyman, 
one of each ; drugs and medicines, saw-mills, oys- 
ters and ice cream, real estate agents, painters and 
dentists, two each ; carpenters, three ; physicians, 
four ; dry goods and miscellany, three ; groceries 
and general merchandise, ten ; nurserymen, four ; 
bakers, two. 

Along the ridge on the highest land, about two 
blocks from the river, is Ridgewood avenue, a beau- 
tiful driveway, paved with marl, and shaded by the 
native growth of forest trees. Northeidy this avenue 
continues to Holly Hill, three miles, and to Ormond, 
six miles, there connecting with a road northerly to 
St. Augustine, and another westerly to Crescent 
City. The southern extension of Ridgewood avenue 
continues straight on through Blake, two miles, to 
Port Orange, six miles, and on southerly to New 
Smyrna, and a branch leads westerly to Enterprise, 
on the St Johns. 

One of the great attractions of Daytona is her 
numerous flowing wells, which have earned for her 
the title of the "Fountain City." The water, when 
it Hrst comes up from the wells, has a decided sul- 
phury taste and smell, both of which soon disappear 
on exposure to the air. Some doubt was felt at first 
about the healthfulness of this water, but a few years 
of experience with it has removed all fears, and it is 
now considered as wholesome as any water can be. 
Another feature that will attract parents and those 
having young people in charge is the excellent edu- 



64 East Coast of Florida. 

cational and religious privileges and the high moral 
tone of the community, seven-eighths of the voting 
population being in favor of prohibition, and no 
bar-room being allowed in town. The number of 
pupils attending the public schools is : white, 130 ; 
colored, 35 ; attending kindergarten, 28. In addi- 
tion to these is the Daytona Institute, a day and 
boarding-school for young women who wish to 
study the fauna and flora of Florida. Miss L. A. 
Cross is principal. There are several churches — 
four white and two colored : Episcopal, Rev. G. G. 
Jones, rector ; Congregational, Rev. CM. Bing- 
ham, pastor; Methodist, J. Pastorfield, pastor; 
there is also a Seventh Day Baptist society, white. 
Of the colored, there are a Baptist and Methodist. 
Of Sunday Schools there are seven, five white and 
two colored. The railroad from Falatka on the St. 
Johns, via Ormond, is to have its depot on Jack- 
son's Island, a very central and appropriate spot for 
it. Visitors to the coast by this route will be landed 
from the cars on the bank of the river, and tlieir first 
glance at the place will give a favorable impression ; 
it will be like the sudden rising of the curtain before 
a grand tableau, at the sight of which every new 
visitor will be surprised and delighted. The lead- 
ing merchant for several years, and one of the most 
influential men in town and county afiairs, is Wil- 
liam Jackson. One of the most successful orange 
growers and nursei-ymen is M. L. Smith. 

The Eastern Shore, or peninsula, which for years 
remained public homestead land, is now all "taken 
up," and much of it is improved. 



Growth of the Coast. 65 

Pine Wood Cemetery, laid out by J. W. Smith on 
an undulating surface, among the thick groves of 
spi'uce pines. There is a regular ferry aci'oss the 
river here, and a wide avenue cut out through to 
the beach. 

MitcheWs, on the east bank of the river, is a pleas- 
ant place to visit. His plantation of guava ti'ees 
and other fruits in great variety, foreign palms, and 
hundreds of varieties of roses and other flowers, 
undoubtedly makes the finest display of fruits and 
flowers on the coast. Mrs. M. is the manager of 
the flower garden. 

Silver Beach, half a mile in extent, is a little below 
on the same side of the river ; so named from its 
white, shining shore, which contrasts finely with 
the evergi-een foliage of shrubs and of grass which 
clothe the river bank, both north and south, of this 
Sandy and shelly shore. Bostrom's palmetto-thatched 
but ever hospitable roof, so pleasantly remembered 
by the pioneers of 1S66, has disappeared, and four 
pleasant cottages and their parks, lawns, shelled 
walks and flower-gardens, now occupy the place. 
Wealth and refined taste have made a little paradise 
there. Just beyond is Botefuhr's. He is one of the 
early settlers ; if not an original settler, is an origi- 
nal character. A public school was established on 
this side the river in 1886. 

Blake. Situated two miles south of Daytona, on 
the same side of the river. It has a post-office and 
school. The moving spirit here is D. O. Balcom, 
of Boston. He purchased the Segui hammock on 
the river front for the town site, and a considerable 



^(i East Coast of Florida. 

quantity of heavy hammock further west. The 
marl hammock has been drained at great expense 
by a canal that brings the water into Halifax River. 
He is abundantly rewarded by the returns of a large 
and fruitful orange grove, and by the sales of his 
low hammock land at $ioo pei- acre. In one of his 
groves he has adopted a novel experiment. The 
timber is merely chopped down without being 
cleared or burned. The ground is kept clear of the 
sprouts and weeds by the hoe. Mr- B. argues that 
in five or six years the lighter portion of the fallen 
trees will be rotted and turned into mold, and the 
soil will be all the richer for having no fire on the 
ground. Leach Brothers have taken an active part 
in making groves here. Capt. Rodgers, of this 
place, has commanded vessels in the coastwise trade 
to and from Mosquito Inlet. 

Port Orange. On the west bank of the river Hal- 
ifax, about six miles from the inlet, from which ves- 
sels of seven feet draught can come up to the town. 
"Here is an hotel, store, post-office and several 
dwellings, with new buildings going up, including 
one for schools, and town hall. The place is agree- 
ably situated, with an open river in front and a shore 
free from marsh. The lands, with a single excep- 
tion, are high, dry and healthy, and may be pur- 
chased in lots large and small suitable for buildings, 
gardens and orange groves. Adjoining this on the 
north is the famous Dunn Lawton plantation of a 
thousand acres, with extensive improvements of 
canals, ditches, clearings, buildings, all or part of 
which may be bought cheap, with a perfect title. 



Growth of the Coast. 67 

This plantation is capable of yielding an ample sup- 
port for an hundred families. Port Orange is an 
enterprising and fast-growing place. The location 
was first settled by Edward A. McDonald (corrupted 
into McDaniel) from North Carolina. He came 
here with family before the war, and with C. C. 
Sutton's and B. C. Pacetti's families, made up the 
total population of the Halifax in 1S65. This place 
was known on the St. Johns and the western part 
of the county as Dunn Lawton. The name Port 
Orange was invented by the writer, and adopted by 
a vote of the trustees of a company as the name of 
their post-office at the " old mill," where the post- 
office was kept a part of the year in 1867. It was 
moved from there and kept some months at Sut- 
ton's ; then to the village where it now is." The 
above extract from the circular of the Halifax Agri- 
cultural Club was a true account of the place in 
1875. Since then there has been a steady growth 
in population and increase in orange groves in the 
hammock a mile west of the river. The celebrated 
Vass orange grove is one and one-half miles west. 
There are now two or three stores and a restaurant. 
AUandale is at the south side of Port Orange, the 
home of the brothers Thomas and Wm. Allan. 
Thomas, with very little help, built the Congi'ega- 
tional Church there, a fine building, costing about 
$2000. Mr. Allan has more than fifty acres of 
orange groves. He has on his premises several 
artesian wells, flowing through four-inch pipe, 
making brooks of good size. William was the first 
to settle here. He is interested in gi'oves with his 



68 East Coast of Florida. 

brother. John Fozzard has a fine house and a fine 
grove. His two sons are mariners and well off. 
Charles owns and runs a coasting schooner ; Harry 
is captain of the steamer Peerless. This enterpris- 
ing family made their money here within about six 
teen years. Victor Vuilleaume, merchant and post 
master, has a fl^ie house on the river, and a fine 
grove often acres or more in the hammock. Peter 
Johnson has a large house at Allandale, and a new 
house on his homestead, where he has a fine grove. 
Dr. Meeker has a fine house on the river, and a fine 
large grove in the hammock. T. O. Gessner has a 
house and store, and is putting in twenty-five acres 
of orange groves. Thomas Savage, J. Vass, Ben- 
netts, and many others are doing well. 

Sharpe's Bay lies west of some marsh islands and 
next to the shore, and is a mile long, and connected 
at its south end with the river channel by a crooked 
water-way known as Sharpe's Creek, which enters 
the river a little north oi Half Dollar Island. A little 
north of Port Orange, on the beach ridge, half-way 
across, stood "Marshall's Summer House" in iS66. 
The river hammock there is pleasantly situated for 
a residence, and has been successively occupied by 
G. A. Purdie, Rev. John Savary (now in the Con- 
gressional Library at Washington), and by the pres- 
ent proprietor. Champ H. Spencer, counsellor-at- 
law and transcendental philosopher. Port Orange 
is famous as a ship-building and ship-owning town. 
All the schooners that have been owned on these 
rivers have been owned here, and several were built- 
here ; two vessels are to be excepted, the iron sloop 



Growth of the Coast. 69 

owned by J. A. Bostrom and the schooner Wilton, 
owned by the "Mill Company." The headquarters 
of the Halifax Agricultural Club were here in 1875. 
Thei-e is now a society here for the study of politi- 
cal economy, tariff', currency, labor, capital, morals 
and religion. The leading spirits are J. H. Fowler, 
C. H. Spencer, Mr. Allen and John Fozzard. Mr. 
Spencer has published a pamphlet setting forth the 
scientific proof of the existence of Deity. Mr. 
Fowler's criticisms and views on scientific methods 
in philosophy and kindred subjects ai^e printed from 
time to time in the Index, of Boston. 

Fowler's Bay, formerly called Rose Bay, is the 
first natural break in the Halifax River shore, of any 
consequence, south of Tomoka River. Sufficient 
fresh water comes into it to produce large, single, 
first-rate oysters. On the south side of this bay re- 
sides James H. Fowler, a native of Warner, N. H. 
He was educated at Dartmouth College and Har- 
vard University, where he studied natural history 
under Prof. Louis Agassiz. For some years after 
leaving the University, Mr. Fowler was a Unitarian 
preacher in Massachusetts. In 1862 he was com- 
missioned as chaplain in the 33d Regiment, U.S.C., 
and served through the war. While inside the 
enemy's lines intercepting telegraphic dispatches 
between Savannah and Charleston, he was captured 
and kept a year in prison at Columbia. Mr. Fowler 
has written the inost practical treatise on the culture 
of the orange, and the mode of prevention and cure 
of the " dieback," and most reasonable theory of its 
cause. Coming here at the close of the war, he be- 



7o East Coast of Florida. 

longs to the age of the revival of practical industry, 
freedom and free thought — the era of the coast re- 
naissance, so to speak — cotemporaiy with Mitchell, 
Bostrom, Mailey and others who have helped, and 
are helping still, to shape the destinies of the East 
Coast. 

Ponce's Park. This is the new name for B. C. 
Pacetti's old place, a mile from the inlet on the east 
bank of the Halifax. It has a post-office, store and 
restaurant, and Pacetti's boarding-house, and eight 
or ten dwelling-houses. The Ponce grant, owned 
by Mr. P., embraces all the territory between the 
river and the ocean for a mile north of the inlet. 
The new light-house is the most prominent feature 
in that vicinity, overlooking that level country for 
many miles around. This is a first-class light; the 
focal plain is 163 feet above mean sea level; total 
height, 175 feet. It stands 600 feet from the east 
bank of the Halifax River, 1500 feet from the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, and one mile from the inlet. For the 
accommodation of the keeper and his assistant, three 
substantial brick buildings are to be erected. The 
late General Babcock, who was first in charge of 
the construction of the light-house, had purchased 
Pacetti's old grove, and was about to lay out a town 
on an extensive scale, with sti^eets and parks, for a 
first-class summer and winter resort, when he was 
drowned at the inlet. This place was formerly 
known as " Bob's Bluft." Pacetti's point rests over 
a bed of coquina rock several feet thick, but the 
strong tides are cutting under it, and the rock is 
falling into the stream. 



