Ghost Towns of Florida (D-G)

Ghost Towns Of Florida D G

Deep Lake, FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 26°03’02″N 81°20’33″W
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Comments: Deep Lake is a natural sinkhole in Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. This 90-foot-deep naturally occurring sinkhole lake is the deepest lake south of Lake Okeechobee, and one of the deepest in the entire state. Interestingly, studies show the top half is freshwater, and the lower is saltwater.
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Remarks: 90 foot deep natural sinkhole.

Deer Park (Inhabited), FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 28°05′28″N 80°53′53″W / 28.09111°N 80.89806°W / 28.09111
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East Goose Creek, FL

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Eden (Inhabited), FL

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Edgeville, FL

County: Manatee
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Latitude / Longitude: 27° 18′ 52″ N, 82° 6′ 29″ W
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Comments: Edgeville is a populated place in Manatee County, Florida, United States. Its location was collected from 1976 to 1979 by the United States Geological Survey, and entered into Geographic Names Information System on October 19, 1979.
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Eldora, FL

County: Volusia
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Latitude / Longitude: 28° 54′ 33″ N, 80° 49′ 11″ W
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Comments: Eldora is an uninhabited place in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It is located within Canaveral National Seashore, south of Bethune Beach and west of County Road A1A. The average elevation is 3 feet above sea level.
Remains: Eldora was a prominent community of orange groves in the latter part of the 19th century. After a freeze destroyed most of its crops, it was nearly completely abandoned and has never regained its population.
Current Status: After the death of its last resident, Doris “Doc” Leeper in 2000, a locally famous artist and conservationist in the 1980s, the management of the town was officially turned over to the federal government, and the town is now located more than two miles within the borders of the Canaveral National Seashore. The town claims no permanent residents, and visitation is limited and subject to park hours. Only two of its original buildings remain. The largest, “The Eldora House”, now holds a museum. Although the town’s orange groves were nearly completely wiped out over one hundred years ago, some trees still remain.
Remarks: The town is also the site of two marine research facilities jointly shared by Daytona State College and the University of Central Florida.

Electra, FL

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Ellaville, FL

County: Suwannee
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Latitude / Longitude: 30° 22′ 58.8″ N, 83° 10′ 19.2″ W
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Established: 1861
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Comments: Ellaville, Florida is a ghost town in Florida located in the Suwannee River State Park in Suwannee County, Florida, United States. Ellaville was located at the merging place of the Suwannee River and Withlacoochee River.
Remains: Ellaville was founded in 1861 by George Franklin Drew a successful businessmen and future governor of Florida. Franklin decided to build a mansion on the western banks of Suwannee River. The town was named Ellaville for honoring one of his African American servants named Ella. He and Louis Bucki then built a mill that employed over 500 people and was one of the largest in Florida at the time. Soon the Florida Railroad built a line to the town that had direct access to the mill. Soon after that the town was booming. The town was in its heyday in the early 1870s and had a train station, two schools, two churches, a steamboat dock, masonic lodge, commissary and a sawmill. It was also involved in turpentine, railroad car building and logging. The town even had 1,000 residents in its peak. Later on in 1876, Franklin the town’s founder went on to be governor. The town then soon started to decline near the turn of the century starting when its mill burned down in 1898 but was rebuilt quickly.
Current Status: Though there was no longer a significant number of pine still left. Both of the rivers soon had flooded and with the onset of the Great Depression showed there was no future for the town and the post office closed in 1942. The Drew Mansion was then abandoned and vandalized for many years until it was burnt to the ground in the 1970s. In 1986, the Hillman Bridge built in 1925 by the Federal Aid Project and designed by the RHH Blackwell Company of East Aurora, New York. Was abandoned and replaced by a new bridge across the river.
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Englewood, FL

County: Sarasota, Charlotte
Zip Code: 34223, 34224, 34295
Latitude / Longitude: 28°23′43″N 81°30′11″W / 28.39528°N 81.50306°W / 28.39528
Elevation: 10 ft (3 m)
Time Zone: Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
Established: 1896
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Comments: Englewood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte and Sarasota counties in the U.S. state of Florida.
Remains: The Sarasota County portion of Englewood is part of the Bradenton–Sarasota–Venice Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Charlotte County portion is part of the Punta Gorda Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Current Status: As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 14,863.
Remarks: Englewood was platted in the 1890s. A post office has been in operation at Englewood since 1895.

