Travel/Florida

3rd Ed.

T his completely revised and updated edition of a popular guide leads you to Florida’s
most charming and historic towns, places with names like Bagdad, Sopchoppy,
i t
Vis wn i n g Bruce Hunt

Visiting Small-Town Florida

Ozello, and Two Egg. It’s a guidebook, a travelogue, and a sort of a history book, all

- T o
told in the author’s easygoing chat-on-the-porch style. His “small town” criteria include:
10,000 population or less (with a few notable and important exceptions, like Fernandina
Beach); remoteness and distinctness from large metropolitan areas; a compelling story in
the town’s history; and, importantly, no speed traps. l l
Sma ida
• Havana, a revitalized ghost-town turned bustling-site of antiques shops, art galleries,
and cafés now luring visitors from across the South
• Cedar Key, with its unhurried pace, offbeat character, local artists cooperative and
Flor dition
Third E
galleries, and the source of the original Hearts of Palm salad
• Islamorada, home of the pioneer “Conchs,” with a horrific hurricane history, and the
jumping off point to explore the only living coral reef in the continental United States

Once again, writer/photographer Bruce Hunt provides his readers with a treasure trove
of information on Florida’s small towns—historic districts, galleries, antiques shops, local
eateries, and the local characters who bring them to life. He includes directions, special
events, and a comprehensive appendix with addresses, phone numbers, and websites.

Bruce Hunt, a native Floridian author, photographer,

and illustrator living in Tampa has researched Florida’s
small towns for nearly two decades. He has authored eight
books on Florida travel and history. He has also written

Bruce Hunt
and photographed numerous articles for newspapers and
magazines, and spent five years as a regular feature writer
and photographer for DuPont Registry Tampa Bay magazine.
His work has also appeared in The Tampa Tribune and St.
Petersburg Times. He’s also written for many magazines including Backpacker, Rock & Ice,
Skydiving, and Celebrity Car.

$14.95

Pineapple Press, Inc.

Sarasota, Florida
A guide to 75 of Florida’s
most interesting small towns
 Visiting
small-town Florida

third Edition

Bruce hunt

Pineapple Press, inc.

sarasota, Florida
 For Rudi

Copyright © 2011 by Bruce hunt

all rights reserved. no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.

inquiries should be addressed to:

Pineapple Press, inc.

P.o. Box 3889
sarasota, Florida 34230

www.pineapplepress.com

library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

hunt, Bruce, 1957-

Visiting small-town Florida / Bruce hunt. -- 3rd ed.
p. cm.
includes index.
isBn 978-1-56164-488-9 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Florida--guidebooks. 2. Cities and towns--Florida--guidebooks. 3. Florida--history,
local. i. title.
F309.3.h86 2011
917.5904’64--dc22
2011003918

third Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United states of america

 ContEnts
aCKnowlEdgmEnts v
introdUCtion vii

north rEgion
map 2

milton, Bagdad 3
deFuniak springs 8
two Egg 12
Quincy 14
havana 17
Fernandina Beach 21
seaside 30
apalachicola, st. george island, Carrabelle 35
wakulla springs 44
st. marks, sopchoppy 48
Jasper 51
white springs 53
Keaton Beach, dekle Beach 57
steinhatchee 61
high springs 65
micanopy, Cross Creek, Evinston, mcintosh 68
Crescent City, welaka 79
Cedar Key 81
rosewood 86

CEntral rEgion

map 89

Yankeetown 90
dunnellon 94
oklawaha 97
Cassadaga, lake helen 101
mt. dora 105
lake wales 110
inverness 115
Floral City, Pineola, istachatta, nobleton 120
aripeka, Bayport, Chassahowitzka, ozello 125
webster 131
trilby, lacoochee 134
dade City 137
Christmas 140
Yeehaw Junction 142
Egmont Key 145
anna maria, holmes Beach 147
Cortez 152
lake Placid 157
arcadia 161

soUth rEgion
map 165

Boca grande 166

Clewiston 172
Briny Breezes 175
matlacha, Bokeelia, Pineland, st. James City 177
sanibel, Captiva 183
Koreshan state historic site 189
goodland 192
Everglades City, Chokoloskee, ochopee 194
Card sound 204
stiltsville 206
tavernier, islamorada 208
Big Pine Key 214