Growth of the Coast. 71 

The Florida Land and Ltimber Coinpany purchased 
the State lands adjoining the Ponce grant on the 
north and started their village there, naming it Port 
Orange, ei-ecting a large steam sawmill and opening 
a store there. This company was organized in 
October, 1865, by ai'my officers of the 21st and 33d 
Regiments of U. S. C. T.. then in the service at 
Hilton Head, S. C. The original design of the 
company was to start a colony of freed men and 
those who would be friendly to them, on the public 
lands near Mosqiiito Inlet. Homesteads were se- 
cured on the north side of Spruce Creek and at 
Dunn Lawton, and at one time 500 families came 
here from near Columbia, S. C. Most of these 
were displeased with the light, sandy soil of the 
homesteads that were selected for them, and moved 
further west, settling, a part of them, near Saulsville 
in Volusia County ; others went on into Orange 
County, and some went to Jacksonville. All would 
have done well had they remained on their home- 
steads ; their lands would now have been worth $20 
to $100 per acre, as is shown by those who did stay 
in the neighborhood. Henry Toliver took a home- 
stead on the river north of McDaniel's, now worth 
$20 to $200 per acre. Alex. Watson had a home- 
stead adjoining, which with improvements is now 
worth $4000. Both these men have died recently. 
They were soldiers in the 34th U. S. C. T. Jesse 
Silph and Curley, members of same regiment, took 
homesteads in west part of the county, and are 
worth $2000 each. " Captain Eliza," a colored girl 
who came with Curley at the age of 12, has by her 



72 East Coast of Florida. 

own exertions made a grove, and is worth $5000. 
Jo. Green, colored pi^eacher, homestead and grove 
on Spruce Creek, worth $5000. Taylor, colored, 
with but one hand, made a good grove, worth $3000 
at time of his death. Israel Smith, colored, home- 
stead and grove of 300 trees, woith $6000. David 
Morris, dead, left homestead worth $2000. Butler 
Campbell, near Haulover, has a grove worth several 
thousand dollars. Probably every one of the freed- 
men who staid in the country now owns valuable 
real estate. The government of the State, and the 
spirit of the white citizens of East Florida toward 
colored people in general, is so much more just and 
fair, that for such citizens to emigrate from South 
Carolina to this region is like escaping from slavery 
to a land of freedom. It should be a joleasant re- 
flection to those who invested money in the above- 
named company, that it led the way to the settling 
up of the country on the coast, and the enhance- 
ment of land values from the government price to 
about $50 an acre. But to most of the stockholders 
who so liberally subscribed their money in aid of 
this experiment, the fact that so many freedmen 
were started on the way to material prosperity will 
be moi'e gratifying than large dividends of money 
alone. It may also be a pleasant reflection, that in 
the failure of the company, its managers, who were 
also its largest stockholders and creditors, never 
made a dollar out of it, and never tried in the least 
to secure themselves from loss, but paid out to those 
who had furnished labor and material to the com- 
pany the last dollar of the company's property. 



East Coast of Florida. 73 

New Smyrna is located three miles south of the 
inlet, on the west bank of the Hillsboro River, and 
30 miles easterly from Entei-prise, the county seat, 
on the St. Johns River, by which it is connected by 
stage road. The railroad from Blue Springs on the 
St. Johns is graded to this place, and in running 
order to Lake Helen, and is expected soon to be 
finished. The high hammock on which New 
Smyrna stands extends northerly about four miles 
to Spruce Creek, which comes into the Halifax 
from the west. If the creek could be bridged near 
its mouth, it would allow the river road from Ridge- 
wood avenue in Daytona to continue on in nearly a 
straight line to New Smyrna ; but the delta of the 
creek is more than a mile wide, and it is necessary 
to make a detour of a mile or more up the creek to 
where its channel is narrower, and where the bridge 
crosses it. From New Smyrna southward the 
county road runs back from the river about half a 
mile and extends thi'ough Hawks' Park, 2 1-3 miles, 
to Oak Hill, 12 miles. Another road runs along 
nearer the river, through Hawks' Park. The "Old 
King's road," built by the English Governor of the 
province in 1764 or 1765, extended from New 
Smyrna through St. Augustine, crossing the St. 
Johns River at the " cow ford," now Jacksonville, 
and on to the St. Mary's River at the Georgia line. 
This great highway opened up the country for settle- 
ment, and was the best aid to transportation, for 
railroads were not known, for half a century after- 
wards. Throughout a considerable of its extent 
this road is still used, needing but slight repairs, 



74 Growth of thh Coast. 

and putting to shame many of the modern roads 
through the country. The liberal offers made by 
the English Government to colonists induced sev- 
eral wealthy planters from the Carolinas to remove 
to the State, and several British noblemen obtained 
grants of land. Some of these were Lords Hawke, 
Egmont, Grenville and Hillsborough. Sir William 
Duncan and Dr. Turnbull had lands at this place. 
They induced a number of people from Minorca to 
come to this country in 1767, promising them lands 
in three years, 50 acres to an adult and 25 acres to 
each child. About 1500, including children, came 
over and went to work clearing up the land and 
planting sugar-cane and indigo. But from hard 
tasks and short rations they were driven in despair 
to attempt to escape to some of the neighboring 
Bahama Islands. This was in two years after the 
settlement of the colony. Their rations are said by 
Romans, in his account of the affair, to have been a 
quart of corn a day and two ounces of pork per 
week. This attempt to get away was called an in- 
surrection, and two of the leaders, having been tried 
in St. Augustine, were put to death. In nine years 
from its beginning the colony had been reduced by 
hard usage to 600; no lands had been given them, 
and their future seemed gloomy and desperate. In 
this state of affairs, they selected three of their best 
men to go to St. Augustine and represent their case 
to the Governor. These men were Pellicier, Llam- 
bias and Genoply. A granddaughter of Pellicier is 
now living at New Smyrna. The Governor prom- 
ised them protection, and advised all to come away 



East Coast of Florida. 75 

who wished to do so. They accordingly started in 
a body and walked to St. Augustine, where they 
arrived in three days. Their descendants form the 
largest part of the population of St. Augustine ; 
they are a quiet, temperate and industrious people. 
Bernard Romans, in his History of Florida in 1875, 
gives all the particulars of this unfortunate colony. 
William Bartram, who visited this region in 1774, 
says : " New Smyrna, a pretty, thriving town, is a 
colony of Greeks and Minorquies established by Mr. 
Turnbull." He adds in a note : " New Smyrna is 
built on a high, shelly bluff on the west bank of the 
south branch of Mosquito River. I was there about 
ten years ago when the surveyor run the lines or 
pi-ecincts of the colony, where there was neither 
habitation nor cleared field. It was then a famous 
orange grove, the upper or south promontory of a 
ridge nearly half a mile wide, and stretching north 
about forty miles to the head of the north bi-anch of 
the Mosquito to whei'e the Tomoka River unites 
with it." "All this ridge was then one entire orange 
grove, with live oaks, magnolias, palms, I'ed bays, 
and others. I observed then, near where New 
Smyrna now stands, a spacious Indian mound and 
avenue which stood near the banks of the river ; the 
avenue ran on a straight line back through the groves, 
across the ridge, and terminated at the verge of nat- 
ural savannas and ponds." Turnbull's " castle" or 
"mansion" stood on the mound, and the house 
now occupied by Mr. Pitzer stands on the old foun- 
dations and over the old cellar. Mrs. Sheldon says 
that when her father, Capt. Murray, came there in 



76 Growth of thk Coast. 

1803, the place had apparently been forsaken about 
20 years. One of the old wells is still in use ; an- 
other near by is not used. Old coquina stone chim-* 
neys and foundations are still standing in the woods 
all along the creek for four miles north, and similar 
ruins extend for three miles south. The great body 
of low hammock, about two miles wide and thirty 
miles long, near this place, bears the name of Turn- 
bull ; its natural outlet of water is through a creek 
into a bay on the south of Spruce Creek ; both the 
creek and bay also bear the name of Turnbull. Old 
Stone Wharf, the ruins of which still remain, is half 
a mile south of the site of the old castle. From this 
wharf an old road leads westerly through the Cotton 
Shed Hammock and pine woods to the border of the 
hammock, then more southerly thi^ough the dense, 
hard-wooded land for about three miles. Two 
miles of this has of late years been cleared of the 
forest growth that covered it, and is now in use as a 
highway by the settlers in that vicinity. Large, old 
canals I'unning northerly into Turnbull Creek and 
into the Hillsboro River are still in fair, serviceable 
condition, though greatly needing clearing out and 
repairing. 

New Smyrna is the oldest place on the coast 
south of St. Augustine. But it has not been occu- 
pied by settlers continuously. It was vacated by the 
Turnbull colony about i774? ^'^d remained unoccu- 
pied until about 1803. In 1836 the whole region 
was depopulated by the Indian war, and for six 
years it was in the hands of savages. At the end of 
this time, when the war closed in 1842, the sugar- 



East Coast of Florida. 



77 



planters had sold their slaves, or had got them at 
work in other places, and none of them returned. 
Probably the only persons who returned to the coast 
after the war were the families of John D. Sheldon, 
and of Capt. Murray, also Capt. Dummitt. The 
oldest sweet grove on the coast was set out by Mr. 
Sheldon, who found the sweet trees growing wild 
in Turnbull hammock, and he removed them to his 
home, now the property of F. J. Packwood. From 
this grove Dummitt's and Burnham's were budded, 
and from them, buds have been carried all over the 



s 


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RUINS OF SUGAR-MILL. 



78 Growth of the Coast. 

State. The principal bearing groves in this place 
are those of R. S. Sheldon, Frank W. Sams, Mor- 
rison Lewis, the Whitney grove, Dan French's. 
Less than half a mile from the latter, near the east- 
ern border of the Turnbull hammock, stands the old 
ruins of a sugar-mill, bviilt of coquina rock, which 
was probably hauled from near the Old Stone 
Wharf. This village has a Union Church, in which 
services are held by Rev. J. A. Ball, Congregation- 
alist ; a new school-house, a post-office, three stores, 
a real estate office, a dentist, two physicians, a black- 
smith and wagon-maker, a livery stable and a first- 
class hotel, the Ocean House, kept by Frank W. 
Sams. This hotel, formerly kept by E. K. Lowd, 
has for many years been a favorite resort for sports- 
men and tourists. Gen. Spinner, late U. S. Treas- 
urer, spent several winters here, enjoying the fine 
fishing. The steamer Peerless, and sometimes 
other boats, make weekly trips to and from Jack- 
sonville. The Florida Star, a monthly journal at 
first, then a weekly, was published here in 1877, 
'78 and '79 by Charles Coe. A deput}' collector- 
ship was maintained here from the year 1866 to 
1883. 

Gleticoe. A station on the railroad, four miles 
west of New Smyrna. It has a post-office, store 
and school-house. It is the nearest station to the 
rich lands in the north end of Turnbull, and is fa- 
vorably situated for growth and prosperity. Charles 
Coe, late editor of the Florida Star, which was 
printed at New Smyrna for three years, lives here. 
S. J. Hodges, formerly Covmty Assessor, has a large 



East Coast of Florida. 79 

house for a hotel, and fine hammock grove. P. N. 
Bryan has a large, fine hammock grove. Joseph 
Bryan and G. B. Bryan, stock-raisers, have fine 
houses here. Rev. C. G. Selleck made a grove on 
pine land after he was 72 years old. It consisted of 
about 300 trees, and when four or five years old, he 
sold the grove and a small house for $5000. The 
road common from New Smyrna to Enterprise 
passes through this village. M. B. Rolfe, a skilled 
cabinet-maker and house-carpenter, has a nice cot- 
tage on his homestead nearly a mile east of the vil- 




RESIDENCE OF MOSES SELLECK. 



8o Growth of the Coast. 

lage, on the Enterprise and New Smyrna road. 