Espanola (Inhabited), FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 29°30′25″N 81°18′35″W / 29.50694°N 81.30972°W / 29.50694
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Ethel, FL

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Fairmount, FL

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Fivay, FL

County: Pasco
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Latitude / Longitude: 28°19′10″N 82°29′46″W / 28.31944°N 82.49611°W / 28.31944 -82.49611
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Comments: Fivay was a settlement in Florida, near present-day Hudson.
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Flamingo, FL

County: Monroe
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Latitude / Longitude: 25°8′27″N 80°55′27″W / 25.14083°N 80.92417°W / 25.14083
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Comments: Flamingo is the southernmost headquarters of Everglades National Park, in Monroe County, Florida, United States, located at the end of the 99-mile (159-km) Wilderness Waterway known as the Ten Thousand Islands, and the southern end of the only road (running 39.3 miles (63.2 km)) through the park from Florida City. It began as a small coastal settlement on the eastern end of Cape Sable on the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, facing Florida Bay. The actual town of Flamingo was located approximately 4 1/2 miles west of the current Flamingo campground area. All that remains of the former town are a few remnants of building foundations, but it is considered a ghost town.
Remains: Flamingo was first settled circa 1892, although Tequesta Indians had lived in the area prior to that. The settlers made a living by providing fish, fresh vegetables and charcoal to Key West. The settlement received its name in 1893 when the settlers had to choose a name for their new post office. They chose the flamingo as the most distinctive bird seen in the area. While the flamingo did not breed in Florida, birds from Cuba and the Bahamas once traveled in large numbers to the area. Flamingos were last seen in large numbers in the area in 1902. The post office closed in 1909.
Current Status: In addition to hiking, the national park offers many paddling opportunity to traveler to explore the wilderness through the mangrove mazes, sawgrass prairies and open waters of Florida Bay. A guided boat tour, narrated by the boat captains, is also available at the Flamingo. Some enthusiasts take advantages of canoe or kayak rentals available from Everglades National Park Boat Tour next to the marina store. Flamingo’s Canoe trails range from half mile short distance to 99 mile long Wilderness Waterway trail and most of them can be accessed from launch areas in Flamingo.
Remarks: Flamingo is one of the interpretive centers of the Everglades National Park. The hiking trails such as the Snake Bight Trail, Christian Point Trail, Rowdy Bend Trail and Coastal Prairie Trail allow visitors to experience the buttonwood, mangrove and coastal prairie ecosystems. The Coastal Prairie trail leads to the former town of Flamingo. Eco Pond is man-made and is part of Flamingo’s sewage treatment system. As the largest body of fresh water in the saltwater area of the Everglades it attracts birds in abundance. It had been surrounded by invasive, non-native Brazilian pepper bushes before the National Park Service recently removed this alien weed and replaced it with native vegetation.

Fontaine, FL

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Fort Basinger, FL

County: Highlands
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Latitude / Longitude: 27°21′46″N 81°03′10″W / 27.36278°N 81.05278°W / 27.36278
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Comments: Fort Basinger was a fort in Highlands County, Florida. The fort was situated 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Okeechobee.
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Fort Chokonikla, FL

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Fort Dade, FL

County: Pasco
Zip Code: 33523, 33525, 33526
Latitude / Longitude: 28°21’41″N 82°11’36″W
Elevation: 118 ft (36 m)
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Comments: Dade City is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is popular with tourists for its antique stores, restaurants and historic architecture including the Pasco County Courthouse, Hugh Embry Library, and Edwinola. The annual Kumquat Festival is hosted downtown and the surrounding area is a large producer of the tart kumquat, a citrus fruit eaten whole.
Remains: It is the county seat of Pasco County. Dade City is located in the Tampa Bay Area. An earlier community known as Fort Dade existed nearby in the 1870s and 1880s, but with the arrival of the railroad, the businesses chose to relocate a few miles to the east to be near the railroad. The newer town became known as Dade City. The name became official when the name of the Hatton post office was changed to Dade City on December 18, 1884.
Current Status: The population was 6,437 at the 2010 census.
Remarks: The Pioneer Florida Museum, which opened on Labor Day, 1975, showcases the life of pioneers in Central Florida. Its artifacts and exhibits include a 1913 locomotive, a Methodist church, a house built before the American Civil War, an old school, and an old train depot from Trilby, Florida. Dade City’s downtown is known for its antique shops and restaurants. It is also the location for the Hugh Embry branch library which is a member of the Pasco County Library Cooperative.

