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A Short History of Franklin County

Franklin County was chartered in 1832, the same year Andrew Jackson was elected President, from land taken from Escambia County. Of its 545 square miles of territory a little over half is National Park, State parkland, or part of St. Joe Company's vast timberlands. The vast majority of its residents live within a mile of river, bay or Gulf. It is water that has shaped the history of Franklin County and its four principal communities: Apalachicola (the county seat), Eastpoint, Carrabelle, and St. George Island.

Native American tribes have inhabited this area for thousands of years. Geologic records reveal that Dog Island, St. George Island, Little St. George Island and St. Vincent Island are the fourth set of barrier islands to have existed in this area, the previous three sets having left their marks inland in the Tate's Hell region.

1528 is the first record of European presence in the area as the doomed expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez recorded visiting an Indian encampment on what was probably St. Vincent Island. From that time until the early 1800's the area was inhabited by various Indian tribes, Spanish slavers, pirates, smugglers, soldiers and sailors of several nationalities. The area had a reputation as a wild and lawless region, and was avoided by travelers and ship's captains whenever possible. In the 1700's the west bank of the mouth of the Apalachicola River was known as Murder Point.

 In 1819, Spain left Florida for the last time, and the United States annexed the territory. Shortly thereafter Apalachicola was the third largest seaport on the Gulf Coast, ranking behind only New Orleans and Mobile. Cotton was King, and Apalachicola became the terminus for millions of dollars worth of cotton grown on plantations in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

In 1837 the remaining Native American populations in Carrabelle and Dog Island were "moved" to Oklahoma along the infamous "Trail of Tears." In 1845 Florida became a state, and the new state's constitution was created at a special meeting held in nearby Port St. Joe.

In 1846 Dr. Alvan W. Chapman moved to Apalachicola from the Quincy area where he had been practicing since graduating from Amherst in 1830, and from medical school in Savannah. A physician by training, his passion, however, was botany, and his book "Flora of the Southeastern United States" was a best seller from the time it was first published in 1860. Contemporaneous to Chapman was Dr. John Gorrie, also a physician.

When Gorrie arrived in 1833, Apalachicola was a boom town. Cotton exports were sent to Europe and New England on boats that brought goods to the port for shipment upriver. At the height of river commerce, more than a hundred paddlewheel steamers plied the waters between Apalachicola and settlements on the Flint, Chattahoochee and Chipola rivers. 

During his life Dr. Gorrie worked as a physician, and civil servant, at various times holding the posts of bank director, postmaster, city treasurer, and mayor. One of the founders of Trinity Church, Gorrie was on the board that purchased Florida's first modular building. Trinity Church was constructed in New York, shipped to Apalachicola by boat, and assembled on its present site.

Gorrie is, however, remembered by history as the inventor of modern refrigeration. During the summer months Apalachicola was plagued with outbreaks of Yellow Fever, and Gorrie's efforts to cool patient's rooms at the US Marine Hospital in Apalachicola were rewarded with the issuance of US Patent #8080. Unfortunately for Gorrie, all his attempts to commercialize his invention failed. He died a broken man in 1855. His statue stands in the US Capitol's Statuary Hall as one of only two Floridians so honored.

In the 1850s Apalachicola's importance as a shipping port began to decline due to the increasing efficiency of railroad lines that offered overland routes for cotton shipments. The Union blockade of Apalachicola during the Civil War was the final blow to the cotton trade. Economic problems continued well after the war ended until a timber and naval stores industry was developed. Centered in Carrabelle and Apalachicola, turpentine processing and lumber were exported by the boatload. Overharvesting, however, spelled the end of the timber industry as a major force in the local economy when cypress became difficult to find in the 1930s.

During World War II, both Carrabelle and Apalachicola served as training areas for US troops headed overseas. Carrabelle was the site of Camp Gordon Johnson, and was the second largest military base in Florida during World War II. Apalachicola was home to Apalachicola Army Air Field where pilots were trained to fly B-17s and was also home to a Gunnery School.

After the war Franklin County turned to the water again to make its living. About ninety percent of the oysters harvested in Florida come from the Apalachicola Bay. 

Once thriving fishing operations have, however, been severely affected by the 1995 Florida Net Ban, and local harvest income from fishing has dropped by tens of millions of dollars. Today the seafood industry is managing to hang on as new methods of harvesting and product preparation are developed. Charter fishing has come to be an important source of revenue.

In 1965 the bridge to St. George Island was completed and the island and surrounding areas began to develop as people from Tallahassee and beyond began building summer cottages on the newly accessible island. Over the past thirty five years development has occurred in accordance with a comprehensive development plan that limits both density and height in an effort to strike a balance between the needs of man and nature.

Today more and more Franklin County is becoming an eco-tourism destination where visitors can take advantage of the many opportunities our diverse ecology provides. Whether kayaking or motorboating, our area is a unique combination of ocean, bay, river, and tributary that remains nearly pristine.