History of Tallahassee, Florida

Early history

The name "Tallahassee" is a Muskogean Indian word often translated as "old fields," or "old town." This may stem from the Creek (later called Seminole) Indians that migrated into this region in the 18th century. The area had previously been occupied by the powerful Apalachee Indians, who cultivated large fields of crops in the region's red clay hills. The Apalachee's success as agriculturalists did not go unnoticed by the Spanish, who sent missionaries to the area throughout the 17th century. Several mission sites were established with the aim of procuring food and labor for the colony at St. Augustine. One of the most important mission sites, Mission San Luis de Apalachee, has been partially reconstructed as a state historic site in Tallahassee.

16th century

The Spanish missionaries were not the first Europeans to visit Tallahassee, however. The Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto spent the winter of 1538-1539 encamped at the Apalachee village of Anhaica, which he had taken by force. De Soto's brutal treatment of the natives was fiercely resisted, and by the following spring De Soto was eager to move on. The site of Anhaica, near present day Myers Park, was located by Florida archaeologist, B. Calvin Jones, in 1987.

"Also see History of Leon County"

19th century

1820s

Locating a capital

The founding of Tallahassee was largely a matter of convenience. In 1821, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States. A territorial government was established, but the impracticalities of alternately meeting in St. Augustine and Pensacola — the two largest cities in the territory at the time — led territorial governor William Pope Duval to appoint two commissioners to establish a more central meeting place.

In October 1823, John Lee Williams of Pensacola and Dr. William Simmons of St. Augustine selected the former Indian settlement of Tallahassee (roughly midway between the two cities) as a suitable place. Their decision was also based on its location near a beautiful waterfall — now part of Cascades Park — and the old capital of the Apalachee chiefdom. In March of the following year it was formally proclaimed the capital. Florida did not become a state, however, until 1845 (Tebeau:122).

On the 1st of November, 1823, John Lee Williams wrote to Congressional Delegate (and later Florida Governor), Richard Keith Call, about the location of the capital:

Founding of Tallahassee

In 1824, The City of Tallahassee, the county seat and only incorporated city in Leon County, was established following a decision by the state legislature to locate the capital of the new Florida Territory midway between the population centers of St. Augustine and Pensacola.

In 1824 General Marquis de Lafayette was awarded a land grant by the United States Congress. The grant consisted of a convert|6|mi|km|sing=on by convert|6|mi|km|sing=on square of land in what is today Northeast Tallahassee. Although the Marquis never visited his property in Florida, he sent people to grow limes and olives and to produce silk from moths. However, the colony failed, and most of the residents went to New Orleans or to back to France. Those who remained lived in an area of Tallahassee that still is called Frenchtown. Lafayette eventually sold his property.

The following outline represents a brief historical sketch of the area:

In 1827, Ralph Waldo Emerson, after a visit, called Tallahassee "A grotesque place of land speculators and desperados."

1830s

First bank

Around 1830, the Union Bank, Tallahassee's first bank was established by William Williams. The Seminole Wars, unsound banking practices, and the Panic of 1837 caused the closing of the bank in 1843. In 1847, the bank was purchased by cotton plantation owners William Bailey and Issac Mitchell. It later became a Freedman's bank from after the Civil War until 1879. The building has been used as a church, feed store, art house, coffee house, dance studio, locksmith's shop, beauty shop, and shoe factory. In 1971 the bank was moved from the original site on the west side of Adams Street, between College Avenue and Park Avenue, to just east of the Capitol on Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Avenue.

Capitol building

The rough hewn frontier capital gradually grew into a town during Florida's territorial period. In anticipation of becoming a state, the territorial government erected a greek revival masonry structure that would befit a state capitol. The structure opened in 1845 in time for statehood and eventually become known as the "old Capitol" which stands in front of the current new capitol high rise today.

Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad

In 1834, The Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad is constructed connecting St.Marks with Tallahassee to ship cotton to northeastern ports. It is reported to be the third oldest railroad in the United States). Also in 1834, Thomas Brown, who would later serve as Florida's governor, built an inn called Brown's Inn and was located on the west side of Adams Street between Pensacola and Lafayette streets

1840s

First mayor

In 1841, Francis W. Eppes, grandson of Thomas Jefferson and a successful cotton plantation owner became Intendant mayor of Tallahassee. Eppes served as mayor until 1844. Eppes described the town's Marion Race Course "A hotbed of vice, intemperance, gambling and profanity." He held that the rest of the town was little better. Eppes would again serve from 1856-1857.

Tallahassee Police Department begins

In 1841, the Tallahassee Police Department was established after complaints were heard by then intendant mayor Francis W. Eppes. Tallahassee followed the models set by the Philadelphia Police Department (1751) and Boston Police Department (1838).

1850s

During the antebellum period, Tallahassee was at the center of the fast growing "middle counties" of Florida, which held the bulk of the antebellum state population. For several decades before the Civil War, nearby Gadsden County was the most populous in the state. Cotton and tobacco plantations and smaller farms were the main draw for population growth as well as economic and political power. Many cotton plantations such as the William Bailey Plantation, Barrow Hill, Francis Eppes Plantation, La Grange Plantation were built within what is now Tallahassee.

1860s

Civil War

Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi not captured by Union forces during the Civil War. The Battle of Natural Bridge was fought outside Tallahassee, mostly by students of what would later become Florida State University, which is the only non-military academy or service academy school to have such a claim.

Reconstruction

Following the Civil War, much of Florida's industry shifted to the south and east, a trend that continues to this day. The end of slavery caused the cotton and tobacco trade to suffer, and the state's major industry shifted to citrus, naval stores, cattle ranching, and even tourism, all of which occurred to the south and east due to climate and geography. This growth was especially noticeable around the Jacksonville area and the St. John's River.

Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad

During the 1880s and 1890s Tallahassee was served by the Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad which ran from Georgia to Tallahassee and on to Carabelle in Franklin County.

20th century

Throughout much of the 20th century Tallahassee remained a sleepy government and college town, where politicians would meet to discuss spending money on grand public improvement projects to accommodate growth in places such as Miami and Tampa, hundreds of miles away from the capital. By 1901, the infrastructure development continued to trend growth to the south, first by the Plant System Railroads to the fledgling port of Tampa and then the Flagler railroad to the remote outpost of Miami. However, Tallahassee was firmly entrenched as capital and in that year the 1845 capitol building was expanded with two new wings, and a small dome.

Teens and 1920s

In 1919, The Florida Legislature passes a new city charter for Tallahassee, authorizing a Commission-Manager form of government. The position of directly-elected mayor ends and a system of rotation among city commissioners for mayor begins.

In 1928 the City of Tallahassee purchased a convert|200|acre|km2|sing=on tract of land for $7028 for its first municipal airport. It was named Dale Mabry Field in honor of Tallahassee native Army Captain Dale Mabry. The airport was dedicated on November 11, 1929 with its first manager being Ivan Munroe.

1930s

In 1931, The Lively Vocational Technical School is established.

1950s

Tallahassee bus boycott

On May 26, 1956, two Florida A&M University students were arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department because they refused to give up their seats next to a white passenger. They were charged with "inciting a riot," though the white woman they sat next to made no objection. The next night a cross was burned outside their rooming house. [ [http://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis56.htm#1956tbb Tallahassee Bus Boycott] ~ Civil Rights Movement Veterans] Carrie Patterson, a FAMU junior, was a 21 year old wife and mother from the small town of Lakeland, Florida. She was able to return home just twice a year. Wilhemina Jakes, a FAMU senior, was a 26 year old born in Hardeeville, South Carolina and was from West Palm Beach, Florida. Both young women were studying elementary education at FAMU.

Rev. C. K. Steele and Robert Saunders representing the NAACP began talks while blacks started boycotting the city's buses. This boycott was similar to that in Montgomery with Rosa Parks. Former bus patrons began a car pool lasting through May 26 of 1957, several other events took place which would change segregation in Tallahassee. The Inter-Civic Council ended the boycott on December 3, 1957.