Fort Dallas, FL

County: Miami-Dade
Zip Code: 33010-33299
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Elevation: 30 ft
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Comments: Fort Dallas was a military base during the Seminole Wars, located on the banks of the Miami River in what is now downtown, Miami, Florida, United States.
Remains: Old Fort Dallas was established on the plantation of Richard Fitzpatrick and William English in 1836 as a United States military post and cantonment (and not as a fortification, although it is more than probable that there was a stockade surrounding it in its early days) in southern Florida during the Seminole Wars. In 1836, the U.S. Navy established patrols on Biscayne Bay to prevent trading between the Seminoles and traders from Cuba or the West Indies. Fort Dallas was established to support the Navy’s efforts, but more pointedly, “for the purpose of harassing the enemy.” It was named in honor of Commodore Alexander James Dallas, United States Navy, then in command of the United States naval forces in the West Indies.
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Fort Denaud (Inhabited), FL

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Comments: In 1891, Julia Tuttle brought her family to live in a large home on the Miami River that had been in use when Fort Dallas occupied the spot. Tuttle repaired and converted the home into one of the show places in the area with a sweeping view of the river and Biscayne Bay.
Remains: The “barracks”, as they are called, served as plantation slave quarters, then as army barracks during the Seminole Wars, and finally as Julia Tuttle’s home in 1891. The building remained on the site as the only remnant of the fort until 1924 when an apartment building was slated to occupy the site. The coquina stone building was disassembled in sections and moved to Lummus Park on the north side of the Miami River at Northwest River Drive and North Third Street.
Current Status: In 1895, following the successful efforts of Tuttle and fellow landowner William Brickell to attract a railroad, Fort Dallas was part of the site of the new city of Miami, Florida when Henry M. Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railway south from Palm Beach. Perhaps coincidentally, Tuttle, Brickell, and Flagler were all originally from Cleveland, Ohio.
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Fort DeSoto, FL

County: Hillsborough
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Latitude / Longitude: 27.615499°N 82.735902°W
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Established: 1898
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Comments: South-southwest of St. Petersburg, Florida, Fort De Soto Park is a park operated by Pinellas County on five offshore keys, or islands: Madelaine Key, St. Jean Key, St. Christopher Key, Bonne Fortune Key and the main island, Mullet Key. The keys are connected by either bridge or causeway. The island group is accessible by toll road from the mainland. Historically, the islands were used for military fortifications; remnants and a museum exhibit this history. Two piers, beaches, picnic area, hiking trails, bicycling trails, kayak trail, and a ferry to Egmont Key State Park are available.
Remains: In 1849, Brevet Col. Robert E. Lee (the famous American Civil War commander) and three other US Army Engineers surveyed the area and recommended Mullet and Egmont Keys become fortified. Both keys could only be reached by boat, since they were islands off the mainland. Union troops were stationed on the two keys during the Civil War (1861–1865) to aid in the Union blockade of Tampa Bay. The keys were again abandoned by the military until 1882 when military reservations were officially created on the two keys. However, it would be several years before actual permanent construction would commence as a result of defense considerations linked to the Spanish–American War.
Current Status: The main operation on Mullet Key, however, became Fort De Soto in 1900, named for Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. The Army post was officially a subpost of Fort Dade, which was constructed on Egmont Key. These posts were to contain batteries of artillery and mortars to protect Tampa Bay from any invading forces. Construction of Fort De Soto began in November 1898 and was completed in 1906. The foundation was constructed of a shell concrete formula and the walls and ceiling used a shell, stone and concrete mix. The main attractions at the completed post were the artillery and 12-inch coast defense mortar batteries, Batteries Laidley and Bigelow. The post consisted of 29 buildings. The post’s features included a large barracks, a hospital, a guardhouse, a blacksmith and carpenter shop, an administration building, and mess hall with kitchen, a bakery, and a storehouse. The site also had brick roads, concrete sidewalks and a narrow-gauge railroad to aid in moving materials and supplies around the post.
Remarks: Hillsborough County established a quarantine station on the eastern side of Mullet Key in 1889. It became known as Mullet Key Quarantine Station. The Marine Hospital Service took over jurisdiction of the station in 1901. The duty of the station was to inspect aliens aboard ships arriving from foreign ports. By 1925 the station operated with fifteen buildings. The quarantine station operated until 1937, when the Public Health Service transferred its operations there to Gadsden Point, near Tampa. The post was active from 1898 to 1910. At least one company was present at Fort De Soto at all times and many times several units were present. Mosquitoes were a constant problem and the post was very hot in the summers.