aPPEndiX 219
indEX 237
 introdUCtion

J ust to allay any confusion, yes, this is my fourth

Visiting Small-Town Florida book. the first two featured different towns,
and therefore were Volumes 1 and 2 of the first edition. that would
make the 2003 “revised Edition” the second, and this one the third
edition.
my working title for the original 1997 edition of Visiting Small-Town
Florida was Where’s Waldo, Florida? wisely, Pineapple Press suggested i
change that. the “where’s waldo?” game was popular then, though
it is just a footnote now. of course, i didn’t have any idea that fifteen
years later i would have a third edition. But i’ll go ahead and answer
the question. waldo is about fifteen miles northeast of gainesville,
and is the first in a line of three towns (including starke and lawtey)
along highway 301 that have achieved national notoriety as speed
traps. when i write Small Towns in Florida to Avoid, these will be the
first on my list.
at the outset let me say that not all of the places in this book
will meet the traditional definition of a town. some are just a bend in
the road with a general store, like Evinston, or just an old irrigation
pump shed turned into a tiny post office, like ochopee. But all have
their inimitable charm and merit a visit, even if it’s just to pass by. so,
interspersed among the chapters on actual small towns, you’ll find a
few vignettes of even smaller places that i found interesting enough
to write about, like Briny Breezes, stiltsville, and two Egg—some
quirky, some historical, some just remnants of a place now gone.
Back to the criteria for inclusion in this book. as mentioned,
there was a “no speed traps” rule. i also had to keep population in
mind. in previous editions i adhered to a strict population limit of
10,000, and sometimes that meant eliminating a town i really liked.
the best example would be Fernandina Beach, which slipped over the

vii
 viii Visiting small-town Florida

limit to 10,549 in the 2000 census. But Fernandina is an exemplary

Florida small town with its successful and ongoing historic-district
restoration program, great restaurants, bed & breakfasts, shops, and
a scenic setting. i decided that it just wasn’t right to leave it out, so
mostly for the sake of Fernandina, i relaxed the rule to include towns
with populations up to “around 10,000.” 1
other criteria: remoteness from or distinctiveness from large
metropolitan areas. remote, like Chokoloskee, at the edge of the ten
thousand islands; distinct, like Cortez, which maintains its genuine
old-fishing-village character despite metropolitan encroachment.
For me the essence of good travel is going to a place that differs
significantly from the place where you live. “Visiting” is the first word
in my title because this book is meant to be a guide for people who
live in larger cities (like me) but crave a change of pace and want to
visit someplace different, even if it’s just for a weekend or a day. with
greater frequency, it seems, the conveniences of the city are being
outweighed by its complications—crime, crowding, traffic jams, long
lines, and rampant rudeness. sometimes you just need to get away
from all that.
Perhaps the most important thing that i look for is a compelling
story in a town’s history—sometimes it is trivial, sometimes significant,
occasionally it is humorous. sometimes that history is fairly recent,
like seaside’s or Briny Breezes’. sometimes it is old, like Cedar Key’s
or apalachicola’s. among my favorites are towns that have embraced
their heritage and devoted time and resources to restoring historic
structures and districts—apalachicola, Everglades City, deFuniak
springs, Fernandina, and mount dora are just a few examples. doing
book research over the years has fueled my interest in Florida history,
and consequently each successive edition has had more historical
content. i’ll confess—i was not a history buff in my younger years.
this is a curiosity that came to me later in life. now, for me, to know
a place’s story—its history—and then to actually go there and stand
on the spot where that story originated is a big part of the magic of
travel.
readers of my previous editions also know well that i have a
1
Please note: Population figures are based on the most recent U.s. Census data, or if not
available, the author’s best estimate.
 introdUCtion ix