Hawks' Park. On the west bank of the Hillsboro 
river, on deep water, navigation for the largest ves- 
sels that can enter the inlet, five miles south of Mos- 
quito Inlet, two miles west from the Atlantic Ocean. 
The river here is a mile and a half wide, inter- 
spersed with mangrove islands, and with no marsh 
in front of the village. The town site is on an ele- 
vated ridge of high hammock and pine land, in 
places twenty feet above the river, undulating, and 
with a gradual slope for about 75 rods to the river 
shore, which is ornamented and shaded all along 
with a narrow grove of palm trees. The village 
was regularly laid out, by Surveyor Alfred Howard, 
in lots 100 X 200 feet, surrounding the square or 
park. The streets are 50 feet wide, with an alley 
or back street between the blocks or the rear ends 
of the lots, 20 feet wide. The common runs paral- 
lel with the river, and including the streets that sur- 
round it, will make an open space 14 rods wide and 
40 rods long, containing three and a half acres. 
Bay street runs along the river shore. About 70 
rods west of the river, and parallel with it, runs 
the "new county road," so called, between New 
Smyrna and Oak Hill ; about 80 rods west of this 
road is the '' old county road," that extends south 
from New Smyrna, half a mile or so from the river, 
parallel to it, and joins the new road about a mile 
south of the common. The streets running westerly 
from the river, and at right angles with it, are, ist, 
Park Avenue, extending from the wharf in a straight 
line to and throueh Turnbull hammock about three 



82 East Coast of Florida, 

miles, where it joins the Glencoe and Titusville 
road that runs southerly along the west border of 
the Turnbull hammock to Indian River. The com- 
mon is bounded on the north by this avenue. The 
school-house lot of one acre is also bounded on the 
north by this avenue, the lot being on the southwest 
corner of the avenue and the new county road. 
2nd. A street from the river across at the south 
end of the common to the new county road. 3d. 
Marshall avenue, from Marshall's wharf and store 
and the post-office to new county road, along im" 
proved land of D. R. Marshall. 4th. A street 
from Bird's wharf across the new county road to 
the old county road. On the south side of this 
street, a little west of the new county road, is situ- 
at ' the cemetery lot of one acre. 5th. Mendell's 
aveni ^, extending from the river at Mendell's house 
and wharf along on the north of his house, barn and 
orange grove, along vacant lots to new county road. 
6th. Futch's avenue, from the river at north side 
of his house, and young grove and garden, through 
uncleared land to the new count}^ road. 'jth. A 
street from Poppleton's on the river to the new 
county road. 8th. A street from Westall's grove 
on the river, along on the south side of Gothorpe's 
grove to the new county road. 9th. A street from 
Alden's landing on the river, along north of Wil- 
son's house to the new county road. North of the 
common there are several roads from the river front 
to the county road before mentioned. These ai'e 
through private grounds and groves, and communi- 
cate through gates with the public road. The vil- 



Growth of the Coast. 83 

lage center and common are near the southeast cor- 
ner of an old Spanish grant to Geronimo Alvarez, 
containing 500 acres. Northerly along the river to 
the Gabardy canal, half a mile from the Alvarez 
north line, is the Sanchez grant of 200 acres, mostly 
owned, tuitil recently, by W. S. Hart. The gen- 
eral plan of dividing the territory between the new 
county road and the river was into five-acre lots, 
giving a river frontage of ten or twelve rods, run- 
ning back to the road. It is a body of hard wood 
land covered with a variety of oaks, hickory, bay, 
cedar, pine and palm, and a ride or walk through 
it among the orange groves is a delightful treat. 
South of the Alvarez grant, for three-fourths of a 
mile along thebeautiful river front, was the gove^ i- 
ment homestead of Geo. E. Mendell. He laid*^^ mt 
his river front in five-acre lots, reserving seve' ai for 
his own grove and residence. The first-named lots 
are nearly all sold and partly improved. A middle 
street is contemplated, half-way between the river 
and the county road, parallel with the latter, that 
will divide these river lots more favorably for future 
settlers. Besides these lands there was a fractional 
lot of State land of 28 acres, owned by Dr. E. H. 
Hawks, lying south of the Alvarez grant; 80 acres 
of State land, owned by Milburn, west of Mendell's 
homestead ; 80 acres of government land, entered 
by John Lowd, owned latterly by E. K. Lowd, on 
the river south of Mendell's ; the homestead of 160 
acres of L. D. Hatch, west of Lowd's, and a gov- 
ernment homestead entered by Drawdy, and now 
owned by Mrs. Alden. The village and most of 



East Coast of Florida. 




Growth of the Coast. 85 

the residents are in township 17, south, range 34, 
east. A part of the territory here described is in 
township 18. The school-house is 20 x 30 feet and 
two stories high, and was built by voluntary contri- 
bution. The lot is deeded to the Count}^ Board of 
Instruction, which has aided toward finishing the 
school room, and paying the debt„ The upper hall 
is used for lectures and other public entertainments 
and for religious services. Rev. J. A. Ball, Con- 
gregational minister of New Smyrna, preaches in 
this hall every other Sunday p. m. and Sunday 
school is held every week. 

The Hawks' Park Literary Club organized in 1884 
has weekly meetings from October till June, for 
public lectures, debates, theati-icals &c. Budd- 
Mather Post, No. 8, G. A. R., has its headquarters 
and hall over Durfee's Hotel. The public school 
for the session of 1885-6 had 33 scholars. 

The settlers here make their living from the pro- 
ducts of their groves, apiaries, poultry yards, gar- 
dens and fields, and by attending to the groves of 
non-residents. There is a physician here ; a hotel 
kept by Geo. Durfee ; and boarding house by Geo. 
E. Mendell. The bee keepers are W. S. Hart, 
Ezra Hatch, Harry Mitchell, O. O. Poppleton, J. 
M. Smith. A cash store of general merchandise is 
kept by A. J. Marshall, who is also the postmaster. 

The ocean shore opposite Hawks' Park and New 
Smyrna is as fine as any in the south. It extends 
from Mosquito Inlet southerly to Indian River Inlet 
about a hundred and forty miles without a break by 
the entrance of a river or creek. 



86 East Coast of Florida. 

Here are 

" The long waves on a sea beach, 

Where the sand as silver shines." 
This affords a famous field for beach-combers, for 
turtle-egg hunters, and of late years for bathing par- 
ties. 

Following is an alphabetical list of names of resi- 
dents and land-owners at Hawks' Park and near the 
village. This enumeration embraces the territory 
easterly from the school-house two miles to the 
ocean; northerly one mile towards New Smyrna ; 
westerly into Turnbull Hammock two and a half 
miles ; and southerly about two miles to the Burdick 
place. For the residents named, this is the nearest 
post-office and school. 

Non-residents marked with an asterisk. 



Growth of the Coast. 87 



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Growth of the Coast. 91 

Total number of names 81. Non-residents 34. 
Number of houses 41 . Whole number of perma- 
nent inhabitants 115. Whole number of acres set 
out in orange groves 120, of which about 40 acres 
are bearing, and the others are young trees set out 
one, two or three years. Plenty of land for new 
comers will be sold on terms to suit purchasers, the 
main object being to get an industrious, moral and 
intelligent class of settlers. 

Proceeding southwardly from Hawks' Park along 
the road the traveller passes the Apiary of the Olson 
brothers, and that of E. G. Hewett, also the wagon 
shop and blacksmith shop of the latter. There is 
no finer country in East Florida than this region 
from the Park to Hewett's. It is undulating, well 
elevated, open pine woods very free from under- 
growth of any kind, and having a good growth of 
straight, tall, though not very large yellow pine 
timber suitable for lumber. Beyond Hewett's to 
Oak Hill the road passes over a lower tract of 
country on which there are but three settlers on the 
road. Near Hewett's is the pine woods orange 
grove of F. J. Packwood, who lives on a high shell 
mound on the banks of the river and has a bee ranch 
there. Mr. J. D. Sheldon lived here at the time the 
Indian war broke out. He used to go to St. Augustine 
once in three months for his supply of groceries and 
for his mail, making the trip outside in his open sail 
boat, a distance of over 60 miles. The iTiain chan- 
nel of the river which is tolerably straight to near 
Packwood's turns easterly and continues clear across 
among the marsh islands to the east bank of the river 



92 East Coast of Florida. 

a little north of Turtle mound. The water here is 
about 4 feet deep. About two miles south of Turtle 
mound is the new post-office. 

Eldora, on the east side of the river. The beach 
ridge is here 3-4 of a mile wide and affords some 
excellent farming land next the river. Major Car- 
penter and Mr. Nelson have an apiary, also H. H. 
Moeller. Messrs King, Watson and Sohman have 
groves and gardens, Mr. Shrj^ock, the postmaster, 
also has an orange grove, and five or more others 
have groves who do Hot reside there. The public 
school has about 15 pupils. 

Oak Hill is the next village. It is on the west 
bank of the Hillsboro river, here called " The 
Lagoon." It has a post-office, 2 stores, a first-class 
hotel, the Atlantic House, built by H. J. Faulkner. 
J. D. Mitchell first settled here in 1S66 and made 
two fine groves. Arad Sheldon formerly lived on 
the mound where the hotel stands. 

The bee keepers are Marsh, Cunningham, Clinton, 
Adams, Howes and Fountain ; these together with 
the apiaries above mentioned at Eldora amount to 
500 or 600 colonies. 

Oak Hill has a church which is a very creditable 
affair for a place of that size. Rev. Mr. Wicks, 
Congregationalist is settled there. There are in the 
public schools for whites 21 pupils, for colored, 9 
pupils. Most of the settlers are from north and 
west. Hon. H. S. Adams, Assemblyman from 
Volusia Co., and Mr. Beny, are from Missouri. 
L. Allen, formerly from Boston ; Messrs Hatch and 
Baker, from Maine. Thomas Adams from Mass. 



Growth of the Coast. 93 

W. C. Howes, P. M., is '' up from the Cape," has 
lived ill Boston, where Mrs. Howes taught music 
at the Perkins Institute ; she has crossed the Atlantic 
several times. Mr. Goodrich, from Philadelphia is 
an old settler here, he and four sons have homes and 
groves a mile from the river. Several Texas fami- 
lies recently settled here, are making large groves. 
Holden of Swampscott, Mass., is making large ad- 
ditions to his grove. Henderson Williams, colored 
has a nice hammock grove. Counting up all on 
the main land, within five miles of the post office 
there are about 230 acres of orange groves, about 
one-fourth of which have borne fruit. 

The Atlantic House at this place was built here 
with special reference to the convenience of sports- 
men and tourists. Its management is first-class in 
every respect, and its good reputation is national. 

From this place south to the Haulover is a body 
of excellent orange and vegetable land. Sanchez 
and Campbell, colored men, liave made groves there 
worth several thousand dollars each. The vege- 
tables raised there by Mr. Vann, are justly famous 
all along the coast. 

La Grange has a post-office and store, four miles 
N. W. ofTitusville. 

Titusville^ the County site of Brevard County, is 
pleasantly situated on the west bank of Indian river, 
at what was formerly called Sand Point, 10 miles 
below the Haulover canal. It is the terminus of the 
railroad from Enterprise, which connects it with the 
outside world. The steamer Rock Ledge and 
others run from this place to the various towns and 



94 East Coast of Florida. 

landings along the river. There are two hotels, 
the Land House and the Titus House. There are 
six stores, two saloons and a lumber yard. There 
is a school-house, and newspaper, the Indian River 
Star. 

City Point, 15 miles south of Titusville, P. O. and 
one store. 

Merritfs is a post-office on the east side of the 
river on Merritt's Island, 17 miles from Titusville. 
It has a school house. 

Canaveral \% a post-office at the light-house. The 
celebrated Burnham grove on the east bank of 
Banana river at the place where the peninsula is 5 
miles wide. 

Cocoa is on the west bank of the river 19 miles 
south of Titusville, and only a mile north of Rock 
Ledge. The territory between will no doubt even- 
tually and soon be built up and become one place. 
It is only 3 miles from Steamboat landing on the St. 
John's river. This has been the usual route for 
freight and passengers to and from the Indian River. 
But the opening of the R. R. to Titusville changed 
all that. Steamers will run from Sanford to the 
landing back of Cocoa and Rock Ledge in winter 
for the accomodation of sportsmen and tourists. 
There are here 6 stores, a hotel and school house. 