Fort Drum, FL

County: Okeechobee
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Latitude / Longitude: 27°31′35″N 80°48′25″W / 27.5264°N 80.8069°W / 27.5264
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Comments: Fort Drum was a town in Okeechobee County, Florida, United States, located on US 441, between Yeehaw Junction and Okeechobee. A service plaza on Florida’s Turnpike is named after the town. The Fort Drum Wildlife Management Area consists of nearly 21,000 acres in southwestern Indian River County and is named for its proximity to the town and is known as the birthplace of the St. John’s River. Fort Drum is the only known locale for crystal bearing fossil shells.
Remains: After the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842, the US Army built a network of forts across the central part of the state, with military roads that connected them. Of those roads, one was roughly east-west from Fort Bassinger to Fort Vinton, north of present-day Vero Beach. The other ran approximately north-south from Fort Kissimmee to Fort Jupiter, and came to be known as the ‘old wire road’.
Current Status: There is a cemetery in the middle of the town on almost eight acres, in which many of the first settlers of Fort Drum were buried and still remain. It is currently owned and maintained by Okeechobee County.
Remarks: Where the two roads crossed, Fort Drum was built. The US Army used it only for a short time and then abandoned it. Settlers began to make their way here in the 1870s, some time after the Civil War. The area was considered to be potentially excellent cattle country. The area slowly grew. With the completion in 1914 of the Kissimmee Valley Extension, the Florida East Coast Railroad brought changes to the area. They built a small depot in Fort Drum, as well as one to the north, named Osawaw, and south, called Hilolo.

Fort Jefferson, FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 24.628°N 82.873°W
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Established: 1847
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Comments: Fort Jefferson is a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. It is the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas, and is composed of over 16 million bricks, the building covers 16 acres (6.5 ha). Among United States forts, only Fort Monroe in Virginia and Fort Adams in Rhode Island are larger. The fort is located on Garden Key in the lower Florida Keys within the Dry Tortugas National Park, 68 miles (109 km) west of the island of Key West. The Dry Tortugas are part of Monroe County, Florida, United States.
Remains: In late December 1824 and early January 1825, about five years after Spain sold Florida to the United States for $5 million, U.S. Navy Commodore David Porter inspected the Dry Tortugas islands. He was on the lookout for a site for a naval station that would help suppress piracy in the Caribbean. Unimpressed with what he saw, he notified the Secretary of the Navy that the Dry Tortugas were unfit for any kind of naval establishment. He reported that they consist of small sand islands a little above the surface of the ocean, have no fresh water, scarcely enough land to place a fortification, and in any case are probably not solid enough to bear one.
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Fort King, FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 29°11’20″N 82°04’56″W
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Established: 1827
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Comments: Fort King (also known as Camp King or Cantonment King) was a United States military fort in north central Florida, near what later developed as the city of Ocala. It was named after Colonel William King, commander of Florida’s Fourth Infantry and the first governor of the provisional West Florida region.
Remains: The fort was built in 1827 during United States tensions with the Seminole in Florida, a tribe of mostly Creek people who formed in the early nineteenth century. Originally established to serve as a buffer between new settlers and the Seminole, the fort became an important base in the 1830s for the United States Army during removal of the Seminole and the Seminole Wars. It later served as a courthouse in 1844 after the organization of Marion County, but was eventually abandoned altogether. Residents took it apart to salvage building materials. The site of the fort is preserved as a National Historic Landmark near the corner of East Fort King Street and 39th Avenue in Ocala. In late 2017, the fort was newly reconstructed to be exactly as it was 200 years ago.
Current Status: The 1953 movie Seminole is set around Fort King, although the events portrayed are historically inaccurate. In the fall of 2017 a replica of the fort was reconstructed on the original site; the site is 37 acres of undeveloped, vacant land in the middle of a residential area. The site is owned by the City of Ocala and Marion County. Three historical markers commemorate the site: a Memorial Marker near the Fort Site, a National Historic Landmark near the former location of the fort (it was designated in February 2004), and a marker at the old Fort Cemetery Site. In 2013 the Fort King Heritage Association was formed to develop, promote and protect the site.
Remarks: Archeological investigation has revealed the site was occupied during two lengthy periods by varying cultures of indigenous peoples, beginning as early as 6500 BC, more than 8,000 years ago. Archaeological investigations have revealed that the area was inhabited long before the arrival of the Spanish in the area. At least two periods of occupation have been identified: between 6500 and 2000 B.C., and 200 to 1500 A.D.

