Florida for tourists

Front matter

Washington, D. o.

BAl

m

Preface

The writer of the following pages first saw Florida in the month of January, 1880, when he accompanied General Grant on his tonr through the State, as correspondent of the " Chicago Times." He had previously either traveled or resided in nearly every other portion of the country, East, West, and South ; but his first impressions of the " Land of Flowers " were so favorable that, his special service as correspondent being over, he returned thither with the idea of making for himself a permanent home which should put an end to his wanderings. Since then he has enjoyed an extended experience in the State, engaged in a vocation requiring visits to all the more prominent places, and traveled over its immense territory under circumstances the most favorable for learning its real resources and observing the great variety of its productions.

Almost from the beginning, the importance of writing a book embodying the results of his observation and experience was urged upon him by the friends

4 PREFACE.

whom he made in the course of his travels ; and his perusal of the multifarious inquiries addressed to the State Bureau of Immigration, at Jacksonville, convinced him that there is a real demand for an adequate and trustworthy descriptive work on Florida. With the exception of a fpw brief pamphlets, written for the most ]3art in the interest of some land scheme or other speculative enterprise, there appears to be really no publication (except the Bureau of Immigration pamphlet) which answers practical questions in a practical manner; and even those books designed for transient visitors have been rendered wofully inadequate and antiquated by the progress that has been achieved during the past few years.

The present volume is the result of personal observation and study; and is written with a sincere desire to do justice to all parts of the State, and to describe accurately and with precision its real resources and advantages. It is written for Florida entire, and not in the interest of any corporation, speculative scheme, or special locality. Having no land to sell, and no personal interest of any kind to further, the author has found little difficulty in following Othello's injunction, " naught to extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."

Where so many have aided him with information and suggestions, the author feels that it is almost invidious to name only a few ; yet he can not forbear thus explicitly acknowledging his obligations to the Hon.

• PREFACE. 5

Setli Frencli, late Commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration ; to Captain Samuel Fairbanks, Assistant Commissioner; and to Mr. William Bloxliam, the present Governor of the State. Last, but not least, he would offer his acknowledgments to Mr. C. H. Jones, of E^ew York City, who rendered him invaluable aid in the arrangement and revision of his w^ork.

G. M. B.

Septemter, 1881.

TESTIMONIAL.

It is Tcnown to the undersigned that the author, Mr. George M: Barhour, has traveled over almost the luhole of Florida, under circumstances peculiarly advantageous for enaUing him to acquaint himself ivith the varied resources of the State, and luith the attractions which it offers to the three classes to whom his worh is addressed — Tourists, Invalids, and Settlers. Our hnoiuledge of his ahilities as a ivriter on Florida subjects, and of the opportu7iities he has enjoyed in prejparing his hooh, are such that toe can commend it as at once trustworthy and comprehensive — greatly superior in these respects to anything hitherto published descriptive of the entire State and its soil and productions.

W. D. BL0XHA3I,

Governor of Florida.

George F. Drew,

Ex- Governor of Florida.

Seth French,

Ex- Commissioner of Immigration.

Saiiuel Fairbanks,

Assistant Commissioner of Immigration.

COE'TEIfTS.

CHAP. PAGE

I. — Questions and Answers 11

II. — Natural Divisions of Florida . . . . 17 HI. — A Trip through the State with Commissioner

French .30

ly. — A Trip through North Florida with Captain

Y. — Jacksonville, Fernandina, and St. Augustine . 92

YI.— The St. John's Eiver 107

YII. — The Ocklawaha Eiver, Silver Springs, and Ocala 125 YIII. — The Indian Eiver Eegion and the Inland Lakes 136 IX. — The Gulf Coast and Key West .... 145 X. — The Sanford Grant and Orange County . . 155 Xr. — Eandom Sketches.— An Ocean Yoyage in Winter ; the Atlantic Coast of Florida ; the Southwest Coast 173

XII. — Climate and Health. — Suggestions for Invalids 184 XIII. — Eeteospective. — An Historical Sketch . . . 209 XI Y. — Florida Folks and Families .... 225

XY. — Orange-Culture 239

XVI. — Other Tropical and Semi-tropical Fruits . 252

8 CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

iNG 264

XVIII.— Live-Stock . .278

XIX.— FuE, Fin, and Feather . . ' . . . . 285

XX. — Insects and Keptiles . . . . . .290

XXII. — A WoED OF Feiendly Advice to New-comees , 298

XXIII. — Kotites to and theough Floeida .... 303

LIST OF ILLUSTEATIOlsrS.