soft spot (or perhaps a large spot in my stomach) for local cuisine
served up by mom-and-Pop diners and hole-in-the-wall bar-and-grills,
and i’ve told you about some winners—wheeler’s Café in arcadia,
h & F in Jasper, the Yearling in Cross Creek, the rod & reel on
anna maria. sadly, a couple of my old favorite places are now gone.
storm surge from hurricane dennis in 2005 flooded st. marks and
destroyed Posey’s oyster Bar—a Florida Panhandle icon since 1929.
manny & isa’s Kitchen opened in islamorada back in 1965, but is
now closed. manny ortiz and his wife isa had their own Key lime
grove and made the best homemade Key lime pie in the world. i’m
going to miss that pie every time i drive down through the Keys. i’ve
found some new spots, though: Eddy teach’s on st. george island,
star Fish market in Cortez, Bert’s Bar & grill in matlacha, alabama
Jack’s in Card sound, and havana Café in Chokoloskee. You won’t
go hungry visiting these towns.
there are seventy-five towns or places in this edition, five more
than in the previous edition. i trimmed a couple off the list, but
added a few more new ones. most get their own chapter but some
i’ve grouped into one chapter because of their proximity. they are
organized, roughly from north to south, into three regions. most are a
simple day trip from within their respective regions. in the appendix
you will find all the pertinent contact information—including websites,
phone numbers, and addresses—for every diner, bed & breakfast,
museum, and antique shop that i mention.
so, which is it? is this a guide book? is it a travelogue? or is it
a history book? i hope that it is all three because i think the subjects
are inextricably woven.
You will not find raucous night life, rollicking theme park rides,
or performing porpoises in these towns. if you are looking for these
things, you have picked up the wrong book. what you will find is
the quaintness, peacefulness, and sometimes the quirkiness of real
Florida, as personified in its small towns. You will also find some of
the kindest and most down-to-earth folks on the planet. in small-town
Florida they really do smile and wave as you pass on the sidewalk,
even when they don’t know you.
in my nearly two decades of research i have come to know small-
town dwellers as enlightened, hard-working, resourceful, and happy
 x Visiting small-town Florida

people. overwhelmingly, i find them engaged in the betterment of

their communities, eager to help their neighbors, and welcoming to
visitors. they tend to be independent thinkers who are sometimes
eccentric, and often creative, but always welcoming. i’m certain they
will welcome you as they have me.
 N

north rEgion
N
 DeFUNIAK
SPRINGS
SANTA OKALOOSA HOLMES JACKSON
ROSA

ES
C
AM
MILTON TWO EGG

BI
10 HAVANA NASSAU

A
BAGDAD WASHINGTON QUINCY JASPER FERNANDINA
WALTON LEON
GADSEN BAKER
10 CALHOUN DUVAL

SON
HAMILTON
BEACH
Pensacola

FER
BAY LIBERTY Tallahassee
MADISON 10
WHITE SPRINGS

JEF
SEASIDE Panama City WAKULLA TAYLOR
Lake City 10 Jacksonville
SUWANEE
GULF SPRINGSWAKULLA COLUMBIA CLAY
ST. MARKSLAFAYETTE UNION ST.
SOPCHOPPY 75 BRADFORD JOHNS
HIGH SPRINGS Saint
FRANKLIN
ALACHUA PUTNAM Augustine
DIXIE
GILCHRIST Gainesville
DEKLE 95
APALACHICOLA BEACH KEATON MICANOPY
BEACH WELAKA
EVINSTON FLAGLER

CARRABELLE LEVY
CRESCENT
MCINTOSH Ocala CITY
ST. GEORGE STEINHATCHEE CROSS
MARION
ISLAND CREEK
ROSEWOOD N
CEDAR KEY
 MILTON, BAGDAD
Population: Milton 8,688; Bagdad 1,490

P ine logging and milling in the Milton/Bagdad area

trace back to the early 1800s. The two towns, separated only by Pond
Creek bayou, grew side by side. Today each has embraced its heri-
tage, and done much to preserve it, making these towns an interesting
visit for history buffs.
In 1817 the king of Spain granted land along Pond Creek to Juan
de la Rua. De la Rua built and operated a lumber mill there for ten
years before becoming discouraged with the local laborers. In 1828,
he sold his property to Joseph Forsyth, who took on partners Ezekiel
and Andrew Simpson. They built the dam-driven Arcadia Mill, and a
village began to grow around it. The vast forests of this region were