Fort Kissimmee, FL

County: Highlands
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Latitude / Longitude: 27°35′32″N 81°09′24″W / 27.59222°N 81.15667°W / 27.59222
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Comments: Fort Kissimmee was a fort in Highlands County, Florida. The fort was situated 20 miles (32 km) east of Avon Park and adjacent to the Kissimmee River.
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Fort Lonesome, FL

County: Hillsborough
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Latitude / Longitude: 27°42′17″N 82°08′45″W / 27.70472°N 82.14583°W / 27.70472 -82.14583
Elevation: 121 ft (37m)
Time Zone: Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
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Comments: Fort Lonesome is a rural area located in southeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, 36 miles (58 km) southeast of Tampa. A sawmill briefly revived the area with a few houses and three stores in the early 1930s.
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Current Status: It was short-lived: a fire destroyed the mill and eventually the “town” disappeared. Today, it is mainly a farming region.
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Fort Mose, FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 29°55’40″N 81°19’31″W
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Established: 1738
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Comments: Fort Mose Historic State Park (originally known as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mosé) is a U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated as such on October 12, 1994), located two miles north of St. Augustine, Florida, on the edge of a salt marsh on the western side of the waterway separating the mainland from the coastal barrier islands. The original site of the 18th-century fort was uncovered in a 1986 archeological dig. The 24-acre (9.7 ha) site is now protected as a Florida State Park, administered through the Anastasia State Recreation Area. Fort Mose is the “premier site on the Florida Black Heritage Trail.”
Remains: In 1738, the Spanish governor of Florida, Manuel de Montiano, had Fort Mose (pronounced “Moh-say”) built and established as a free black settlement, the first to be legally sanctioned in what would become the territory of the United States. The fort has also been known as Fort Moosa or Fort Mossa, variants of the Spanish pronunciation.
Current Status: An archeological excavation in 1986 revealed the site of the original Fort Mose, as well as the second facility constructed in 1752. Today, artifacts are displayed in the museum within the visitor center at the park. On the grounds, interpretive panels are used to illustrate the history of the site. Three replicas of historic items have been installed within the park: a chosa or a cooking hut, a small historic garden, and a small Spanish flat boat called a barca chata.
Remarks: As early as 1687, the Spanish government had begun to offer asylum to slaves from British colonies. In 1693, the Spanish Crown officially proclaimed that runaways would find freedom in Florida, in return for converting to Catholicism and a term for men of four years’ military service to the Crown. In effect, Spain created a maroon settlement in Florida as a front-line defense against English attacks from the north. Spain also intended to destabilize the plantation economy of the British colonies by creating a free black community to attract slaves seeking escape and refuge from British slavery.

Fort Pickens, FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 30° 19′ 37.2″ N, 87° 17′ 26.52″ W
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Established: 1834
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Comments: Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947. Fort Pickens is included within the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and as such, is administered by the National Park Service.
Remains: After the War of 1812, the United States decided to fortify all of its major ports. French engineer Simon Bernard was appointed to design Fort Pickens. Construction lasted from 1829 to 1834, with 21.5 million bricks being used to build it. Much of the construction was done by slaves. Its construction was supervised by Colonel William H. Chase of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. During the American Civil War, he sided with the Confederacy and was appointed to command Florida’s troops.
Current Status: As with many other forts, Panama mounts were planned for in the interwar era, beginning in 1937. Four 155mm GPF guns were placed around Battery Cooper, two forward, and one to each side, in 1942. The 155 battery used Cooper’s magazines, communications, and other support facilities.
Remarks: On the night of 20 January 1858, the USCS Robert J. Walker was at Pensacola when a major fire broke out at Fort Pickens. The cutter’s men and boats, joined by the hydrographic party of the U.S. Coast Survey steamboat USCS Varina, rallied to fight the fire. The next day, the captain of the Robert J. Walker received a communication from Captain John Newton of the Army Corps of Engineers, who commanded the harbor of Pensacola, acknowledging the important service rendered by the Robert J. Walker.