Rock Ledge. Situated on the west bank of the 
Indian River, opposite to Merritt's Island, 30 miles 
south of Titusville. The river here is a mile and a 
half wide. Small steamers can run up the St. 
Johns into lake Winder, to within three miles of 
this place, but its quickest route of transportation is 



Growth of the Coast. g5 

by steamers to Titusville, thence by rail road to 
everywhere. Good hotel accommodations here, 
Indian River Hotel, the largest on the river, post- 
office and stores. Three churches, viz. Episco- 
palian, Presbyterian and Methodist. Two schools 
of 25 and 20 pupils. Number of orange groves 40. 

Georgiamia has a post-office, boarding house and 
store on Merritt's Island, and is the center of a grow- 
ing, and already thickly settled community. It is 
25 miles from Titusville. 

Eau Gallic at the mouth of Eau Gallie River, 
formerly Elbow Creek on the west bank of Indian 
River, 40 miles south of Titusville. At this point 
Lt. Gov. Gleason intended to have a canal cut 
through to Lake Washington on the St. Johns, a 
distance of about five miles. This was the place 
first selected as the seat of the State Agricultural 
College, and a building made of coquina rock was 
erected for one of the college buildings. This is 
the home of Lt. Gov. Gleason, who named the 
place. The town is opposite the lower end of 
Merritt's Island. The land here is underlaid with 
coquina rock which crops out on the river bank, 
making a bold deep shore. The place has a post- 
office, store and hotel, and a saw mill and quite a 
number of residences. There is a water power on 
the Eau Gallie river that might be used for mills or 
machiner}^ Good orange land can be had for $25 
per acre. The town should have been named Glea- 
son in honor of the man who has been so active in 
settling and improving the place. 

Tropic is at the lower end of Merritt's Island, post- 



g6 East Coast of Florida. 

office lot, no stores or hotels. It commands a fine 
view of the west shore of Indian River and Banana 
River, which is 3 miles wide at that point. 

Melbourne, situated 4 miles south of Eau Gallic, 
has post-office, two stores, two hotels. The water 
is shallow and the wharves are a quarter of a mile 
long. Qiiite a number of English settlers there. 

Malabar. Situated 9 miles south of Eau Gallic, 
lias a post-office, store, two hotels and several board- 
ing houses. 

Cape Malabar is usually supposed to be on the out- 
side, extending into the ocean. It is a sandbar ex- 
tending into the Indian River from its west bank, 
half a mile or so. 

Micco. A post-office 16 miles south of Eau Gallic. 

Sebastian. Situated on the west bank of the 
Indian River, which is here 3 miles wide, 65 miles 
south of Titusville, and 24 miles north of Indian 
River Inlet, and 8 miles north of Narrows P. O. 
and 5 miles from Micco P. O. The scenery on the 
St. Sebastian River is beautiful. This is the largest 
tributary to the Indiaii River, and is navigable for 
7 miles. School a mile north of the post-office, 
with 25 pupils. The steamer Rock Ledge plys 
between Melbourne and Titusville, and intermedi- 
ate landings. Rich hammock lands, both high and 
low, at prices varying from $10 to $150, according 
to location and quality. Plenty of fine fish and 
game. There is a store of general merchandise, 
a post-office, and boarding house, kept by S. 
K itching. 

Narroios post-office is 16 miles north of Indian 



Growth of the Coast, 



97 



River Inlet and about 30 miles south of Eau Gallic. 
This is in the oyster region. 

6"/. Lucie is a pleasantly located village on the w^est 
bank of Indian River, 3 miles south of the inlet, and 
I mile south of Old Fort Capron, and 45 miles north 
of Jupiter. It has a post-office, a store, and a first- 
class hotel, and a school of 30 pupils. The entire 




looking south from wharf road, haw-ks park. 
bluff' from Capron to St. Lucie River is settled up, 
so is Mount Elizabeth. Mr. James Paine, the post 
master here, has cocoanut trees in bearing. 

Eden is 15 miles south of St. Lucie, has post- 
office, hotel and store. 

Wave Land is a post-office kept in a private dwell- 
ing. The settlement is on the peninsula between 



98 East Coast of Florida. 

Indian and St. Lucie Rivers, and this peninsula is 2 
miles wide and 4 miles long, covered vs^ith a dense 
semi tropical forest, of which some of the principal 
trees are inastic, India rubber, quassia, gum elemo, 
sea grape and pigeon plum. Soil sandy, but suited 
to such tropical fruits as have been tried there. 
Situated 20 miles north of Jupiter, and 2 miles from 
the Sea. Settlement commenced in 1880. Fine 
mild climate ; average range of mercury in winter 

1 65°, in summer 85° ; lowest 

in winter 45^, highest in 
I 



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HOTEL INDIAN RIVER, ROCK LEDGE. 

summer 95°. Disease is said to be almost unknown. 
The good land is on the river front. Half a mile or 
so back are the pine barrens that extend to Lake 
Okechobee. Good land is from $15 to $100 per 
acre, according to location and improvements. The 
settlers are making orange groves, but the raising 
of pine apples, and garden vegetables for northern 
markets is the chief industry. 
Jtipiter Light-house and Life-saving Station. 



Growth of the Coast. 99 

Passengers for Lake Worth by boat down Indian 
River, change here and go by stage the remainder 
of their journey. 

Lake Worth, eight miles south of Jupiter, has 
post-office, two large stores of general merchand- 
ise, each of the owners having schooners which 
bring their goods, also lumber for the settle- 
ment, and carry away the various products to 
market. Thousands of bushels of tomatoes are 
shipped from here every winter, also various other 
vegetables. Mr. M. W. Dimick, an enthusiastic 
settler there, says: "No part of the globe can 
excel this section for health, and our Gulf Stream 
is our everlasting protection from frost, conse- 
quently we grow the finest fruits that grow under 
the tropics. And to sum all up (in a nut shell) 
Lake Worth is the Paradise of the world." The 
hotel, Cocoanut Grove House, b}^ Capt. E. N. 
Dimick, was crowded during the season of 1885-6 ; 
it was visited by parties from all the northern states 
and from Europe. A Mr. McCormick lately pur- 
chased A. Geer's place for $10,000 and intends to 
build a splendid mansion there in the winter of 18S6- 
7. Others are intending to build the same season. 
A fine school house has been built by the ladies' 
sewing society, the number of pupils being 20 ; 
several live too far away to attend the school. 

When Mr. Dimick and his small colony settled 
there in 1875, the only three settlers on the lake 
were Wm. and Benj. Lanehart and Charles Moore ; 
now the .settlement numbers 163 souls. The old 
settlers have good buildings, and choice tropicals in 



loo East Coast of Florida. 

bearing. Price of land from $20 to $500 per acre, 
according to location and improvements, 

Figula. A post-office on Lake Worth, seven 
miles south of Lake Worth P. O. The next post- 
office is Biscayne, on the vs^est bank of the bay of 




SCENE ON INDIAN RIVER. 

that name, six miles north of Miami, and within 
half a mile of an arm of the Everglades. 

Miami. The shire town of Brevard County ; at 
the mouth of Miami River, on west bank of Bis- 
cayne Bay ; perhaps the most common trading-post 
for the Seminole Indians, who live not far away. 
Everything will grow here, which perhaps accounts 
for there being but little raised. Lemons, limes, 



Growth of the Coast. ioi 

guavas grow without care or attention. It is to be 
lioped that missionaries will be sent here to the 
Seminoles. The kind required would be a man 
and wife intelligent enough to instruct the natives 
how to make decent cabins to live in ; to use axes 
and hoes and other tools ; to use water, soap and 
towels ; to make clothing, and finally to teach them 
to read. The education should be purely secular 
and moral. This place is mentioned in the last 
chapter. 

Cocoanut Grove. A post-ofRce six miles south of 
Miami. 

Cutter is a post-office and settlement at the " In- 
dian hunting-grounds," on the west shore of Bis- 
cayne Bay, lo miles south of Miami, and lo miles 
from the Everglades. It has a tropical climate, and 
the tenderest West India fruits grow to perfection. 
The settlement is in township 55 south, range 40 
east. With the best of lands, the best of climates, 
and a perfectly healthy location, it must eventually 
become the horticulturists' paradise. 

One of the most important improvements on the 
East Coast is the establishment of life-saving stations 
and houses of refuge along the shore. At these 
there is kept always on hand a supply of provisions 
and blankets for the comfort of the shipwrecked 
sailors and others. Following is the life-saving ser- 
vice, 7th district : Frank W. Sams, New Smyrna, 
Supei-intendent ; stations: ist, Indian River, eleven 
miles north of the inlet, in latitude 27"^ 40, Chas. A. 
Stockel, keeper, address Eau Gallic ; 2nd, Gilbert's 
Bar, at St. Lucie Rocks, north of inlet, latitude 27° 



I02 East Coast of Florida. 

12, keeper Samuel F. Bunker, St. Lucie; 3d, Or- 
ange Grove, south end of Lake Worth, 32 miles 
south of Jupiter, latitude 26*^ 27. 30, kept by Ste- 
phen Andrews ; 4th, Fort Lauderdale, seven miles 
north of Nev^ River Inlet, latitude 26° 8, address 
Biscayne ; 5th, Biscayne Bay, ten mile's north of 
Boca Ratoms, Narrows cut, latitude 25^ 54. 10, 
keeper John T. Peacock, Miami. Between these 
stations guide-boards are put up at every mile, tell- 
inof the distance to the nearest station. 




Shipwrecks on the Coast. 103 

CHAPTER V. — Shipwrecks on the East 
Coast. 
"The breakers were right beneath her bows; 
She drifted, a dreary wreck. 

* ***** 

" She struck where the white and fleecy waves 
Looked soft as carded wool." 

— Longfellow. 

In 1866, when the inill company first began oper- 
ations at what is now Ponce's Park, the old wreck 
of the steamer Narragansett was some distance in- 
land from the shore. Since then the sand shore has 
been washed away, and the old wreck, though stand- 
ing still as a light-house, now finds itself in deep 
water again. It must be now a half a century since 
the " Old Narragansett " went ashore. It was on a 
bright and calm summer morning; the passengers, 
consisting partly of ladies, bound for New Orleans 
were all saved without any trouble. During the 
bluest times of 1867 or 8, when the old mill was 
idle — there was nothing to do and almost nothing to 
eat — there came a gale that brought a piece of the 
old wreck ashore opposite where the wreck stood ; 
two portions drifted in at tlie inlet, and one stranded 
on the sand-bar above Pacetti's, and the other below 
his house one-half a mile or so. These were a real 
copper mine to us, for we got several hundred 
pounds of copper sheathing and bolts. The sheath- 
ing was in two layers, the sheets weighing 50 lbs. 
each. That was only a small portion of the ship" 
copper. There is probably several hundred dollars 
worth left there yet. At one time the Halifax and 
Hillsboro rivers each had their own channels. They 



I04 East Coast of Florida. 

were known as the north and south channel. The 
north channel then ran considerably nearer to this 
old wreck. But however the channel and shore 
may change, the old wreck, now all gone but the 
boiler and stern post, keeps its place, and is a valu- 
able landmark for mariners navigating the inlet. 

Then there was one of Swift's schooners that was 
sunk on the north side of the channel. For some 
years portions of the hull could be seen, but a wood- 
en vessel cannot long resist the action of the worms 
and the tide. Speaking of the schooner brings to 
mind the owner, of which, if a chapter should not 
be vs ritten, the East Coast history would be incom- 
plete. 

Perhaps the wreck most prominent in sight, and 
in memory of those who were there, in 1866-7-8 
was that of the Schoone?- Luella, Capt. Burgess of 
Boston. She was of over a hundred tons burden, 
and had discharged her cargo on the bank at the old 
mill site (then how new and full of hope !), about 
100 feet north of where the sea grape stands. The 
cargo consisted of the boilers and engine and all the 
machinery of the mill, brick for setting the boilers, 
and a stock of goods that cost over $4000. In going 
to sea the captain undertook to cross the bar on a 
falling tide and with but little wind ; a great many 
have made the same mistake. She touched on the 
south shore, and never got oft'. The sand filled in 
around her, and she stood high and dry for a long 
time, her tall masts answering as beacons and a 
warning to other sailors. Probably not a vestige of 
the wreck now remains in sight. 



