• The tiny island town of Cedar Key
    was once the western rail head of
    Florida's first cross state rail line
    in the late 19th century. Its cedar
    trees were used in the manufacture
    of pencils.Today, Cedar Key is a
    quiet escape for travelers who
    can get a taste of Old Florida. Cedar
    Key is now the number one producer
    of little neck clams in the US. They
    are farmed in the salt water estuary
    which provides ideal conditions for
    their growth.

• St. Augustine was founded
in 1565, forty-two years before
the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia and fifty-five years
before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, - making it the      oldest permanent European settlement in North America.

www.busybsrq.com

• There are 16 active greyhound race tracks in Florida and more than 1/3 of all racing greyhounds are found in Florida.   The greyhound is one of the oldest canine breeds in history and dates back to ancient Egypt. They have been associated with royalty throughout history and are the only breed of dog mentioned in the Bible. Greyhounds are calm and gentle- natured dogs, anxious to please their owners. There are many retired greyhounds that do not have homes. See Photo 
Call (800) 366-1472 to adopt.

www.lastminutevillas.net/orlando-travel.html

• The Shrub State? Environmental
horticulture, including floriculture
and nursery products now surpasses the state's signature
crop, oranges.
Find out more..

• The Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay has the longest
span of concrete in the Northern
hemisphere at 1200 feet. One
cubic yard of concrete weighs
2 tons.

www.marcoislanddirectory.com

• From East Coast Florida beaches WRIGHT WHALES can sometimes be seen blowing off during winter
months. Often mothers and calves are spotted during their
migration from colder northern
waters.

• MERRIT ISLAND WILDLIFE REFUGE AND CANAVERAL NATIONAL SEASHORE, ALONG FLORIDA'S "SPACE COAST"  IS THE NUMBER 11
ECOTOUR DESTINATION OF THE WORLD. IT BORDERS THE INDIAN
RIVER LAGOON ESTUARY, WITH THE MOST DIVERSE NUMBER OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS IN NORTH AMERICA.THERE ARE SEVERAL INDIGENOUS SPECIES, FOUND ONLY HERE, INCLUDING THE SALT MARSH SNAKE.

•THE 1954 MONSTER FILM "CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON HAD ITS UNDERWATER SEQUENCES FILMED IN
WAKULLA SPRINGS, SOUTH OF
TALLAHASSEE

• BIG PINE KEY IN THE FLORIDA KEYS IS HABITAT FOR A SMALL SUBSPECIES OF DEER THAT EVOLVED DIFFERENTLY FROM THEIR MAINLAND COUSINS WHEN RISING SEA LEVELS STRANDED THEM 10,000 YEARS AGO.

• FLORIDA PRODUCES MORE CITRUS THAN ANY OTHER STATE. ALSO, IT PRODUCES MORE TOMATOES, GREEN PEPPERS, WATERMELONS, SWEETCORN AND SUGAR THAN ANY OTHER STATE.

 • THE LARGEST NATIONAL ESTUARY  PRESERVE IN AMERICA IS
IN FLORIDA AT APALACHICOLA. IT
SPANS 250,000 ACRES WITH THE
LARGEST DIVERSITY OF REPTILES
AND AMPHIBIANS IN NORTH AMERICA. Tours

• IN 1768  A SCOTTISH PHYSICIAN  FOUNDED WHAT IS NOW NEW SMYRNA BEACH ON THE EAST COAST. THE COLONY THAT BEGAN WITH 1255 PEOPLE WAS ABANDONED 9 YEARS LATER. ABOUT 1100 OF THE COLONIST WERE INDENTURED SERVANTS FROM THE ISLAND OF MINORCA. RUINS OF THE SETTLEMENT FOUNDED JUST 125 YEARS AFTER JAMESTOWN STILL REMAIN. NEW SMYRNA BEACH IS KNOWN AS THE WORLD'S SAFEST BECAUSE OF OFFSHORE REEFS PROTECTING THE WATERS FROM RIP TIDES.

www.flheritage.com

• IN 1715 A SEVERE HURRICANE SANK A SPANISH FLEET  OF 10 GALLEONS THAT WERE RETURNING TO SPAIN LOADED WITH TREASURE. MORE THAN 1000 LIVES WERE LOST JUST OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA'S " TREASURE COAST" NEAR Ft. PIERCE. IT WAS THE THIRD ATTEMPT TO BRING THE QUEEN'S DOWRY, SO THAT SHE WOULD AGREE TO MARRY. EACH OF THE TWO PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS WERE ILL FATED AS WELL, ALSO BECAUSE OF HURRICANES. THE TREASURE  IS STILL BEING RECOVERED TO THIS DAY.

•  THE HURRICANE OF 1928
OCCURRED ON SEPTEMBER 16TH.
WIND SPEEDS REACHED MORE THAN 155 MPH CAUSING THE DIKE ON LAKE OKEECHOBEE TO GIVE WAY,   DROWNING MORE THAN 2000 PEOPLE.

           

•  THE LARGEST OCCUPIED
WOODEN STRUCTURE IN THE
WORLD IS THE BELLEVIEW
BILTMORE RESORT, BUILT IN
1897 AND LOCATED IN CLEARWATER.
 
http://miami.4u-hotels.com

•  THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL
BASEBALL TEAM TO HOLD
SPRING TRAINING IN FLORIDA
WAS THE PHILADELPHIA
ATHLETICS, IN JACKSONVILLE,
IN 1901. 

