Wakulla Beach, Florida
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 From Boom to Bust: Ghost Towns of Selected Florida Gulf Coast Communities Rebecca Roberts Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES FROM BOOM TO BUST: GHOST TOWNS OF SELECTED FLORIDA GULF COAST COMMUNITIES By REBECCA ROBERTS A Thesis Submitted to the Program in American and Florida Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005 Copyright 2005 Rebecca Roberts All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Rebecca Roberts defended on November 4, 2005. _________________________ Frederick Davis Professor Directing Thesis _________________________ John Fenstermaker Committee Member _________________________ Bruce Bickley Committee Member Approved: _______________________________________________ John Fenstermaker, Chair, Program in American and Florida Studies _______________________________________________ Joseph Travis, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks must go to the instructors, professors, and administrators at Florida State University who encouraged my already enthusiastic pursuit of history, literature, social sciences, American and Florida studies, and helped guide me through the academic process in order to achieve success. Those who excelled beyond their duties include Greg Beaumont, Roy Campbell, Margaret Wright-Cleveland, Ann Delrossi, Janet Dilling, and William Lahmon. Dr. Frederick Davis receives special recognition; his study and research suggestions proved to be short, sweet, simple, and invaluable. He also opened the door for my research assistantship with the Apalachicola Regional Resources on the Web (ARROW) Project that ultimately led to the lost village of Arran and my subsequent pursuit of ghost towns. Dr. John Fenstermaker receives my equal applause; he granted me the opportunity to teach classes and design a curriculum to best compliment my thesis. His affability and wit added to a pleasant experience while I worked within the American and Florida Studies Program. Committee Member Dr. Bruce Bickley caught my attention the first time I spied him teaching a class on Herman Melville’s “Benito Cereno” with a Spanish flag draped across his arm for story impact. I wanted to learn from him and teach like him; I know I did the first and only hope I accomplished the second. These people were the academic winners that I emulated to one degree or another; I knew I had found my niche within the American Studies Program. This paper would not have been possible without the efforts of additional significant individuals: Cathy Baas, Dan Emerick, and Bob West at Florida State Libraries Department of State; James Cusick, University of Florida Special Collections; Betty Green, President of the Wakulla County Historical Society; Dean Jue, Apalachicola Regional Resources on the Web; Mike Kinsey and Mark Perrin, collectors of North Florida turpentine camp tokens; Joe Knetsch, historian with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection; Joan Morris, personal historical collections; Lucy Patrick, Florida State University Special Collections; David Roddenberry, historian on West Goose Creek as a fishing town; Jon Sheppard, Florida State University history instructor and Ph.D. candidate; Florence Turcotte, University of Florida Special Collections Archivist; and Chris Weber, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. iii Outside the world of academia, I thank my mother, Nancy Ruddock, and my father, James Ruddock, for simply loving me and nurturing me. My supportive circle of friends includes Janice Caluda, Cindy Martel, Melanie Mowry-Etters, and Marybeth Parker. They are the ones with whom I most often laugh and cry. And finally, yet importantly, I thank myself for having the courage to return to school and to stay the course no matter what events transpired around me. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................vi ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................viii PROLOGUE .........................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................1 1. WAKULLA COUNTY’S GHOST TOWN TRINITY.....................................7 Magnolia ...................................................................................................8 Port Leon.................................................................................................25 Newport...................................................................................................30 2. THE COMMODIFICATION OF WAKULLA COUNTY ............................37 Arran .......................................................................................................38 Wakulla Beach/East Goose Creek ..........................................................48 West Goose Creek...................................................................................54 3. LEVY COUNTY IN WHITE AND BLACK.................................................64 Cedar Key ...............................................................................................66 Rosewood................................................................................................82 CONCLUSION...................................................................................................89 BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................94 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ..............................................................................99 v LIST OF FIGURES 1. View of Apalachicola Bay from old roadbed at Port Leon, 2005 ...................7 2. Culvert near old roadbed at Port Leon, 2005...................................................7 3. Magnolia Cemetery 1972...............................................................................10 4. Magnolia Cemetery 2005...............................................................................10 5. George Washington Sully sketch of Magnolia, Florida 1829........................13 6. Comte de Castelnau sketch of Magnolia, Florida 1837.................................13 7. Map of Magnolia town lots and streets..........................................................23 8. Port Leon road, 2005......................................................................................29 9. Port Leon road close-up, 2005 .......................................................................29 10. Daniel Ladd’s advertisement for Balsam of Wild Cherry ............................32 11. Newport/Sulfur Spring, 2005........................................................................33 12. Arran School, remnants of school outhouse, 2005 .......................................38 13. Boys of Arran School....................................................................................39 14. Arran Primitive Baptist Church ....................................................................41 15. Map of Arran, 1936.......................................................................................42 16. Homer Harvey on horseback ........................................................................45 17. Turpentine tokens..........................................................................................47 18. Front steps of old Wakulla Beach Hotel, 2005.............................................48 19. Detail of fluted column at Wakulla Beach Hotel, 2005................................48 20. Rebecca Roberts at Wakulla Beach Hotel showing old water pump............49 21. Old Wakulla Beach Hotel, n.d. .....................................................................49 22. West Goose Creek seine yard, 1980 .............................................................55 23. West Goose Creek, brick ruins .....................................................................56 24. View of Goose Creek Bay from seine yard ................................................56 25. West Goose Creek after Hurricane Dennis, 2005.........................................56 26. Sign, “No Shooting From Road,” 2000 ........................................................65 27. Map of Cedar Keys .......................................................................................66 28. Yearty Family Tree.......................................................................................72 29. Cedar Key docks and railroad, early 1900s ..................................................73 vi 30. Cedar Key railroad remains, 2000 ................................................................73 31. Thomas Yearty lumberyard with boat docking ............................................75 32. Faber Mill Ruins ...........................................................................................81 33. Cedar Key residents after hurricane, 1896....................................................81 34. Rosewood house after fire, 1923 ..................................................................84 35. John Wright House .......................................................................................86