Shipwrecks on the Coast. 105 

About 1 868 the sloop Martha, belonging to Capt. 
Frank Smith of Indian River, capsized in a gale oft 
the inlet and floated ashore on the south beach. 
Two men were drowned, and their bodies came 
ashore north of the inlet. The cargo of salted mul- 
let in barrels was partly saved. 

The steamer Lodona was wrecked a few years ago 
north of Cape Canaveral. The crew were all saved, 
and the country supplied with dry goods for several 
years. This was in the days of Col. Titus' admin- 
istration of affairs in that locality. 

About that time a vessel went ashore south 01 
Cape Canaveral, with a cargo of rum and molasses 
from oiie of the West India islands. 

A Norwegian bark loaded with mahogany went 
ashore a little above Green Mound a few years ago. 
The underwriter's agent, Mrs. Eells of Jacksonville, 
sold the vessel and cargo at auction, as is common 
practice when the vessel is insured. Wm. Jackson 
of Daytona and Doherty were the purchasers. They 
hauled the logs up on the ridge with a stationary 
engine, and took them across to the river on a tram- 
way, where they were loaded and sent north. It is 
generally supposed that the profits realized on this 
venture were from $15,000 to $20,000. Within 
two or three years of that event a schooner loaded 
with pine lumber went ashore above Port Orange. 
A large quantity of the square and thick timber was 
I'esawed at Manly 's mill. Somebody made money 
out of that. The most unlucky lot of wrecked ma- 
hogany lay scattered along the Halifax beach for 
twenty miles in 1866. The Mill Company, through 



io6 East Coast of Florida. 

its agent, Mr. Fowler, gave Sutton $600 in cash for 
it, then hired men to surf it down the beach and in- 
side the inlet, paying the men $2.00 a day and board 
and Capt. Green $5.00 a day to oversee the work. 
When it was all safely inside and ready to be loaded 
on a schooner, the company was forbidden to ship 
the logs, as it was derelict property of the United 
States. Some legal process must be gone thi^ough 
with in the U. S. Court at St. Augustine. It was 
duly libeled in the court, after which it must lay a 
year and a day. But some months before this time 
was out there came a gale which changed the face 
of nature at the inlet, washing away nearly half a 
mile of the "north point" on which the mahogany 
logs were lying. These logs went everywhere, out 
to sea, and stranded on the south beach, and on the 
north beach, and up the Halifax, and up the Hills- 
boro. This was so discouraging that the company 
did not try to reclaim those they might. Two of 
them landed on Sutton's shore and he claimed them, 
and, I think, sold them to the company a second 
time. The loss to the company was over a .thous- 
and dollars. 

On the beach opposite Hawks' Park there lies i^an 
old wreck of a small steamer that came ashore there 
without any passengers or cargo It was a cheap 
affair, made by putting a small boiler into a scow or 
lighter, and probably broke loose from its moorings 
in the Bahamas. 

Some time in the summer of 187S or thereabouts, 
a man knocked at a door in Hawks' Park at about 
dusk, and asked for a drink of water. He was in- 



Shipwrecks on the Coast. 107 

vited into the house, and was followed by eight or 
nine other men. He was a steamboat captain, and 
these were his crew. Their steamer, the Belle of 
Texas, on her way from New Orleans, to run on 
the St. Johns, had just gone ashore in a high wind 
about two miles south of " Brown's trail," opposite 
Hawks' Pai-k. The men were not only thirsty, but 
wet and hungry. As good a supper was prepared 
as the place would aftbrd, and they went on to New 
Smyrna. All that was movable of this steamer was 
got oft' and sold at auction in New Smyrna. Some 
of the prices brought were as follows : a pair of $35 
Fairbanks' scales, $1 ; an iron safe, locked aird key 
lost, safe and contents, $1 ; narrow excelsior mat- 
tresses, 25 cents each. The wooden portion of the 
boat was purchased and brought to the mainland b}^ 
Hart and Mendell, and considerable of the painted 
finishing is still in their lumber yards. In this way 
nearly every house on the coast comes to be partly 
made or finished oft' with wrecked lumber or parts 
of wrecks. When a nice, painted, rather narrow 
door is seen in a rough, unpainted house or barn, 
one may be pretty sure it is from the cabin of a 
wrecked steamboat or schooner. A few houses near 
the beach are made entirely of such wreckage. 

The schooner Shell, Capt. Mickells, a small ves- 
sel with a cargo of sour and bitter sweet oranges 
from Bisset's Hill and vicinity, where they had 
recklessly chopped down the trees to get the fruit, 
attempted to go out over the bar when the tide was 
falling, and went ashore in the north breakers, and 
the shore was lined for several days with wild or- 



io8 East Coast of Florida. 

anges. The vessel probably was got oft' afterwards. 

Capt. Miner Hawks bought several hundred dol- 
lars' worth of Sutton's oranges, agreeing to pay for 
them as soon as sold. The schooner carrying them 
got aground in passing out at the inlet, and the 
cargo was lost. Mr. Williams, a surveyor of Bos- 
ton, and other passengers were on board, but got 
safely ashore. Perhaps hundreds of boxes of these 
oranges were carried by the tide up the Halifax, 
many ot them lodging on Mr. Fowler's shore. He, 
being of a practical turn of mind in some things, 
planted many thousands of the seeds, and raised and 
sold and used several thousand dollars' worth of 
trees from them. 

The schooner Dora Ellen, built by McDonald 
(McDaniel) at Fort Orange, and sailed by Wm. 
Johnson, went ashore a mile above Port Orange. 
The cargo was saved and the schooner got off. 

The saddest fate of any vessel and crew wrecked 
off" our coast was the steamship Vera Cruz, which, 
with thirty passengers, men and women, and a full 
freight from New York, bound for Mexico, found- 
ered in a storm thirty miles from the coast. The 
steamship broke in two and sunk; only six of the 
passengers and crew were saved. Several dead 
bodies came ashore on the Halifax Beach, and from 
St. Augustine south all along the beach were such 
goods as would float or could be driven ashore, such 
as tierces and cans of lard, barrels and tins of kero- 
sene, furniture, passengers' trunks, life preservers, 
etc. This was about 1882. 

The wreck of the Wilton, the company's schooner, 



Shipwrecks on the Coast. 109 

was a notable affair, not for anything thrilling or 
romantic, but from its effects on the affairs of the 
company. There was so much uncertainty about 
getting freight from Jacksonville or Savannah to the 
new colony that the company thought it best to have 
a vessel of its own. Accordingly the treasurer, Mr. 
Dennett, advanced the money and bought the small 
schooner Wilton, and Capt. Garvin, a bright and 
intelligent colored man, engaged as master. Several 
voyages had been made with uniform good luck. 
One Sunday morning in October, 1S66, the writer 
arrived in Jacksonville on his return from a business 
trip north for the company. The Wilton was in 
port and in trouble ; she had been trying new cap- 
tains. One had engaged to go with all jiossible dis- 
patch, but^when he arrived at the mouth of tlie St. 
Johns River, tliere lay a Boston schooner wrecked, 
and a miscellaneous cargo of all sorts of goods 
strewed the beach, loose and in boxes and barrels. 
So the captain of the Wilton just picked up a deck- 
load of these goods, and put back to Jacksonville to 
dispose of them. Dennett dismissed him and hired 
another ; this last captain got drunk and fell over- 
board and nearly drowned, before he got out to sea ; 
he put back for personal re])airs, and was also dis- 
charged. That was the state of things on the Wil- 
ton, and at the mill the people were suffering from 
hunger. Capt. Garvin had returned to town ; he 
was engaged for the trip, and he secured the ser- 
vices of two Irish sailors, and with Levi Jones of 
New Hampshire as a passenger, we sailed on the 
day of our arrival. The voyage was pleasant and 



no East Coast of Florida. 

prosperous until we arrived the next day at Mos- 
quito Inlet too late to go in over the bar. Capt. 
Miner Hawks, with the life-boat and a crew of four 
colored men, came out to help pilot us in. Through 
the night we sailed oft' shore and on, to be ready to 
go in in the morning ; but when morning came we 
were away south of Turtle Mound, and a gale was 
blowing from the northeast, constantly croAvding us 
on shore. All day long we tried to beat up to the 
inlet, but in vain. It was neai'ly sunset when, 
finding we made no headway, we cast anchor, in- 
tending to lay to till the wind should lull. At first 
the anchors dragged and then parted, first one, then 
another cable. Captain Garvin then had the choice 
of two courses to pursue : he could run the vessel 
ashore, in which there was not likely to be much 
danger to life ; or he could put out to sea, in at- 
tempting which there was danger of drifting on 
Canaveral reefs before we could get far enough out 
to cl .'ar them, as the mainsail was torn and disabled. 
We concluded to run ashore, and lose vessel and 
cargo if we must, and save our lives. The vessel's 
bow was headed straight for the shore toward the 
breakers ; we struck the outer sand-bar, and quickly 
lightened the vessel by throwing oft" some heavy 
deckload ; the schooner careened, slid over the ridge 
and in deeper water, righted again, and then sped 
on for the mad, wild breakers, for the tide was high. 
However great the hope of landing safely, there was 
no certainty about it, and enough of danger to make 
those few moments of thrilling suspense. Near the 
breakers the vessel struck again, careened over on 



Shipwrecks on the Coast. hi 

her side, and the next wave drove her so high up 
on the beach, that in wading ashore the water was 
scarcely waist deep, though the Wilton was of six 
feet draught. We were on the beach about four 
miles south of the inlet. Considerable of the cargo 
was saved, but almost ruined by being soaked in 
salt water and mixed with sand. But life was saved. 
How good the solid ground felt to the feet ! How 
dear every tree and plant seemed ! Even the tough 
scrub palmettoes were regarded with a tenderness 
never felt before — or since. That night, as we sat 
behind a sail, which we used to keep off the wind, 
and ate our supper, which we had cooked over a 
blazing fire of driftwood, and dried our wet clothes, 
we felt a nearer relationship to, and a warmer sym- 
pathy for, all shipwrecked mariners. 
" Oft died the words upon our lips, 
As suddenly from out the fire, 
Built of the wreck of stranded ships, 

The flames would leap and then expire — 
And as their splendor flashed and failed, 
We thought of wrecks upon the main, 
Of ships dismasted that were hailed, 
And sent no answer back again." 



112 East Coast of Florida. 

CHAPTER VI. — How to make money on the 
East Coast. 

" Let me be quickly rich." 
Go into the orange business ; raising the fruit, or 
raising nursery trees, or making groves to sell. 
There are fortunes in any and all of these. It so 
happens that the most profitable business in the line 
of fruit culture is the raising of the most delicious 
fruit, which is produced by one of the most beauti- 
ful and fragrant of trees. The following tribute to 
the orange was pronounced by Mr. Fowler, one of 
oiu- "coastwise" orange-growers, at the Florida 
Fruit Growers' Association, in an address before 
that body. It is a most truthful, eloquent and poetic 
statement. "Of all the fruits, we unhesitatingly 
jDronounce the orange queen. Behold the perpetu- 
ally green foliage besprinkled with snow-white blos- 
soms of sweetest perfume, or adorned with luscious 
fruit, whose color is shared only by the most pre- 
cious of metals, and reflected from the sun-kissed 
raindrop ! Called from her native forests in the 
East, this queen comes forth in the glory of the 
morning sun to open and adorn a day of horticul- 
ture more brilliant than any fabled golden age of 
the past. Its cultvu-e may not onl}' be i-egarded as a 
fine art, but as a Divine artr 

How MEN WITHOUT MONEY MAKE A START IN THE 
business and ACQLURE a COMPETENCY. 

