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1 
 
 •)THEi2=-«-«. 
 
 EAST COAST 
 
 FLORIDA 
 
 A Descriptive Narrative 
 
 J. M. HAWKS 
 
 Of Hawks' Park, Fla. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 <^.aJr' 
 
 9r 
 
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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 
 
 f^T~-~ "■'l\ 
 
 
 
 iililiilli^ 
 
 n 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^^r^k^m^ 
 
 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. 89 
 
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90 East Coast of Florida. 
 
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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 
 
 fzjm^^'^ 
 
 '^am^s^z^Sgtimm^ ' 
 
 'z^m 
 
 
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 ^, :.?.::.:.,. -.■. 
 
 uAjj 
 
 if 
 
 ;:'| 
 
 ^■m 
 
 |te%i^ 
 
 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 
 
 JACKSONVILLE, - FLOEIDA. 
 
 The Florida Printing and Publishing Co., Proprietors. 
 
 THE LIVEST, BEIGHTEST, NEWSIEST, CHEAPEST 
 AND BEST OP PLOEIDA DAILIES. 
 
 The News-Herald is a large eight page daily, 
 publishing the despatches of the United Press ; re- 
 ceiving a superb daily Cable News Service from 
 Europe ; having salaried representatives at New 
 York, Washington, D. C, St. Augustine and else- 
 where, with news correspondents throughout the 
 State. A newspaper of the people, read every- 
 where throughout the State, sold on all trains, 
 news stands and hotel counters. 
 
 Only Eight Dollars a year ; Seventy five cents a 
 month . 
 
 ADDRESS, 
 p. 0. DKAWEE D, 
 
 JACKSONVILLE, - FLORIDA. 
 
HALIFAX RIYER MILLS, 
 
 JOHN MANLEY, Proprietor. 
 
 Is ready at -all times to furnisli the people of the Halifax 
 and Hillsborough Ooas with all kinds 
 
 [^uilding#I^urnbei^, 
 
 Dressed or Rough, 
 
 FENCING, SHINGLES, LATHS, 
 
 i 
 
 FiDi5Kin$ Lumter, 
 
 Fr^inin^ Tin^ter 
 
 Of all Dimensions. 
 
 Turning, Planing, Mouldings, 
 Sniitti work arid EQacliiiie work. 
 
 Mill, Wharf and Yard on Orange Island, North 
 end of Daytona, Fla, 
 
I 
 

 
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