The History of Tallahassee, like the History of Leon County, begins with the Native American population and its interaction with British and Spanish colonists as well as colonial Americans and fugitive slaves, as the Florida Territory moved toward statehood. Growing numbers of cotton plantations increased the settlement's population greatly. It became a city and capitol in 1821.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Early history
Tallahassee is situated within the Apalachee Province, home of the Apalachee, a Mississippian culture of agrarian people who farmed vast tracts of land. Their capital, Anhaica, was located within Tallahassee's city limits.
The name "Tallahassee" is a Muskogean Indian word often translated as "old fields", or "old town." This may stem from the Creek (later called Seminole) Indians that migrated into this region in the 18th century. The Apalachee's success as agriculturalists did not go unnoticed by the Spanish, who sent missionaries to the area throughout the 17th century. Several mission sites were established with the aim of procuring food and labor for the colony at St. Augustine. One of the most important mission sites, Mission San Luis de Apalachee, has been partially reconstructed as a state historic site in Tallahassee.
16th century
The Spanish missionaries were not the first Europeans to visit Tallahassee, however. The Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto spent the winter of 1538-1539 encamped at the Apalachee village of Anhaica, which he had taken by force. De Soto's brutal treatment of the natives was fiercely resisted, and by the following spring De Soto was eager to move on. The site of Anhaica, near present-day Myers Park, was located by Florida archaeologist, B. Calvin Jones, in 1987.
19th century
Becoming capital
The founding of Tallahassee was largely a matter of convenience. In 1821, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States. A territorial government was established, but the impracticalities of alternately meeting in St. Augustine and Pensacola, the two largest cities in the territory at the time, led territorial governor William Pope Duval to appoint two commissioners to establish a more central meeting place.
In October 1823, John Lee Williams of Pensacola and Dr. William Simmons of St. Augustine selected the former Indian settlement of Tallahassee, roughly midway between the two cities, as a suitable place. Their decision was also based on its elevation and location near a beautiful waterfall, now part of Cascades Park, and the old capital of the Apalachee chiefdom. In March of the following year it was formally proclaimed the capital. Florida did not become a state, however, until 1845 (Tebeau:122).
On November 1, 1823, John Lee Williams wrote to Florida congressional delegate (and later governor) Richard Keith Call about the location of the capital:
"Doct. Simmons has agreed that the Site should be fixed near the old fields abandoned by the Indians after Jackson's invasion, but has not yet determined whether between the... old fields, or on a fine high lawn about a mile W. In both spots the water is plenty and good."
Founding of Tallahassee
In 1824, the Vity of Tallahassee, the county seat and only incorporated city in Leon County, was established following a decision by the state legislature to locate the capital of the new Florida Territory, midway between the population centers of St. Augustine and Pensacola. The city was not formally incorporated until December 1825, with the first municipal elections being held in January 1826.
In 1824, General Marquis de Lafayette was awarded a land grant by the United States Congress. The grant consisted of a 6-mile (9.7 km) by 6-mile (9.7 km) square of land in what is today mostly northeast Tallahassee. Although the Marquis never visited his property in Florida, he sent people to grow limes and olives and to produce silk from moths. However, the colony failed, and most of the residents went to New Orleans or back to France. Those who remained lived in an area of Tallahassee that still is called Frenchtown. Lafayette eventually sold his property.
In 1826, Prince Achille Murat, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, moved to the Tallahassee area, most likely in response to the July 4, 1825 Lafayette Land Grant, which also attracted many other French settlers. He purchased land in Jefferson County, Florida and named it Lipona Plantation. "Lipona" is an anagram for Napoli, the Italian spelling of Naples, Italy, where he was to rule.
The following outline represents a brief historical sketch of the area:
In 1827, Ralph Waldo Emerson, after a visit, called Tallahassee "A grotesque place of land speculators and desperados." Emerson would become a great friend and confidant of the aforementioned Achille Murat for years.
1830s
First bank
Around 1830, the Union Bank, Tallahassee's first bank, was established by William Williams. The Seminole Wars, unsound banking practices, and the Panic of 1837 caused the closing of the bank in 1843. In 1847, the bank was purchased by cotton plantation owners William Bailey and Issac Mitchell. It later became a Freedman (negro) bank from after the Civil War until 1879. The building has been used as a church, feed store, art house, coffee house, dance studio, locksmith's shop, beauty shop, and shoe factory. In 1971 the bank was moved from the original site on the west side of Adams Street, between College Avenue and Park Avenue, to just east of the Capitol on Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Avenue.