There are i-nany ways. A man may enter a 
homestead of government land and plant orange 
seeds, making a nursery, so that, by the time the 
ground is ready for the grove, he has the trees with- 



How TO Make Money. 113 

out any appreciable cost. A poor man can prob- 
ably make a thousand dollars in the quickest way 
by raising a nursery of sour seedlings, and budding 
with the choicest varieties of orange and lemon. 
Trees that have cost six cents apiece often sell at 50 
cents to >j^ cents each. Our nurserymen make trees 
bear in four years from the seed by budding the 
seedlings at one or two years old. In case a man 
wants to stay nearer a town than he can find a 
homestead, he could begin somewhat as follows : 

First, he may bargain for four acres of best orange 
land at $100 per acre, which he can always get on 
credit somewhere. Next, he must make arrange- 
ments for boarding, which will cost about $13.50 
per month. With wages at $1.50 per day, suppose 
it takes nine days every month for his board, it 
leaves seventeen days in which he can work for 
himself every month. Supposing his land to be the 
heaviest hard-wood land, it will cost him nearly two 
months, or 34 days, to chop two acres and prepare 
it for piling. Then it will take, say, 25 days' work 
to pile the logs, burn the brush, and make a log 
fence around the field » Next, 200 budded trees are 
needed, at 50 cents each, making $100 ; to pay for 
the trees and setting out will use up over four 
months' time, let us suppose seven months in all, 
leaving five months of the fii^st year, at about $25 
per month, which may be partly devoted toward 
paying for the land ; say he pays $100. The second 
year he can set out two acres more, and work his 
young grove, and have four months' time, or $100 
to pay on the land. In the third year he may work 



114 East Coast of Florida. 

his groves and pay up for the land. The fourth 
year he may lay up his wages, which amount to 
$300, deducting the cost of clothing, for which we 
have not before made any allowance. Now let us 
take an inventory of this poor man's estate at the 
end of four years : 

3 acres of trees over 3 years set out, $3,000 

3 acres of trees over 3 vears set out, 1,000 



Total (not counting wages of 4th year) $3,000 
This grove will increase in value every year for ten 
years, when it may be worth ten thousand dollars. 
In this estimate no account is taken of groves that 
the man might continue to set out just as well after 
the fourth year. Many cases can be mentioned 
where results equal to the above have been attained, 
and there is room on the East Coast for several 
thousand more ! Money is of great advantage in 
making a beginning, but it is not a necessity. Land 
of the best quality can be had much cheaper, say 
from $35 upward per acre, by going further from 
the villages. Here is what may be done with the 
ready money. Starting with ten acres hammock : 

Clearing and fencing with palmetto logs 10 
acres, $500 

1000 budded trees and cost of setting out, 
say, 500 

Labor taking care of grove at $20 per acre per 
annum, 5 years, 1,000 

Interest on first year's outlay for 5 years, 300 

Total outlay, not including land, $3,300 



How TO Make Money. 115 

Such a grove would be worth in five years from 
$10,000 to $15,000. The real value of an orange 
gi-ove is ten times the clear profit of its annual crop. 
vStories are told of groves j^roducing a net profit of 
$2,000 per acre per year. If a grove should do 
that, it would easily be worth $30,000 per acre. This 
last estimate will remind the reader of the story of 
the golden mountain that could not be looked upon 
in daylight, mentioned in the first chapter. Prob- 
ably the safest and the best way for both the rich 
and the poor man is to operate together. The cap- 
italist finds the land, a house, and rations for the 
laborer, who makes and takes care of a grove of ten 
or twenty acres as they agree upon, and after a cer- 
tain time divide equally ; the only difliiculty being, 
at the start, to find the right parties — but it has been 
done, and can be done again. 

But there are a variety of industries by which a 
man may get a start in life and make a handsome 
competency on the coast. At Lake Worth and to 
the southward pine apples, bananas and cocoanuts all 
do well, and hundreds of acres of the beach ridge 
next the ocean are already planted in cocoanvits. 
Guavas may be made a profitable crop on Indian 
River, and Mitchell does well with them on the " 
Halifax, notwithstanding an occasional frost that 
cuts them down. Sweet potatoes are a profitable 
crop. John Fozzard raised a thousand bushels one 
year at Port Orange, and sold them at $1 a bushel. 
By selecting the best land, either pine or hammock, 
and giving them proper culture, 300 bushels to the 
acre may be raised, though 100 bushels is probably 



ii6 East Coast of Florida. 

nearer the common crop. Figs might be made a 
profitable crop. Sti^awberries do finely, and will 
ripen from December till June. In the winter they 
bring fifty cents per quart in New York and Boston 
and other large cities. There is no reason why 
sugar-cane should not be profitable, but its cultiva- 
tion has not been much practiced on the coast since 
the Indian war. Rice, even on upland moist enough 
for corn, does well, and would be more profitable 
than corn for forage, as sixty bushels to the acre can 
be raised. Garden vegetables do well, but are not 
very commonly raised. People fo7'get to plant ! Poul- 
try of all kinds do extremely well here. Hens are 
easily kept, and lay well. Eggs bring thirty cents 
per dozen all winter. Stock-raising is pi'ofitable. 
Investments in cattle double every three years. At 
present the stock runs wild, and are taken no pains 
with, except to mark the calves. Thousands of 
head of cattle are raised in the flat vv?^oods and prai- 
ries along the Kissimmee, and all along west of the 
spruce pine belt that skirts the low hammock. The 
market is in the West Indies. The cattle are driven 
to Punta Rassa in southwest Florida, and shipped 
from there to Cuba, some stockmen having as many 
as 20,000 head. Hogs are profitable, requiring but 
little corn just before killing. The late Hon. W. S. 
Abbott of New Smyrna raised one year a ton of 
pork, which he estimated cost him not over a cent 
a pound ; but it always sells, fresh or salt, as high 
as ten cents per pound. 

Bee culture has of late grown to be an important 
industry on the East Coast. Some of the main 



How TO Make Monky. 117 

honey-producing shrubs and trees are the saw pal- 
metto, the palm tree, the orange tree, and the man- 
grove that covers the salt marshes and overflowed 
mai'sh islands along the tidal rivers at Mosquito In- 
let and southward. The bass wood (wahoo) and 
many other trees and plants in the low hammocks 
and savannas furnish good bee pasturage. On the 
Hillsboro River, within a length of twelve miles, 
there are more than a thousand colonies of bees. 
One of the most methodical and successful of the 
apiarists on the coast is Wm. S. Hart of Hawks' 
Park, one of the vice-presidents of the North Amer- 
ican Bee Keepers' Society. The smallest yield per 
hive on an average right through the apiary was in 
1SS3 130 pounds of extracted honey. The largest 
yield of a single colony was 200 pounds. The 
honey raised in this neighborhood has drawn all the 
premiums at the State Agricultural Fairs, and some 
at the World's Fair at New Orleans ; the lai-gest 
share of these honors having been captured by Mr. 
Hart. 

As to going to Florida to get work, I should not 
advise it. Wages are not as high there as at the 
north. The usual rate on the coast is from $1.25 to 
$1.75 per day, or $1.00 with board. Any man who 
is contented to work for other people all his life will 
probably earn more money, and with it obtain more 
luxuries, at the north than in Florida. The citizens 
of the East Coast are hard-working, industrious 
people, but they do not belong to that caste known 
as the working class, who eai-n their bread every 
day before they eat it, and never lay up anything 



ii8 East Coast of Florida. 

ahead. Every man on the coast is a land-owner, 
and the poorest worker there expects some day to 
be able to work for himself. There is plenty of land 
there to be had for the taking of a government 
homestead, or that may be purchased at $1.35 per 
acre, and from that price all the way along up to 
$150 per acre. Rent and clothing cost but little, 
and wood costs merely the chopping and hauling. 
Provisions that must be bought at the stores are 
about the same price as at country stores in New 
England. With this preliminary statement, it may 
fairly be said that there is probably no place in the 
world where an industrious, economical and sober 
man, with or without a family, can begin without a 
dollar, and so surel}' and so quickly raise himself 
into independent and easy circumstances, as on the 
East Coast of Florida. 



Climate and Health. 119 

CHAPTER VII.— Climate and Health. 

"Throw physic to the dogs." 
Perhaps the best idea one can convey of the win- 
ter climate of Florida is to compare it to October in 
the northern states. The warm and summer-like 
days well represent the southern portion, while the 
occasional frosts and cooler days represent the north- 
ern portions of the JState. There are perhaps thirt}' 
or forty days in winter when a fire is agreeable, 
night and morning, in the latitude of New Smyrna 
(29 degrees) ; farther north more days would re- 
quire a fire ; farther south less would be required. 
The earliest settled portion of the coast and the state 
was St. Augustine. At this point very full observ- 
ations have been taken by three different nations of 
observers, and all agree in giving it the highest 
praise for general healthfulness, for residents, for 
soldiers in barracks, and as a health resort for in- 
valids. "From the records contained in the Span- 
ish Archives at St. Augustine, we learn that the 
mean temperature of the winter months for 100 
years averages a little over 60'^, and of the summer 
months 86°, Farenheit. Constant mention is made 
of the daily recurring sea breeze, which cooled off 
the after part of the day, and gave a delightful at- 
mosphere for nightly rest." " One of the great vir- 
tues of the Florida climate is, that nearly all the rain 
falls during the productive season of the year, and 
that during the winter months, when rains are but 
little required, they seldom fall. The reverse of this 
occurs in Texas, California, Oregon, and in nearly 
all the Mexicali States." Sursreon General Lawson 



I20 East Coast of Florida. 

observes : " Indeed, the statistics in this bureau de- 
monstrate the fact that the diseases which result 
from malaria are of a much milder type in the pe- 
ninsula of Florida than in any other State in the 
Uiiion." "The general healthfulness of many parts 
of Floi-ida, particularly on the coast, is proverbial." 
[From J. S. Adams' Florida : Its Climate, Soil and 
Productions. Jacksonville, 1869.] The following 
is from the article "Florida" in the Encyclopedia 
Britanica : " The winter climate of the Gulf Coast 
is more rigorous than that of the Atlantic." " Sta- 
tistics show the State to be one of the healthiest, if 
not the healthiest, of the United States, and its resi- 
dent population is largely increased in the winter 
months by invalids from the North seeking a moi^e 
genial clime." 

Dr. A. S. Baldwin of Jacksonville, President of 
the Medical Association of the State of Florida, says 
in the summary of his address before the Associa- 
tion on the Climatology of Florida: "In regard to 
temperature, that has been found excessive in neither 
exti^eme throughout the entire year, but quite equable. 
Atmospheric disturbances are not as frequent here 
as either north or south of us, for our equable tem- 
perature has been shown to have an astronomical 
cause which gives us less heat in summer, and less 
cold in winter, than in northern latitudes. The 
humidity of the atmosphere has been shown to exist 
to such an extent as to prevent those extreme diurnal 
variations of temperature which are inimical to both 
comfort and health, and, on the other hand, the ab- 
solute amount of water in the atmosphere is too 



Climate and Health. 121 

small to render it objectionable to even delicate 
lungs. The fall of rain occurs principally in show- 
ers during the summer and autumn, when the agri- 
cultural interests most require it. The winter is the 
dryest season. We have on an avei'age about twenty 
clear days in the month, or about two hundred and 
forty in the year." 

Bernard Romans, an English physician who lived 
at St. Augustine, published a history of Florida, in 
1776. He wi"ites : " Dr. Mackenzie has said much 
of the effect of the air in producing mould rust, etc. ; 
but though this is manifest at St. Augustine, yet 
there is not a healthier place than this in this quarter. 
The inhabitants enjoy sound health and reach great 
longevity, and invalids resort hither from Cuba as to 
another Montpelier." 

As a winter i"esort for invalids and tourists, Flor- 
ida has been compared to Italy and other portions 
of the south of Europe, and always with a prepon- 
derance of testimony in favor of this State. In the 
July number of the Semi-Tropical for 1876 is an in- 
teresting review of Dr. Tusseg's work on Rome as 
a winter resort, by Solon Robinson. In every point 
claimed by Dr. T, in favor of Rome, Mr. Robinson 
shows, by reference to statistics, that the climate of 
Florida is fully equal, and in some respects supe- 
rior, to that of Rome. In the November number of 
the same volume of the Semi-Tropical, T. Elwood 
Zell of Philadelphia gives a very interesting chapter 
of his experience. He says: "From these facts, 
there can be little question as to the great superior- 
ity of Florida as a -winter resort ; greatly superior to 



132 East Coast of Florida. 

any climate one can find in southern France or Italy, 
and even superior to the far-famed Egypt." 