PAGE

A Florida Orange-Grove . . . . Frontispiece.

LigMliouse on Florida Keys . . . . .18

The Banana . . . . . . .43

A Typical Country Hotel in Florida — " Ocklawaha House," Pendryville 46

A Pair of "Crackers" . . . . . . .55

View on the Escambia Kiver, near Pensacola ... 'TO

Street-Scene in Pensacola . . . . . .72

View of Bay from Shot Park, Navy- Yard . . . . 'ZS

Specimens of Pensacola Fish . . . . . . 75

Kuins of Fort McRae, with Fort Pickens in the Distance . . 76

Fort Barrancas . . . . . . . .77

Street-Scene in Jacksonville . . . . . 93

A Cluster of Palmettoes . . . . . .97

Street in St. Augustine . . . . . .100

St. Augustine Cathedral . . . . . .102

The Convent-Gate . . . . . . . 103

Entrance to Fort Marion . . . . . .105

Mouth of the St. John's ...... 109

Mrs. Stowe's Residence . . , . . . .112

Entrance to Hart's Orange-Grove . . . . .114

Forest on the Ocklawaha . , « . .126

10 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

A Kiver Post-Office . . . . . .128

The Lookout . . . , „ , ^ j29

Silver Spring , . . . . .132

A Sudden Turn . . . . . . . 133

Looking across Indian Eivcr ..... 13Y

The Cabbagc-Pahn . . , . . , .151

Key West ' . 153

A Country Cart ....... 2*^8

Out for a Drive . . . . *. . , 236

The Fig 255

A Pineapple Plant . . . . . , .256

The Date-Pahn ....... 258

A Cypress-Shingle Yard . . . ... .273

Florida Pine-Barrens ....... 280

A Hunter s Camp . . . / . , , 288 o i. ^ j.:^Ldoy ine Diest ; and to the ^uuces nearly everything, with less expen-

?'<o^^ LIBBARY

Chapter 1. Questions And Answers

Florida ! What kind of a place is it ? How does it look? What does it produce? What are the conditions of success there? How do the people live? How do they like it ? These are a few of the multitude of questions that are eagerly showered upon a resident of this sunny, genial clime, when visiting the less favored regions of our country.

Those who ask them commonly suppose that they can be answered as compendiously and precisely as the somewhat similar questions in a geographical text-book ; but, unfortunately, this is not possible, and the numerous pages comprising the present volume are none too many to answer them in full. In fact, it is for the sole purpose of answering these and similar inquiries that I have written the following book ; and I trust that, when he has finished it, the reader will acquit me of having made any larger demands upon his attention than was necessary to the accomplishment of this object. I might say, indeed, in response to the first question, that it is a delightful place ; to the second, that it looks like a region perpetually breathed upon by airs from Araby the blest ; and to the other, that it produces nearly everything, with less expenditure of labor than is the case in any other portion of the wide domain included within the United States. There are few, however, who will be satisfied any longer with such " glittering generalities " — a surfeit of them having already been dealt out by previous writers on the subject ; and my own aim has been to give as clearly and specifically as I can such information as may prove helpful to the three classes of readers to whom the book is addressed : the tourist who comes for amusement, sight-seeing, or sport ; the invalid who comes in search of that more genial climate which shall prolong his days in the land ; and, even more especially, the settler whose aim is to make himself a home under pleasanter and more promising conditions than those which he encounters on the stern soil or amid the harsh blasts of the northern sections of our country.