On January 7, 1957 the City Commission repealed the bus-franchise segregation clause because of a recent federal ruling that outlaws segregated buses in Florida. Tallahassee's bus terminal would later be named after Steele.

1960s

Civil Rights Protests

On March 16, 1960 the Tallahassee Police Department used tear gas to break up a student protestdemonstration in the city. Protestors also attempted a boycott against “the Mecca,” a popular eatery across from the gate of Florida State University in Tallahassee. Similar protests were launched against McCrory’s, Woolworth's, Walgreens, and Sears."

The new capitol building

By the 1960s, there was a movement to move the capital to Orlando closer geographically to the growing population centers of the state. That motion was defeated however, and the 1970s saw a long term commitment by the state to the capital city with construction of the new capitol complex and preservation of the old capitol building. In 1961, Tallahassee Regional Airport is opened.

In 1966, The Tallahassee Community College is established.

Recent history

Tallahassee has seen an uptick in growth in recent years, mainly in government and research services associated with the state and Florida State University. However, a growing number of retirees are finding Tallahassee an attractive alternative to South Florida's high housing prices and urban sprawl.

1970s

Ted Bundy

On January 9, 1978, serial killer Ted Bundy arrived in Tallahassee from Atlanta by bus. While in Tallahassee, Bundy rented a room at a boarding house under the alias of "Chris Hagen" and FSU graduate "Ken Misner." Bundy went on a spree committing numerous petty crimes including shoplifting, purse snatching, and auto theft. In the early hours of Super Bowl Sunday on January 15, 1978, he bludgeoned to death two sleeping women, Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, and seriously wounded Karen Chandler and Kathry Kleiner inside their Florida State University Chi Omega sorority house. He then clubbed and severely injured another young woman, Cheryl Thomas, in her home a few blocks away.

On February 15, Bundy stole an orange VW Bug belonging to Rick Garzaniti of Tallahassee. Bundy was stopped shortly after 1 a.m. by Pensacola police officer David Lee. When the officer called in a check of Bundy's license plate it was proven to be stolen. Lee scuffled with the Bundy before finally being subdued.

1990s

In 1997, Tallahassee citizens selected Scott Maddox as their first directly-elected Mayor since 1919.

2000

The U.S. presidential election of 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush would play out to a great degree in Tallahassee. Bush won the election night vote count in Florida by a little over 1000 votes. Florida state law provided for an automatic recount due to the small margins.

The closeness of the election was clear and both the Bush and Gore campaigns organized themselves for the ensuing legal process. The Bush campaign hired George H. W. Bush's former Secretary of State James Baker to oversee their legal team, and the Gore campaign hired Bill Clinton's former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Tallahassee attorneys W. Dexter Douglass and John Newton.

The Gore campaign, as allowed by Florida statute, requested that disputed ballots in four counties be counted by hand. Florida statutes also required that all counties certify and report their returns, including any recounts, by 5 p.m. on November 14.

At 4:00 p.m. EST on December 8, the Florida Supreme Court, by a 4 to 3 vote, ordered a manual recount, under the supervision of the Leon County Circuit Court, of disputed ballots in all Florida counties and the portion of Miami-Dade county in which such a recount was not already complete. That decision was announced on live world-wide television by the Florida Supreme Court's spokesman Craig Waters, the Court's public information officer. The Court further ordered that only undervotes be considered. The results of this tally were to be added to the November 14 tally. This count was in progress on December 9, when the United States Supreme Court 5-4 (Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer dissenting) granted Bush's emergency plea for a stay of the Florida Supreme Court recount ruling, stopping the incomplete recount.

Sources

# [http://www.cfhf.net/maps/1839.htm 1839 History]
#K.C. Smith, Museum of Florida History
#Paisley, Clifton; From Cotton To Quail, University of Florida Press, c1968.
#Florida Department of State
#Tallahassee Democrat

Notes