Consumption and other diseases of the lungs and 
air passages are much more common in the North- 
ern than in the Southern States. In the States of 
Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont nearly one- 
fourth of all the people die of consumption. In 
Vermont, where the death i-ate from this disease is 
highest, the ratio is over 24 per cent., while in 
Georgia it is only 3. So per cent, and in Florida 4.61 
per cent. The greater per cent, of mortality in 
Florida over that in Georgia is accounted for by the 
greater comparative number of incurable cases which 
are sent to Florida as a last resort. In going south- 
ward we find the death rate from consumption grad- 
ually and steadily decreasing from Vermont to Flor- 
ida, where it is the lowest. Taking all the disorders 
of the respiratoiy organs into account, which would 
include, besides consumption, pneumonia, pleurisy, 
asthma, croup, bronchitis, etc., they amount in Ver- 
mont to 28 per cent, of all the deaths, and in Flor- 
ida to only 1 1 per cent. In order to have a perfectly 
fair and reliable table of statistics of the comparative 
mortality. North and .South, of various diseases, such 
table should show where the persons treated of were 
born ; whether residents or transient visitors. It is 
not claimed that the advantage of Florida climate 
over that of the other States is wholly or largely in 
consequence of its greater warmth, but rather on ac- 
count of the evenness of its temperature — the absence 
of sudden and great changes from heat to cold, and 
the reverse. Although changes of temperature do 



Climate and Health. 133 

of course occur here, they are not nearly as great 
and not nearly as common as in any of the other 
States. This is accounted for by the fact that Flor- 
ida, especially the south end, comes so near being 
an island ; it being surrounded on all but the north 
side by water. Another cause of the evenness of 
the Florida climate is the nearness of the Gulf 
Stream to the coast. This great ocean current of 
warm water from the Mexican Gulf has a very 
marked effect upon the temperature of the southern 
portion of our coast. Besides the equability of the 
temperature of the coast, there is the greater amount 
of sunshine here than elsewhere that invites and 
jDcrmits the invalid to exercise in the open air, 
owing to the great number of clear, sunshiny days. 
These average about twenty a month, or 240 in a 
year, as just quoted from Dr. Baldwin. Volney, in 
his " View of the United States of America," men- 
tions that at Salem, Mass., there were 175 fair days 
in a year, while the average of 20 cities of Europe 
showed only 64 fair days in a year. The advantage 
of our Florida climate is not so much in the extra 
warmth of the atmosphere as in the evenness of tem- 
perature and this abundance of clear, fair weather. 
The pure out-door air is so much better for the in- 
valid than the close, heated rooms in cold climates, 
where the air is vitiated in the first place by hot 
stoves and furnaces, and then by several persons 
breathing it over and contaminating it still further. 
Another advantage of the coast belt is the dryness 
of the surface soil for residences. An elevation of 
ten to thirty feet above tide-water secures a good 



124 East Coast of Florida. 

drainage, owing to the porous nature of the soil. 
The high hammock belt that forms the west bank 
of the coastwise tidal rivers, on which most of the 
population of the whole coast reside, although no- 
where over forty feet above the sea, is probably 
dryer than much of the highlands of the Carolinas 
that are 4000 feet above sea level. Springy and 
claye}^ districts, though elevated, are still damp. It 
is highly probable that the damp cellars so common 
all over the North are a fruitful source of disorders 
of various kinds. There are no-cellars in Florida. 

Opinions vary on the question as to the best cli- 
mate for consumptives. Most notable among the 
scientific inquirers who fxvor more elevated regions 
is Dr. Henry O. Marcy, late Surgeon U. S. A., 
now President of the New England Genealogical 
Society, Boston. He has spent a summer in the 
mountain region of North Carolina, and has written 
a pamphlet advocating the mountains on account of 
the great purity of the air, and its freedom from the 
ferments that are liable to exist in low, moist and 
hot localities. Perhaps the mountain air is better 
in certain stages of lung disorders than the low 
coast. It will require considerable intelligent ob- 
servation to settle the matter definitely. Meantime 
we may safely fall back on our statistics of the facts 
so far as they have already been observed. While 
the proportion of deaths from lung and throat dis- 
eases to the whole number of deaths in Florida is 
II to the 100, in North Carolina the proportion is 
16 to 100. 



The Coast for Recreation. 125 

CHAPTER VIII.— The East Coast for 
Recreation. 

The natural formation of the coast fits it peculiarly 
as a haunt for salt water fish. The tidal rivers along 
the coast, with inlets from the sea at occasional in- 
ten^als, will insure a constant supply until the ocean 
itself is exhausted of its stock. Among the famous 
men who have fished in these waters are General 
Spinner, the U. S. Treasurer ; also a brother of 
James Freeman Clarke of Boston — guests at the 
Ocean House, New Smyrna. A large book could 
be filled with vokmtary testimony in favor of the 
fishing and hunting grounds of the East Coast. But 
few extracts will be given. 

"All this portion of the State is exceptionally at- 
tractive, with a fine climate, excellent sea beaches, 
rich soil, and a varied capacity for production."* 
Mr. Samuel C. Clarke of Boston was a constant 
visitor to the coast at Mosquito Inlet, stopping at 
the Ocean House, New Smyrna, but mostly at Pa- 
cetti's on the Halifax, a mile north of the inlet. He 
has published a book on the subject of the fishes on 
the East Atlantic Coast, illustrated with several en- 
gravings. This is rather a portion of a book, in 
connection with J. A. Allen, on the mammals and 
winter birds of East Florida. In his book Mr. 
Clarke mentions B. C. Pacetti as one of the oldest 
and best fishermen of that region. He should have 
left out the words '' one of," as Mr. P. has no equal 
on the coast. 

*Florida. For Tourists, Ir.valids and Settlers. By George M. 
Barbour, 1883. 



126 



East Coast of Florida. 



Here is an extract from Mr. Clarke's journal of 
fishing there, which he kept for ten years : 



1870. 


No. 


Weight. 


Sheepshead, 


109 


436 lbs, 


Red bass, 


40 


202 " 


Salt water trout, 


6 


24 " 


Snappers, 


6 


18 " 


Cavalli, 


6 


22 " 


Groupers, 


7 


28 " 


Catfish, 


24 


120 " 


Sharks and rays. 


25 


150 " 


Total, 


213 
Hand line, 27 days. 


1006 " 


1876. 


No. 


Weight. 


Sheepshead, 


90 


340 lbs. 


Red bass, 


60 


311 " 


Groupers, 


9 


37 " 


Snappers, 


7 


22 " 


Salt water trout, 


15 


44 " 


Pig fish. 


44 


41 " 


Whiting, 


98 


56 " 


Black fish. 


125 


60 « 


Cavalli, 


4 


15 " 


Sailors' choice. 


187 


71 " 


Rays, sharks, cats, e 


ic, 40 


342 " 


Total, 


679 

87 days, rod and reel. 


1339 " 


1881. 


No. 


Weight. 


Sheepshead, 


37 


185 lbs. 


Red bass. 


25 


128 " 


Groupers, 


5 


21 " 


Snappers, 


5 


16 " 


Cavalli, 


6 


22 " 


Lady fish. 


4 


10 " 


Trout, 


8 


33 " 


Black and blue fish. 


25 


18 " 


Whiting, 


32 


19 " 


Catfish, 


62 


305 " 


Shark and rays, 


3 


lOS " 


Total, 


213 

21 days, rod and reel. 


S&2 " 



The Coast for Recreatton. 127 

Mr. Clarke says the channel bass weigh from i 
to 50 pounds. He says, also, that some species of 
fish which occur along the coast from Cape Cod to 
Florida figure under different names at almost every 
degree of latitude, such as the striped bass, or rock 
fish, also called blue fish, horse mackerel, skip jack 
or tailor fish. Mr. Clarke, who has had fifty years' 
experience from Canada to Florida, says: ''No- 
where in our broad country can the angler find a 
greater variety of game, or more or better sport than 
on the coast of Florida." 

Romans' History of Florida gives the following 
list of fishes as occurring on the Florida coast : 

"King fish, ban-aconta, tarpon, bonito, cavallas, 
silver fish, jew fish, rock fish, grouper, porgy, red, 
grey and black snapper, grunts, mangrove snapper, 
hog fish, angel fish, morgate fish, dog snapper, yel- 
low tail, mutton fish, mullet, murray, parrot fish, 
sproat, i-ed and black drum, bon fish, sting ray, 
shark, and an immense variety of others." 

When the mullet run in schools they are easily 
captured with the cast net, and it is not uncommon 
for two men to load a dory in a few hours. This 
fishing with a rod and reel, and keeping a record of 
the weight, and even of the time taken in bringing 
a large one " to gaff," answers very well for those 
who can afford the luxury of a guide and boatman, 
and who fish only for sport ; but the laboringmen on 
the coast take a more practical view of the matter, 
and capture the fish to eat. Besides taking them in 
the Spanish cast net, a favorite way is fire fishing. 
A torchlight is hung out over the bow of a boat, one 



128 East Coast of Florida. 

man in the stern to pole the boat, another stands in 
the centre of the boat, spear in hand, to capture the 
fish that are attracted to the Hght. In this way they 
capture half a bushel in a little while, of a variety, 
but rarely think it worth while to count or weigh 
them. It is common for men to come over from the 
St. Johns or from the interior of the county with 
carts, and load up with fish, which they buy of the 
fishermen and salt in barrels, for their annual family 
supply. 

Every kind of fish in the sea at the various lati- 
tudes of the inlets frequent the salt water rivers as 
feeding grounds, and may be captured. Nearly 
every kind named above are distributed all along the 
coast. 

Mammals and Birds. — The great forests of the 
coast belt are favorite resorts for a great variety of 
wild animals, and birds. From J. A. Allen's 
"Mammals and Winter Birds of East Florida," the 
following list is copied : Mammals.— Y^niher, bay 
lynx, gray wolf, gray fox, mink, otter, common 
skunk, little striped skunk (polecat), raccoon, Vir- 
ginia deer, manatee, red Carolina manatee, Georgia 
manatee, mole shrew, southern fox squirrel, grey 
squirrel, salamander, brown rat, white-footed mouse, 
golden mouse, ricefield mouse, cotton mouse, wood 
rat, cotton rat, pine mouse, gray rabbit, marsh rab- 
bit, opossum. 

Birds of East Florida Coast. — From the bulletin 
of Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard 
College, Cambridge, vol. 3, No. 3. Names marked 
with the asterisk (*) are constant residents ; the 



Tre Coast for Recrkation. 129 

obelisk (f) denotes a winter visitor. f Winter 
robin, folive-backed thrush, thermit thrush, fWil- 
son's thrush, *brown thrush, *cat bird, *mocking 
bird, *bkie bird, fruby crowned ringlet, fgolden- 
crested ringlet, *blue gray gnat catcher, *black- 
capped titmouse, chickadee, *crested titmouse, *com- 
mon wren, fCarolina wren, jwinter wren, fblack 
and white ci-eeper, blue yellow-backed warbler, 
•forange-crowned warbler, *pine warbler, fyellow 
red-poll warbler, *prairie warbler, fgolden-crowned 
wagtail, fwater wagtail, *Maryland yellow-throat, 
fwhite-bellied swallow, fbank swallow, fsolitary 
vireo, *white-eyed vireo, fi'^d-eyed vireo, fcedar 
bird, *loggerhead shrike, fjellow bird, f^^van- 
nah sparrow, fchipping sparrow, *field sparrow, 
fwhite-throated sptirrow, tlong sparrow, fswamp 
sparrow, -ffox colored sparrow, fsea side finch, 
fsharp-tailed finch, fHenslow's sparrow, *pine wood 
sparrow, *cardinal bird, *cherwink, f cow black- 
bird, *red-winged blackbird, *meadow lark, fi^'-'sty 
grackle, *purplegrackle, *boat-tailedgrackle, *crow, 
*fish crow, *blue jay ,*Floridajay,tpewee,*kingfisher, 
*chuck wills widow, *whip poor will, *ivory bill wood- 
pecker, *pileated woodpecker, Henry woodpecker, 
*downy and red cockaded woodpecker, *red-breast- 
ed woodpecker, *Carolina parokeet, *turkey vulture, 
*black vulture, fduck hawk, fpigeon hawk, *spar- 
row hawk, *sharp-shinned hawk, *cooper's hawk, 
*red-billed hawk, *red-shouldered hawk, *marsh 
hawk, * white-headed eagle, *king buzzard, *great 
horned owl, *mottled owl, *barred owl, *short-eared 
owl, *barn owl, *gi-ound dove, *mourning dove, 