Florida has a history (as will be told in the chapter on that subject) that extends back to 1512, covering a period of nearly four hundred years ; yet in spite of this, and in spite, too, of its unequaled natural advantages, it has a smaller population, in proportion to its great size, than any other State in the Union, except, jDerhaps, Nevada and Colorado. A constantly rising tide of immigration is now flowing in, and there has been a surprising increase in the number of inhabitants during the past ten years; but some of the very choicest localities in the State are still in a state of nature, and there is room and verge enough for an additional million of busy and prosj^erous workers. For Florida is a very large State — one of the largest in the Union — with an area of nearly sixty thousand square miles; and, in proportion to its size, it has as large an acreage of productive soil as any other, except the prairie States of the West. Many portions, no doubt, are ill adapted for what are commonly regarded as the great staples of the country ; but in the range and variety of its productions it

QUESTION'S AND ANSWERS. IS

is hardly equaled, and is certainly not surpassed, by any other section of equal area.

This fact in regard to Florida is usually overlooked by those who derive their ideas from the hasty conclusions of transient winter visitors. Each so-called " season " witnesses an influx of thousands of these visitors, in search of health or " on pleasure bent," usually wealthy, and equipped with more prejudices than their well-filled traveling-bags would contain. Their chief desire is to find an elegant hotel, having '' all modern conveniences " ; and, once established there, to secure some cozy nook on a broad veranda, where they may watch the fruits and flowers growing in the open air, breathe the soft, balmy air, and lazily enjoy all the luxury and delights of June in January. For recreation, they ride to the nearest orange-groves, or indulge in a moonlight sail, or, if a little more adventurous and "masculine," take a few quiet fishing-trips, or hunt quail and duck. Once, at least, during their stay, they make the " grand tour " by the regulation route — up the St. John's to Palatka, Enterprise, and Sanford, up the darkly-mysterious Ocklawaha (very few, on this excursion, even leaving the boat), then down the river again and over to St. Augustine, where the longest stay is apt to be made, as its many points of interest and its animated social life render St. Augustine peculiarly attractive to the average pleasure-seeker. This, in the great majority of instances, is the full extent of their study and observation of the characteristics and resources of Florida ; and, such being the case, it can hardly be regarded as surprising that they should represent it as a pleasant enough place of resort in Avinter for invalids, but a hot, unwholesome region in summer, poor in soil, arid of aspect, the haunt of alligators, reptiles, and insects, with nothing especially good in it but oranges.

It need hardly be pointed out, however, that the true capabilities of a great State can not be dealt with adequately in this summary fashion ; and, as a matter of fact, Florida has a soil in which can be grown every variety of fruit, flower, garden-vegetable, field-crop, or forest product, that grows in any temperate or semi-tropical region of the world. Every one has heard of its fabulous yield of oranges, lemons, and the like ; and the stories told on this head are not always exaggerated. I have seen groves of orange-trees which produced from two hundred to four thousand dollars to the acre, and know of an acre of pineapples that, within two years after, the trees were cleared from its surface, yielded the owners (two bright young IS'ew York lads, by-the-way) eighteen hundred dollars. But these, and such as these, by no means exhaust the list of valuable products which Florida yields to the cultivator. I have seen fields of wheat ripening in January that produced twenty-eight bushels to the acre ; corn that produced in the same month seventy bushels to the acre ; sugar-cane that yielded one hundred and sixty dollars net profit to the acre ; common Irish potatoes producing two hundred bushels to the acre ; fields of rice that paid a net profit of two hundred dollars an acre ; and cassava that netted a hundred and fifty dollars per acre. "Watermelons and garden-vegetables grow rapidly, attain great size, are of excellent quality, and, where convenient to city markets, or to lines of transportation, pay the producer from one hundred to one thousand dollars per acre. Of garden-vegetables three and even four crops are sometimes taken from the same tract within twelve . months ; and of the entire list of strange or familiar farm and garden products, fruits, and flowers, you may, in a trip through the State, find each and every one growing in abundance. The largest peach-tree, undoubtedly, in America, is near Orange City, in Yolusia County, with a spread of branches over seventy feet in diameter !

Nor is this all. I have seen bean-vines in their third

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 15

year bearing as vigorously as when first planted ; pears growing on vines ; peas growing on trees ; and plants growing on nothing at all — the latter being the common air-plants. Of live-stock, I have seen as large, fine, fat swine, and as neat cattle and sheep, as in Vermont, New York, or Illinois ; and they can be raised and kept in good condition at so small a cost that comparison with Northern-raised stock is absurd.