Capitol building
The rough hewn frontier capital gradually grew into a town during Florida's territorial period. In anticipation of becoming a state, the territorial government erected a greek revival masonry structure that would befit a state capitol. The structure opened in 1845 in time for statehood and eventually become known as the "old Capitol" which stands in front of the current new capitol high rise today.
Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad
In 1834, the Tallahassee Railroad was constructed, connecting St. Marks with Tallahassee to facilitate shipping of cotton to northeastern ports. It is reported to be the third oldest railroad in the United States. Three years later, it was extended to Port Leon, briefly the county seat of Wakulla County until it was destroyed by hurricane. In 1856 the mule-drawn line, with wooden rails, was replaced with steel rails and steam locomotives. The route has been paved and is today the Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail.
Also in 1834, Thomas Brown, who would later serve as Florida's governor, built an inn called Brown's Inn, located on the west side of Adams Street between Pensacola and Lafayette streets.
1840s
Reform mayor
In 1841, Francis W. Eppes, grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a successful cotton plantation owner became Intendant mayor of Tallahassee. Eppes served as mayor until 1844. Eppes described the town's Marion Race Course "A hotbed of vice, intemperance, gambling and profanity." He held that the rest of the town was little better. Eppes would again serve from 1856--1857.
1850s
During the antebellum period, Tallahassee was at the center of the fast-growing "middle counties" of Florida, which held the bulk of the antebellum state population. For several decades before the Civil War, nearby Gadsden County was the most populous in the state. Cotton and tobacco plantations and smaller farms were the main draw for population growth as well as economic and political power. Many cotton plantations such as the William Bailey Plantation, Barrow Hill, Francis Eppes Plantation, La Grange Plantation were built within what is now Tallahassee.
1860s
Civil War
Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi not captured by Union forces during the Civil War, and the only one not burned. The Battle of Natural Bridge was fought outside Tallahassee, mostly by students of what would later become Florida State University, which is the only non-military academy or service academy school to have such a claim.
Reconstruction
Following the Civil War, much of Florida's industry shifted to the south and east, a trend that continues to this day. The end of slavery caused the cotton and tobacco trades to suffer, and the state's major industry shifted to citrus, naval stores, cattle ranching, and even tourism, all of which occurred to the south and east due to climate and geography. This growth was especially noticeable around the Jacksonville area and the St. Johns River.
At the same time, newly freed blacks created Frenchtown, the oldest historically black neighborhood in the state.
1880s
First university
In January 1883 Reverend John Kost, A.M., M.D., LL.D of Michigan proposed to carry out the mandate of the 1868 Constitution requiring a state university. Kost selected Tallahassee and the West Florida Seminary for the location of the university. Classes were held at the West Florida Seminary from 1857 until 1863, when the state legislature changed the name to The Florida Military and Collegiate Institute to reflect the addition of a military section which trained cadets. The university was called the Florida State College for Women and later called the Florida State University.
On October 3, 1887, the State Normal College for Colored Students began classes, and became a land grant university four years later when it received $7,500 under the Second Morrill Act, and its name was changed to State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students. However, it was not an official institution of higher learning until the 1905 Buckman Act, which transferred control from the Department of Education to the Board of Control, creating what was the foundation for the modern Florida A&M University.
Capital City Bank
Dry goods store owner George W. Saxon began making loans to farmers during the 1880s which led him to filing for a bank charter in 1895. The bank grew and by 1975, Saxon's great grandson and bank director, DuBose Ausley, began formation of several banks into one group. Capital City Bank now has 70 banking offices and serves people as far north as Valley, Alabama and Macon, Georgia to Port Richey, Florida in the south.
Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad
During the 1880s and 1890s Tallahassee was served by the Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad, which ran from Georgia to Tallahassee and on to Carabelle in Franklin County.
St. James and Leon Hotels
The St. James Hotel was constructed sometime during the 1870--1883 period. It was a 3-story hotel with a porch wrapping two sides, located on the corner Monroe Street and Jefferson Street. The St. James became the Bloxham House from 1909--1913. Moved to 410 N. Calhoun Street, this building possesses both local and statewide significance, having served as the residence for Governors William D. Bloxham and Madison S. Perry from 1881--1901. It is also Tallahassee's finest remaining example of Federal residential architecture. In 1980 the Florida Heritage Foundation oversaw the restoration of this building.
In 1881, the Leon Hotel was constructed at 110 East Park Avenue. A Victorian style 2-story building, it had ornate porches on both first and second floors with sprawling grounds. The Leon was destroyed by fire in 1925.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
EmoticonEmoticon