130 East Coast of Florida. 

*wild turkey, *quail, *black-bellied plover, golden 
plover, *Kildee plover, *Wilson's plover, fsemi- 
palmated plover, fpiping plover, foyster catcher, 
tturnstone, *woodcock, *?snipe, tsanduling, fi'^d- 
backed sandpiper, fsemi-palmated sandpiper, fleast 
sandpiper, fwhite-rumped sandpiper, *willet, fjel- 
low legs, *spotted sandpiper, *marbled sandpiper, 
*niarbled godwit, fHudsonian curlew^, fEsquimaux 
curlew, flong-billed curlevs^, *black-necked stilt, 
•favoset, *brown crane, *marsh hen, *clapper rail, 
t Virginia rail, fCarolina rail, fyellow rail, |coot, 
*Florida galinule, *purple galinule, *heron, *Beals' 
heron, ■*little white heron, *white heron, *blue 
heron, *small bar heron, *little bittern, fbittern, 
^gi-een heron, *night heron, *gannet, *white ibis, 
glossy ibis, *crying bird or limpkin, tmallard, fblack 
duck, tpintail duck, fgi'^^i^-winged teal, fred- 
breasted teal, fl^lue-winged teal, |shoveller, fbald- 
pate, *wood duck, fscarp duck, fred-head, fbutter- 
ball, fi'uddy duck, fhooded merganser, *white 
pelican, *brown pelican, fcommon ganet, *booby 
ganet, *Florida cormorant or snake bird, *water 
turkey, fWilson's stormy petrel, fgreater shear- 
water, fherring gull, ti'ilig-billed gull, *laughing 
gull, fBonaparte's gull, Imarsh tern, *royal tern, 
*common tern, fArctic tern, *black skimmer, floon, 
fhorned grebe, fCarolina grebe. 

Here is a variety of game, if that is w^ t is 
wanted, and the most exacting sportsman may be 
satisfied. 



On the Other Hand. 131 

CHAPTER IX.— On the Other Hand. 
" Nothing extenuate, or set down aught in malice." 
With the abundant facilities for securing health, 
wealth and enjoyment, every citizen of Florida 
should be healthy, rich and happy ; but, alas ! this 
is not the case. Providence has not gathered all the 
advantages in any single locality ; they are pretty 
fairly divided. There are disadvantages and annoy- 
ances everywhere ; and that, of covarse, includes 
Florida. Immigrants from the West must not ex- 
pect to find all the land as rich as a prairie, and 
corn so cheap that it may be used for fuel ; those 
from New England will not see the apple orchards 
in blossom, nor the fields of red clover. All these 
must not be expected in addition to what they find 
there. These are exchanged for semi-tropical pro- 
ducts. The apple, pear, and other peculiarly north- 
ei-n fruits are replaced by the orange, lemon, lime, 
guava, pine-apple, banana, and others. Notwith- 
standing all that has been said and written about the 
frosts and the cold in Florida, the occasional cool 
weather of winter is one of the greatest surprises to 
the visitor. People seem to expect, when they reach 
Florida, that the climate is absolutely perfect, and 
they grumble at the days that are too warm or too 
cold. Frosts occur every winter across the northern 
part of the State as early as the middle of Novem- 
beijcf^o that sweet potato vines, corn or sugar-cane 
ai^e very likely to be killed by that time. Further 
south the frosts come later, lighter, or not at all us- 
ually. When the orange and lemon trees are dor- 
mant, they will stand a hard freeze ; but the banana 



132 East Coast of Florida. 

and pine-apple are about as tender as corn. The 
greatest degrees of cold that have been known in 
the history of Florida were in 1835, in February, 
when the orange groves at St. Augustine were 
killed, and that of January, 1886. These do not 
occur once in a generation. 

The frost of J 886. On Saturday and Sunday, the 
loth and nth of January, there was a strong wind 
from the northwest — the wind that always brings 
our hardest frosts. On Sundav moi'ning, at Mos- 
quito Inlet the mercury stood at 22*^ — the lowest on 
record in that region. The ci^op of oranges remain- 
ing on the trees was frozen ; some so solid that no 
juice flowed when they were cut open. Pieces of 
ice taken from a tub lay on the ground all day with- 
out melting. Fish of all kinds in the river were so 
chilled that they were left on the shores and sand- 
banks as the tide went out, and died thei-e,and cart- 
loads of them lined the shores. Lime and guava 
trees were killed to the ground, also bananas and 
pine-apple plants. Lemon trees shed their leaves 
like apple trees, and it was a rare wintry sight to 
see the bare branches of the lemon trees, and the 
ground covered with their yellow leaves. But the 
trees were not killed. Some of the branches were 
so injured as to need pruning. The blossoms the 
following spring did not mature into fruit. Healthy 
orange trees were not frozen, and did not shed their 
leaves. Young, tender buds and sickly, yellow- 
looking nursery trees were killed. This injury to 
the trees extended from about the latitude of St. 
Augustine southward to Indian R'iver Inlet. It was 



On the Other Hand. 133 

not like a frost in a still night, which sometimes 
appears in streaks east and west, leaving regions 
north of it untouched. This made a clean sweep. 

Insects are more troublesome in warm than in 
■cold climates. Mosquitoes are well known every- 
where in the United States ; but they are generally 
more plentiful on the coast than in the interior. 
Mosquito nets are required for comfort in the sum- 
mer all along the coast from New York city to Key 
West ; and being safely protected under a net, it 
does not matter so very much whether there are 
two or twenty trying to get inside. Sand-flies on 
the East Coast take the place of black gnats in the 
interior of the State or at the North ; or the " No 
see 'ems " in the Maine woods. They cannot stand 
the sunshine or the wind, and a very little smoke 
drives them away. Horse-flies are very trouble- 
some for a few weeks. Eternal vigilance is the 
price of freedom from cockroaches and ants. As to 
heat, there is as hot weather in Canada as in Flor- 
ida ; but in the latter there are more hot hours and 
more hot days than in the former. The trade winds 
from the southeast are cool and refreshing from the 
sea all through the summer. In the shade it is al- 
ways cool on the coast. The difference between 
sun and shade is more apparent here than it is at 
the North. 

The term tnalaria, signifying bad air, has a very 
wide range of application. But in the South it is 
imderstood to be a peculiar bad air, or substance in 
the air that produces fever and ague, the chills, chill 
and fever, as the disease is variously called by the 



134 East Coast of Florida. 

country people. It is not known what this peculiar 
substance is, but it is inferred, from certain facts that 
are known about it, that the cause of chills and fever 
is a microscopic plant or spore that, under certain 
conditions, rises from the ground and floats in the 
atmosphere. It is worse in dry seasons than in wet. 
It is worse in newly-plowed, rich ground, and on 
the margins of rivers and creeks when their muddy 
banks become dry and exposed to the heat of the 
sun. Swamps and ponds covered with a growth of 
vegetation, such as grass and bushes, are supposed 
not to produce the fever. In Volusia County, eight- 
een miles from the coast, Mr. Osteen's family is 
healthy, although living close on the border of ex- 
tensive ponds. People who live on the St. Johns 
River in summer and get the chills, whole families 
at a time, by removing to Mr. Osteen's recover i-ap- 
idly. This malaria does not originate on salt water 
streams and marshes, in dry, sandy land, or on the 
seashore. Persons who have had ague and fever in 
Illinois and Ohio say that the disease in Florida is 
of a much milder type. Consumption, catarrh, 
typhoid fever and diphtheria, which are almost 
wholly confined to cold climates, and which every 
winter sweep off" whole families, have no counter- 
part in the South. Sevei'al of these are more to be 
dreaded than yellow fever, which only occurs at 
long intervals. 



Routes to the Coast. 135 

CHAPTER X. — Routes to, and along the 
East Coast. 
"Where there's a will there's a way." 
On account of the peculiar conformation of the 
Eastern Coast of Florida, and the thinly settled con- 
dition of the country bordering^ on the coast belt, 
there are comparatively few direct roads between 
the coast and the interior, and these are mostly at 
the north portion of the coast, rarely occurring 
south of Titusville. The St. Johns River is a great 
arterial trunk, carrying the trade of its region to and 
from Jacksonville as the great pulsating commercial 
heart of the State. For more than 200 miles it runs 
nearly parallel with the East Coast, and to it the 
roads radiate from various points on the coast. 
From Fernandina, the most northerly town on the 
coast, a railroad extends across the State to the Gulf 
of Mexico ; also a I'ailroad to Jacksonville. From 
St. Augustine the Jacksonville, St. Augustine and 
Halifax River R. R. extends to Jacksonville, a dis- 
tance of forty miles ; and the St. Johns R. R. 
reaches Tocoi on the St. Johns River, fourteen 
miles ; and another railroad extends to Palatka. 
Common roads reach out in various directions from 
St. Augustine, and touch the St. Johns at several 
points, as at Jacksonville, Mandarin, Picolata, Or- 
ange Mills, Fedei-al Point and Palatka. A railroad 
extends from the new popular watering-place, Pablo 
Beach, which is north of St. Augustine, to Jackson- 
ville. Roads from Matanzas extend to Orange Mills 
and the towns near by on the river. From Daytona 
and Ormond on the Halifax the -'White" R. R. 



136 East Coast of Florida. 

reaches across to Rolleston, opposite Palatka, con-^ 
necting with the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key 
West R. R. for all points north or south on that 
road. From New Smyrna the Blue Springs, Or- 
ange City and Atlantic R. R. reaches the St. Johns 
River at Blue Springs. From the Tomoka River 
the Halifax and New Smyrna country roads lead 
out to Volusia, Spring Garden, DeLand, Orange 
City and Enterprise. A branch of the Jacksonville,, 
Tampa and Key West R. R. connects Titusville on 
the Indian River with Enterprise on the St. Johns. 
South of Titusville there are very few roads to the 
interior. 

Passengers from Georgia, South Carolina, and 
the States joining these on the west, have choice of 
several railroad lines to Jacksonville, or of steam- 
boat route from Savannah or Charleston. Steam- 
ships run to Savannah from Charleston, Baltimore,. 
Philadelphia, New York city and Boston. From 
Savannah to Jacksonville the ride by rail is only 
about seven hours. The price of cabin passage 
from Boston to Jacksonville is $25, via Savannah 
S. S. Co. or New York and Charleston line, in- 
cluding meals on ocean steamers. The Charleston 
steamers run up to Palatka, stopping at all inter- 
mediate landings. In coming to Florida, it may be 
a disadvantage to buy a ticket to a point beyond 
Jacksonville, because the usual local rate is added 
to the price to the last-named place ; whereas the 
local rates on the St. Johns are frequently cut down 
in consequence of so many competing lines. There 
is direct communication between New York city 



Routes to the Coast. 137 

and the East Coast, at Fernandina, by the Mallory 
line of steamships ; also, a direct line of steamships 
between New York city and Jacksonville — the 
Clyde S. S. line, established in November, 1886. 
Passengers from west of the Mississippi River can 
reach the Miami coast via New Orleans and Key 
West. Passengers for the East Coast, from Jack- 
sonville, have choice of several routes: ist, by 
steamer Peerless to New Smyrna, thence by river 
steamers north or south ; 2nd, by rail to Ormond or 
Daytona on the Halifax, thence by river steamers, 
mail Avagon or mail boats, north or south ; 3d, by 
rail to St. Augustine, thence south by mail wagon ; 
4th, to Enterprise or towns near, on the river, by 
steamboat, or by J., T. & K. W. R. R., thence 
across. by carriage to the coast ; 5th, to Titusville by 
rail, thence north or south by river steamers or sail- 
boats. 




TJ:[E 



Published every day of the year at 

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Mill, Wharf and Yard on Orange Island, North 
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