The climate of Florida in the winter months is simply delightful, and the summers are about as endurable as in most other portions of the United States. The summer of 1880 was said by all to be the hottest for many years, and the winter of 1880-'81 to be the coldest ; yet I can affirm from the; sure basis of personal experience that they were both healthy and agreeable, even to a new-comer. It seems absolutely impossible that any human being, or any living creature able to move about, should really suffer from either cold or heat, or from hunger, in Florida. It is asserted (and meets with no dispute) that no case of starvation, of freezing, of sunstroke, or of hydrophobia, was ever known in the State ; and local epidemics have never been heard of.

Consider the terribly cold weather of the long, dreary winter season throughout the North ; the suffering it causes ; the many deaths among the poor, perishing for want of a little friendly warmth. Consider also the cases of sunstroke, the suffering and deaths caused directly or indirectly by the heat, in those same regions during the summer ; and the still more sorrowful cases of actual starvation for lack of the plainest food in many of the large cities. Then contemplate the advantages of this favored clime, where food — even such articles as are regarded as luxuries in other localities — may be had in abundance, for very little cost or labor, and where a genial temperature prevails at all seasons !

But there is one thing to be remembered in connection with all this — and it is forgotten oftener than would be supposed : even Florida is not the garden of Eden, and a man can not live even here like the lilies of the field, "which toil not, neither do they si^in.'' Florida soil and climate can and will do a great deal ; but living without labor is not possible, and here as elsewhere the great law prevails, that in the sweat of his brow shall man eat his bread. The true advantage which Florida offers is, that by little labor can much comfort be enjoyed, and the better directed the labor the greater the comfort. To those who have but little capital (or none), and who are anxiously seeking for a home with all the comforts of life, I believe that this State offers the best chances of any in our country.

Finally, as a compendious answer to the many inquiries upon the subject that have come to my knowledge, I would say that a settler in Florida — whether he comes as a capitalist, as a farmer, or as a laborer — can live with more ease and personal comfort, can live more cheaply, can enjoy more genuine luxuries, can obtain a greater income from a. smaller investment and by less labor, and can sooner secure a competency, than in any other accessible portion of North America.

CHAPTER 11.

NATURAL DIVISIONS OF FLORIDA.

As I have already remarked, Florida is a very large State, containing nearly sixty thousand square miles (59,- 268). From north to south it stretches 450 miles — from a temperate to a tropical clime. Washed along its entire eastern border by the equable waters of the Gulf Stream, which always pours its pure salt breezes over the peninsula, and by the tropically warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on much of its western boundary, it possesses a variety of climate, soil, and products, such as can be found nowhere else save in Italy, which enjoys a similarity of geographical conditions.

Though its extreme length from the Perdido River to Cape Sable is about 700 miles, its average breadth is less than 90 miles, and in shape it is a long and narrow peninsula, extending southward into the Atlantic and pointing toward Cuba, Havana being only 110 miles from Key West. On the southeast it is separated from the Bahamas by the Straits of Florida. The peninsula proper terminates on the south in Cape Sable ; but a remarkable chain of rocky islets, known as the Florida Keys, begins at Cape Florida on the eastern shore, extends southwestward nearly 200 miles, and ends in the cluster of sand-heaped rocks called the Tortugas, from the great number of turtles formerly frequenting them. South of the bank on which the Keys rise, and separated fi:om them by a navigable channel, is the narrow and dangerous coral ridge known as the Florida Reef. The entire State is comprised between latitude 24° 30' and 31° north, and longitude 80° and 87° 45' west.

LiGiiiiioLSE ON Florida KE\b.

In the aggregate Florida possesses a coast-line of more than 1,150 miles, but on this long stretch of seaboard there are only a few good harbors. The principal on the Atlantic coast are St. Augustine, Fernandina, Port Orange, and Jacksonville (on the St. John's River) ; those on the Gulf coast are Pensacola, Appalachicola, St. Mark's, Cedar Keys, liATURAL DIVISIONS.

