The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-05-03
Tw

Friday, July Is, 1918.
Florida Town grew to be quite a
fourishing city, tradition putting her
population at four to five thousand
many brick buildings. The remains
of brick chimneys Dust a few scat
8 tered brick in a place. are to be found
over a large area.
The industries were trapping, hunt
ing, trading, sawmilling and politics
My informants said nothing about
politics. That is just my guess, but
know I am right for the big, brick
court house that stood in the center OF
( the town must have been a grand
place for the roof-raising oratory of
the days of Webster, Clay and Benton
which were the days of Florida Town.
And I know further, that while they
were fixing it up one way in the big
Court House, there were others out
under those great spreading oaks that
were doing their best to fix it up the
other way. 1 know it as certainly, as
df the oaks themselves had told me.
Something over sixty years ago Flor
ida Town commenced to decline and
finally was completely abandoned.
The cause was the towns unhealth-
fulness, due it is said, to the people
drinking spring and branch water.
This was before the days of the we'll
point and driven well. And so the
people left an otherwise advantage
OuSIY located CITY. "A uTlNSn wei IuOSl
anywhere about Florida Town is q
flowing we'll at fifty or sixty feet. We
tanked-up at a flowing we'll on the
beach, sixty feet deep; the finest kind
OF pure, clear. cold water. Just to
think, that well sixty years ago, would
have saved city!
The owners OF the land in the
abandoned town finally let it be sold
for taxes, considering it value1ess. and
after many years, a full half century
probably, 1t was bought in by a dew
elopment company. The news that
directed you might say, travelled far
and wide and the descendants of the
former citizens and property owners
OF the town made inquiries. It was
then that peculiar circumstance came
TO light: 1t appeared that the site
OF the old town was originally a
Spanish grant, and this grant con-
tanned clause to the effect that the
land so granted should not be subject
TO taxation for ninety-nine years. The
United States in confirming this grant,
along with other Spanish grants, after
the acquisition of Florida, of course
confirmed this clause, and therefore
the tax sales were null and void, 1t
resulted in the development company
having to buy out the heirs.
There is now a good chance of Flor
ida Town looming back. The To-
-ication is A beautiful one, the back
country fertile. and a survey of the
Central of Georgia's extension from
IAndalusia to Pensacola, via Milton.
passes through the place A link. of
this line is the "Stearns Road, running
toward Andalusia from Bagdad. I was
told tot day while this road stands in
the name of the Stearns Company, and
IS operated by it, that 'the Central. of
georgia does the paying off,
Most of the people at the hotel. and
IL was we'll filed are from Andalusia.
We had a good dinner and the chill
dren acted as though l had been starv-
ing them for ten days.
The run back to Camp, was terror,
though in the end not without it's
compensation. We started about $3.50.
with the sun low enough (and getttng
lower all the time, as 1t happened) 70
render our awning of but little use as
Fhade. The hot breeze was from The