Florida summers would be barely bearable if not for John Gorrie, the inventor of the ice-machine and the father of air-conditioning.
Florida History
Marjorie Rawlings Cross Creek Home
MARJORIE RAWLINGS STATE PARK, FL — Marjorie Rawlings’ Cross Creek home remains a page out of one of her novels. From the veranda of her rambling Cracker house she wrote such classic Florida stories as The Yearling and Cross Creek. But it turned out perfectly. “When I came to the Creek,” Rawlings wrote, “I knew […]
DeLeon Springs: Pancake Breakfast at the Fountain of Youth
Not sure if this is how it worked for Ponce De Leon, but here’s another refreshing and youthful way to enjoy a hot summer day in central Florida: Start off the morning with hot pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill at DeLeon Springs State Park in Deland, Florida. The kids (and the kid in […]
Koreshan State Historic Site: ‘The Ghosts of Florida’s New Jerusalem’
If the dream of Dr. Cyrus Teed had come true, the capital of the world would be located just south of Fort Myers, Florida. A century later, the fascinating remains of Teed’s failed utopia are preserved at the Koreshan State Historic Site. The story began in 1869 when Teed, a 30-year-old Chicago physician, had a revelation that he was the Messiah. He changed his name to Koresh (the Hebrew form of ‘Cyrus’), and in 1894 he led his wealthy followers into the muggy wilderness of Estero, where they founded a commune called the Koreshan Unity.
“The World’s Smallest Police Station”
CARRABELLE, FL — If you’ve got trouble in Carrabelle, Florida, just dial 3691. That’s the number for a blue phone booth on the main drag that is the world’s smallest police station. The phone booth is shaded by a shiny berry tree, and there’s a park bench in front where policemen can keep an eye […]
Once Upon a Time at the “Theatre of Memory”
Back in the old days, the High Springs Opera House played host to countless itinerant vaudeville performers. They carted their trunks up the street from the rail depot, unpacked, then hopped the train again as soon as the curtain fell. Back then you could watch a silent movie in this place, or maybe quiver in […]