Tampa, Charlotte Harbor, and Key West. The latter is one of the most important naval stations of the republic, owing to its commanding situation at the entrance of the most frequented passage into the Gulf of Mexico. The chief rivers are the St. John's, which furnishes nearly 1,000 miles of water navigation ; the Indian River, a long, narrow lagoon on the eastern coast ; the Ocklawaha, the Appalachicola, the Ocklockonnee, the Perdido, the Suwanee, and the St. Mary's. The Withlacoochee, which discharges its waters into tlie Gulf, is an important stream, as are also Peace Creek, which falls into Charlotte Harbor, and the Caloosahatchie, which empties into the Gulf still farther south. Kissimraee River, connecting several of the smaller lakes with Lake Okechobee, is also a navigable stream.

The surface of the State is generally level, the greatest elevation being but little more than 500 feet above the sea, and this being attained in only a few places. The lands are classified as high-hammock, low-hammock, savanna, swamp, and pine. The hammocks vary from a few acres to thousands of acres in extent, and are found in all parts of the peninsula. They are usually covered with a dense growth of red, live, and water oak, magnolia, gum, hickory, and dogwood ; and when cleared they afford a soil of almost inexhaustible fertility. The savannas are rich alluvial tracts on the margins of streams, or lying in detached areas, yielding largely, but requiring ditching and diking in ordinary seasons. Except in the hammocks, the soil is generally sandy and apt to be poor. Numerous lakes dot the surface of the interior, the largest being Lake Okechobee, which is said to cover an area of more than 650 square miles. Perhaps the most remarkable geographical feature of the State is the immense tract of marsh or lake filled with islands, in the southern part of the peninsula, called the Everglades (by the Indians " grass-water "). It is about 60 miles long by 60 broad, covering most of the territory south of Lake Okechobee, and is impassable during the rainy reason, from July to October. The islands with which its surface is studded vary from one fourth of an acre to hundreds of acres in extent, and are usually entangled in dense thickets of shrubbery or vines. The water of the lake is from one to six feet deep, and the bottom is covered with a growth of rank grass which, rising above the surface, gives it the deceptive appearance of a boundless prairie. Another noteworthy feature of Florida

NATURAL DIVISIONS. 21

are the subterranean streams which undermine the rottenlimestone formation, creating numerous cavities in the ground that are locally known as " sinks." These are inverted conical hollows, or tunnels, varying in extent from a few yards to several acres, at the bottom of which running water often appears.

The foregoing is a rapid summary of the geographical or cyclopedic descriptions that are usually given of Florida, and it is as accurate, perhaps, as such sweeping generalizations can be expected to be ; yet when taken too literally these descriptions are not only inadequate, but misleading. For the truth is, that there are three kinds of Florida — three Floridas, so to speak — each distinct in soil, climate, and productions ; and it is because of this that the people of other sections, as they read about the State in short newspaper sketches, or in pamphlets published in the interests of some special locality, are apt to draw erroneous inferences. For instance, the winter of 1880-'81 was exceptionally severe everywhere, making itself felt even in Florida ; and the Northern and foreign reader, learning that fruits were destroyed, garden-crops hopelessly ruined, oranges frozen on the trees by thousands, in fact that cold and frost played havoc in Florida as well as elsewhere, doubtless came to the conclusion that it was not much of a tropical State after all. Well, these things happened, just as reported. The frost came, and immense damage was done, and much loss inflicted. Yet the fact is that the section thus visited included but a small portion of the State — only the northern and a portion of middle Florida. A large portion of the State was not — and never is — visited by frosts that kill. So that, while the reports were true, they were not the whole truth, and there were many districts to which they did not apply at all.

The three natural divisions under which Florida must be described, if it is to be described accurately, may be classified as the Northern or Temperate, the Semi-tropical, and the Tropical.

Northern Florida, especially the western section of it, in soil, productions, and general appearance, closely resembles regions much farther north. It is a land of live-stock, of corn, wheat, cotton, cane, jute, rice, ramie, potatoes, apples, grapes, peaches, figs, in fact all the products of fields, forests, and gardens of a northern clime, with a few of the hardier of southern products. The tropical banana, pineapple, etc., do not grow there, nor the orange or lemon, as a crop for profit. Its soil is excellent ; its surface is rolling and hilly, with grand forests, rocks, springs, and streams ; and the roads are firm and good. It is not tropical, but is very picturesque and home-like, and, to the Northern visitor, is the most agreeable portion of the State. Better live-stock, or crops, can not be produced in the world, in greater abundance, or with less expense and labor, than grow here ; but they are not tropical crops. Such is Northern Florida, where frosts and " cold snaps " are not only possible, but frequently occur.