3
 4 VISITING SMALL-TOWN FLORIDA

thick with valuable long-leaf yellow pine, and the Blackwater River
provided a ready highway for floating logs down to Pensacola Bay.
Forsyth and the Simpsons prospered and took on additional partner
Benjamin Thompson. In 1840 they moved the mill a couple of miles
downstream to the juncture of Pond Creek and the Blackwater
River. A village grew around it again. Joseph Forsyth chose the name
Bagdad—perhaps because, like its Middle Eastern namesake, it was
wedged between two important rivers. (By the way, that’s not a typo.
Forsyth spelled it without the “h.”)
Bagdad grew up on the south side of Pond Creek, and Milton grew
up on the north side. About the same time that Joseph Forsyth and
the Simpson brothers were getting the Arcadia Mill into full swing,
Benjamin and Margaret Jernigan were starting a mill of their own.
People began to refer to the area around it as Jernigan’s Landing and
also as Scratch Ankle, presumably because of the dense briars that
grew along the banks of the Blackwater River. Neither of those names
stuck, but a more definitive one, Milltown, did, and it eventually
evolved into Milton, which was incorporated in 1844.
More sawmills opened over the following decades. By the turn of
the century, Milton and Bagdad had become the most industrialized
towns in Florida. The lumber barons thought the bounty was endless,
but they were short-sighted. The Great Depression in the 1930s hit
both towns hard. Plus, the once-plentiful pine forests had become
depleted. The last of the mills, the Bagdad Land & Lumber Company,
closed in 1939.
Santa Rosa County Road 191 becomes Forsyth Street as it rolls
into Bagdad from the south. On the right, behind a hedge, is the
stately pre–Civil War (1847) Thompson House. Arcadia Mill partner
Benjamin Thompson built this palatial two-story antebellum mansion
with double front porches supported by twelve white columns. During
the Civil War, invading Union troops commandeered the house.
While there they scrawled a taunting message in charcoal across the
parlor wall, which is still there today: “Mr. Thompson, Spurling’s
First Cavalry camped in your house on the 26th of October, 1864.”
Originally the house overlooked the Blackwater River, a few blocks to
the east, but in 1913 the owners decided to move it in order to make
room for their expanding mill operation. They jacked the house up
 MILTON, BAGDAD 5

onto log rollers, turned it around 180 degrees, and pulled it by mule
to its present location. In 2009 the Thompson House finally got its
own Florida Heritage Site designation and State Historical Marker.
Four blocks away, at the corner of Bushnell and Church streets,
the Bagdad Village Preservation Association operates the Bagdad
Historical Museum in a restored circa-1880s church building that was
Bagdad’s first African-American church. Displays there tell the story
of Bagdad’s and the surrounding area’s early days and particularly of
Bagdad’s involvement with the Civil War. During one battle of note
that took place here in October, 1864, the aforementioned Union
colonel Thomas Spurling and some 200 troops raided a Bagdad
logging operation. Confederate troops engaged them in a battle that
lasted for two hours.
Across Pond Creek Bridge, Milton has grown into a sizable town,
with a population of more than seven thousand. The downtown district
has been nicely renovated, particularly Caroline Street (Highway 90)
and Willing Street, which parallels the Blackwater River. Downtown
reminds me of a miniature Savannah or New Orleans French Quarter.
Riverwalk Park—with its pink-blossoming crepe myrtle trees, brick
walkways, wrought-iron-and-wood park benches, and gas lamp–style
street lights—occupies the waterfront behind Willing Street.
Devastating fires swept through downtown Milton in 1909 and
again in 1911, leveling much of the district. But this was boom time,
and the town was rebuilt bigger and better than before. Two notable
brick buildings—the three-story Imogene Theater on Caroline Street,
and the Exchange Hotel at the corner of Caroline and Elmira Streets—
were part of Milton’s rebirth from the ashes.
Architect Walker Willis designed the theater. It was originally
called the Milton Opera House when it opened in 1912. When the
Gootch family bought it in 1920, they renamed it after their eleven-
year-old daughter, Imogene. A post office and a store shared the first
floor. The upstairs theater ran vaudeville shows and silent movies
and later “talkies” until it closed in 1946. The Santa Rosa Historical
Society restored it in 1987 and turned it into the Milton Opera House
Museum of Local History. Unfortunately, fire struck the area again
in January 2009, so once again the Historical Society is working on
restoration—shooting for a reopen by summer 2011.