Freeman, FL

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Fruitcrest, FL

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Gaiter, FL

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Gamble Plantation, FL

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Latitude / Longitude: 27°32’N 82°32’W
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Comments: The Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park, also known as the Gamble Mansion or Gamble Plantation, is a Florida State Park which is home to the Florida Division United Daughters of the Confederacy (“UDC”), located in Ellenton, Florida, on 37th Avenue East and US 301. It consists of the antebellum mansion developed by its first owner, Major Robert Gamble; a 40,000-gallon cistern to provide the household with fresh water; and 16 acres (65,000 m2) of the former sugarcane slave labor camp or plantation. At its peak, the plantation included 3,500 acres, and Gamble likely held more than 200 slaves to work the property and process the sugarcane.
Remains: The mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Robert Gamble House on August 12, 1970. Its columns and two-foot-thick walls are constructed of tabby, a regional material developed as a substitute for brick. The park also includes the restored wood-frame, two-story, Victorian-style Patten House, built in 1872 for owner George Patten. In 1925, the mansion and grounds were purchased by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and donated to the state as a memorial to Judah P. Benjamin, who served in three Cabinet positions under Confederate President Jefferson Davis during the American Civil War. He stayed at the plantation in May 1865, before escaping Union forces and sailing to England, where he had a second career.
Current Status: In 2002, the State of Florida acquired the property which holds the ruins of the plantation’s sugar mill, one of the South’s largest, and added it to the historic park complex. On April 18, 2012, the AIA’s Florida Chapter placed the Gamble Mansion on its list, Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places. The park is open from 8am to sundown, 365 days per year, and guided tours of Gamble Mansion are available.
Remarks: The Gamble Mansion serves as home to the Florida Division United Daughters of the Confederacy (“UDC”). In 1937, the UDC installed a memorial plaque to Benjamin at the mansion. Also on the grounds is the Confederate Veterans Memorial Monument, erected October 10, 1937.

Gardena, FL

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Comments: Gardner is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Hardee County, Florida, United States.
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Current Status: Its population was 463 as of the 2010 census. It is located on U.S. Route 17 about 11 miles (18 km) north of Arcadia.
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Gardner, FL

County: Hardee
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Latitude / Longitude: 27°21’06″N 81°47’59″W
Elevation: 72 ft (22 m)
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Garfield, FL

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Geerworth, FL

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Gillette, FL

County: Manatee
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Latitude / Longitude: 27° 36′ 4″ N, 82° 31′ 37″ W
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Comments: Gillette is an unincorporated area and small community in Manatee County, Florida, United States.
Remains: Gillette was originally known as Frog Creek. The town was settled before the Civil War by people from Northern Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Its main founder was Daniel Gillett, who raised cattle and grew citrus there. The town’s church started in 1850 and formally organized in 1868. This church was the first Baptist church in Manatee County and north of the Manatee River. In 1895 to 1910 the town had a post office. In 1925 the town opened a schoolhouse (closed in 1948). The town has always been in the Citrus and Cattle industry.
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Gladecrest, FL

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Goodno, FL

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Green Pond, FL

County: Polk
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Latitude / Longitude: 28° 18′ 28″ N, 81° 53′ 57″ W
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Comments: Green Pond is a small area in Polk County, Florida, south of Clermont, Florida and north of Polk City, Florida, on the edge of the Green Swamp. It was the site of a community in the 19th century. A cemetery remains.
Remains: The area was settled by many families in the early-to-mid-19th century. Some common surnames (last names) in the area were “Judy,” “Grimmes,” and “Roberts.”
Current Status: The family with the largest number of descendants in the area is likely “Judy.” It’s an Irish name dating back to the 14th century. In 1867, William Judy moved to the Green Pond area with one son (Jasper). Both married local Cherokee women. Many family descendants still raise oranges in the area.
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Greenbay, FL

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Gulf City (Inhabited), FL

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How Many Ghost Towns Are In Florida?

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