Middle Florida is that j)ortion of the State lying between the twenty-eighth and thirtieth parallels, and may be termed Semi-tropical Florida. It is the region where many of the products of both the temperate and the tropical climes may be found growing side by side ; where the orange, lemon, fig, guava, citron, grape, and all garden-vegetables, may be found growing, for profit, in the open air, all the year round. It is where cotton, cane, rice, and all field-crops pay best, and where wheat, corn, and live-stock are noticeably less productive than a little farther north. The soil here is mostly of a sandy character, and begins to have the characteristic appearance of a tropical soil ; while the surface is generally flat and uninteresting, with occasional slightly rolling tracts. There are but few streams or lakes, except in the central portion — ^known to

STATURAL DIVISIONS. 23

tlie residents as tlie Orange Lake region — where there are several quite large-sized lakes, which are of very attractive appearance.

Large orange-groves are found growing in all parts of this region, and thousands of trees are being set out yearly. Hundreds of the settlers there — especially along the line of the Transit Railroad (that runs from Fernandina to Cedar Keys) and its branches — in the vicinity of Starke, Waldo, Gainesville, and of Ocala and Leesburg, are engaged in raising vegetables of all kinds for the Northern markets. Thousands of crates of green peas, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, onions, cabbages, cauliflower, spinach, celery, lettuce, beets, etc., and car-loads of watermelons, are gathered and shipped to all points IsTorth in January, February, March, and April. It is an industry that has, in a few years, grown to great proportions, and, when the season is at all favorable, repays those engaged handsomely. In many cases profits of several hundreds of dollars (upward of a thousand dollars are known of in several cases) have been made in a single season, from an acre or but little more, of some special crop, that fortunately ripened and reached the market at the right moment. Strawberries here grow abundantly, and with proper care and culture yield immense crops, repaying wonderful profits. I know of several cases where the clear profit, netted from about an acre, was almost fabulous. This is rapidly becoming a leading crop or industry of the State.

Semi-tropical Florida, while not very attractive in scenery, probably produces the greatest variety of marketable and profitable crops of any region in our country. Although the hardier field-crops of the North, such as wheat, corn, etc., and the more delicate fruit-products of the extreme South, like the banana, pineapple, etc., do not grow well in this region, yet the variety of the vegetable 2 kingdom, including the hardiest of the Southern and the tender est of the Northern crops, is so great that the land will always produce paying crops in one form or another. As transportation facilities increase, the opportunities and advantages will multiply ; for the crops of this region are grown in that season, and are of that kind, that they must be at once placed in the hands of the consumer.

Without entering into a lengthy description of its climate or physical features, I may say that it is a healthy region, and that game and fish are plentiful. There is but one unpleasant feature to mar its numerous advantages : it is liable to frosts. They may come any winter — and may not in a dozen years — but a visit, when it comes, is very apt to destroy your hopes of profit for that season. Of oranges and such fruits, in this semi-tropical belt, the farther south the better ; every mile north is a step toward greater risk. You can not get too far south — that is, if you find good soil — but you can easily get too far north, even for semi-tropical products.

South Florida comprises all that region of mainland and innumerable keys or islands, great and small, lying south of the twenty-eighth parallel, and is the really, truly tropical Florida — the Italy, the Spain, the Egypt, of the United States. In this region frosts rarely come, and every fruit, flower, shrub, plant, or product, that grows in any tropical region of the world grows, or can be grown, here. Either on its Atlantic, breezy, rocky coast ; its hot, .torrid, south end shores, or its balmy Gulf coast, or within its vast interior — the famous Everglades region — in all these prolific, tropical soils can something of profit be grown ; though, of course, the farther south the more surely can the really tropical products be counted upon. It is the region of the pineapple, banana, cocoanut, guava, sugar-apple, bread-fruit, sugar-cane, almond, fig, olive, and all the innumerable list of tropical fruits.