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    Tallahassee
    Tallahassee
    Tallahassee
    Ebook189 pages55 minutes

    Tallahassee

    By Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly

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    About this ebook

    Hope you are having as nice weather as we are. It and the people are grand. Tourists enjoying their Florida vacation might have written that message. Perhaps an elected official at the state capitol during a legislative session penned the sentiment. Maybe a student attending one of Tallahassee s several colleges intended to reassure anxious parents back home. Written on a postcard from Tallahassee in 1908, the words, whatever their purpose, still hold true.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 29, 2005
    ISBN9781439633342
    Tallahassee
    Author

    Lynn M. Homan

    As museum exhibit designers and the authors of more than 15 books, Lynn M. Homan and Thomas Reilly enjoy telling the stories behind the pictures. So grab a cool drink and a shady spot under a palm tree, and join the authors as they re-create the experience that is the Florida Keys.

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      Book preview

      Tallahassee - Lynn M. Homan

      RussellGraceImages.com.

      INTRODUCTION

      Today we live in a world made smaller by modern communication technologies. Cell phones, e-mail, and instant messaging are all part of our daily lives, but that wasn’t always the case. In an earlier era, postcards were a popular means of communication for millions of people. By virtue of their very size, postcards allowed only a concisely worded message, making them the ideal vehicle for those who detested letter writing but were nonetheless obliged to make contact.

      Postcards were inexpensive to purchase and to mail. They provided professionally photographed snapshots of interesting sights, events, locations, and even people. They could be scenic or decorative, realistic or imaginative, whimsical or sentimental. Although their use is less prevalent today than in previous years, postcards still tell the stories of our lives.

      Long before anyone was mailing a postcard from Tallahassee, or for that matter, even knew of postcards, people were finding the area a great place to live. The first of a succession of Native American populations came to the area several thousand years ago, attracted by the abundant wildlife and relatively temperate climate. Rich soil, beautiful clear springs, lakes, and rivers provided added inducements. Traces those original inhabitants have been uncovered at various archeological sites near Tallahassee.

      Spanish conquistador Ponce de León believed the Fountain of Youth might be located at nearby Wakulla Springs. Hernando de Soto, Pánfilo de Narváez, and other explorers searched the area for other treasures. Following in their footsteps were Spanish missionaries intent on converting the Native American population to Christianity. Unfortunately, along with their good intentions, the Europeans brought disease and strife that would decimate the indigenous population.

      A trip to the 60-acre archeological site of Mission San Luis de Apalachee allows visitors to travel back in time. Once home to more than 1,400 Native Americans as well as a Spanish lieutenant governor, military garrison, and civilian population, the hilly, oak-shaded site was a thriving community in the years between 1656 and 1704. According to many historians, the name Tallahassee came from the Apalachee word for old town. In the early 18th century, Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama moved into the area. By the 1760s, they would be known as Florida Seminoles.

      Settlers moving westward also saw the region’s potential and put down roots. Rich soil supported modest farms that coexisted, side by side in some instances, with cotton plantations encompassing major acreage. Even European royalty found Tallahassee an appropriate place to relocate. Thickly forested hillsides supported a naval stores industry. Fortunes would be made in Tallahassee.

      Although the Civil War had an emotional and economic impact, Tallahassee escaped the widespread devastation experienced by many Southern communities. Within a few years, wealthy Northerners were finding Tallahassee a perfect spot to spend the winter. Some seasonal visitors weren’t content just to relax on the porches of their hotels, however. Instead they reveled in the horticultural variety of the area and created garden spots that still delight today.

      Academicians chose Tallahassee as the site for their institutions of higher learning. After the legislative act of January 24, 1851, called for the creation of a state educational institution, the State Seminary West of Suwanee River opened in Tallahassee. Today two nationally recognized universities—Florida State University and Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University—as well as a community college make their home in Tallahassee.

      Shortly after Spain relinquished control of Florida in 1819, Tallahassee, situated halfway between the larger cities of Pensacola and St. Augustine, became home to the territorial capital. With a governmental structure already in place, Tallahassee was a shoe-in as the state capital when Florida achieved statehood in 1845. Despite occasional suggestions of relocation to a more central location, Floridians have always defeated attempts to move the Sunshine State’s capital elsewhere.

      Tourists liked to visit there. State buildings, museums of all types, historical sites, garden spots, and natural attractions offered visitors plenty to see and do. And hundreds of thousands of people chose Tallahassee as the perfect spot to raise their families and live their lives.

      Today Tallahassee still means many different things to different people. It is at once old-fashioned and starkly modern, both in ambiance and substance. It’s a unique blend of North and South, Starbucks coffee, Krispy Kreme donuts, and fried catfish. Remnants of plantation life still exist just down the road from towering office buildings. Tallahassee is a meandering canopy road overhung with Spanish moss; it can also be a snarling rush-hour traffic jam. It’s a decorous cotillion dance, and at the same time, a bureaucratic world filled with political maneuvering. It’s a combination of those in the know and those on the outside.

      For local residents, it’s home with familiar faces and places. Vacationers find it an interesting place to visit. Music and dance festivals, art exhibits, historical reenactments, and holiday celebrations fill the calendar. For schoolchildren, it’s a field trip to the state capital, with its government buildings and museums. To university-bound students, Tallahassee means higher education and years of being a FSU Seminole or a FAMU Rattler.

      Bird watchers and horticultural enthusiasts rejoice in the different selection of flora and fauna compared to that offered by the more tropical regions of the Sunshine State. For advocates of a particular cause, it’s a chance to make their sentiments heard, an opportunity to urge legislation to right a wrong or advance a project. To government employees, it’s not just a place to work, it’s the heart of the process. Tallahassee has and has always had something for everyone—residents, visitors, students, nature lovers, politicians, and just plain folks.

      "Hope you are having as nice weather

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