•  IN 1837 SEMINOLE WARRIOR
OSCEOLA WAS CAPTURED BY THE UNITED STATES ARMY WHILE UNDER A FLAG OF TRUCE.THE TRICK OUTRAGED U.S. CITIZENS.  OSCEOLA DIED IN CAPTIVITY 4 MONTHS LATER.THE SEMINOLES REMAIN IN FLORIDA TO THIS DAY.  THEY NEVER SIGNED A PEACE TREATY WITH THE UNITED STATES, BUT WERE PAID SIXTEEN MILLION DOLLARS IN 1976 AS REPARATIONS FOR TWENTY-NINE MILLION ACRES OF LAND.

• FLORIDA HAS MORE THAN 30,000 LAKES INCLUDING LAKE OKEECHOBEE, THE FOURTH LARGEST NATURAL LAKE IN THE U.S.

• •  INFAMOUS BANDIT AND KIDNAPPER MA (KATE) BARKER AND SON,FRED, WERE ASKED TO SURRENDER IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON JANUARY 16, 1935.  THEY WERE HOLED UP IN A LAKESIDE HOUSE IN THE CENTRAL FLORIDA TOWN OF OCKLAWAHA.  FEDERAL AGENTS RAINED MACHINE GUN FIRE FOR MORE THAN 45 MINUTES INTO THE HOUSE, KILLING BOTH..

MORE FLORIDA FACTS BELOW, PLEASE SCROLL DOWN.
 

• FLORIDA:
Meaning "Feast of Flowers" it was discovered and named by Spanish explorer Ponce De Leon in 1513. Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821 and in 1846 was the
25th state admitted to the union.

• STATE FLAG:
        
      

• STATE SEAL:

     

• STATE BIRD:
THE MOCKING BIRD BECAME OFFICIAL IN 1927.

• STATE FLOWER:
THE ORANGE BLOSSOM BECAME OFFICIAL IN 1909.

• STATE TREE:
FLORIDA'S STATE TREE IS THE SABAL PALM.

•  FLORIDA'S NICKNAME IS "THE SUNSHINE STATE".


www.evella-rentals.com/florida-

• PELICAN ISLAND, EAST OF THE CITY OF SEBASTIAN IN THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON WAS AMERICA'S FIRST  NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ESTABLISHED BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT ON  MARCH 14, 1903.

K.T._ Bodo_Design & Illustration

•   IN SEPTEMBER OF 1950 YANKEETOWN, ON FLORIDA'S WEST COAST, RECEIVED THE MOST RAINFALL EVER RECORDED IN THE U.S. DURING A 24-HOUR PERIOD.  MORE THAN 38 1/2 INCHES OF RAIN WERE RECORDED; ONE INCH OF RAIN OVER JUST ONE ACRE IS MORE THAN 27,000 GALLONS OF WATER.

www.realfunspots.com

•   FLORIDA IS THE NUMBER ONE PRODUCER OF WATERMELONS,WITH OVER 30 MILLION GROWN ANNUALLY. IN 1988 CLYDE BUMGARDNER OF LEVY COUNTY FLORIDA GREW A WATERMELON THAT WEIGHED 170 POUNDS, A POSSIBLE WORLD RECORD. WATERMELONS ARE 93% WATER, AND COME FROM AFRICA, WHERE THEY ARE RAISED AS A WATER SOURCE.

•   BAREFOOT MAIL CARRIERS DELIVERED THE U.S. MAIL FROM 1886 TO 1896 ON FLORIDA'S EAST COAST, WALKING THE BEACHES BETWEEN MIAMI AND LAKE WORTH.  THIS WAS LATER PORTRAYED IN THE 1946 NOVEL THE BAREFOOT MAILMAN.

•   EARLY "TARZAN" FILMS STARRING JOHNNY WEISSMULLER WERE FILMED IN
AND AROUND THE SHIMMERING WATERS OF Silver Springs, NEAR OCALA.

•   FLORIDA HAS ONE HUNDRED THIRTY- FIVE SPECIES OF FERN, MORE THAN ANY OTHER STATE.   THE ZAMIA FLORIDANA OR COONTIE FERN (ACTUALLY A CYCAD) GREW ABUNDANTLY IN FLORIDA MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED MILLION YEARS AGO.  IT WAS LATER EATEN AS A STARCH BY NATIVE AMERICANS AS WELL AS BY EARLY EUROPEAN SETTLERS.

•   THE EVERGLADES KITE IS A MARSH HAWK FOUND ONLY IN THE  FLORIDA EVERGLADES.  ALSO KNOWN AS THE SNAIL KITE, IT FEEDS ON THE APPLE SNAIL.

•  THE WORLD'S FIRST SCHEDULED INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE FLIGHT TOOK OFF FROM KEY WEST FOR HAVANA, CUBA ON OCT. 28, 1927. THE OFFICE BUILDING, NOW A RESTAURANT IS STILL STANDING.
click here for photo.     

•  FLORIDA HAS MORE THAN 300 SPRINGS EMITTING CLEAR, PURE WATER FROM THE UNDERGROUND LIMESTONE AQUIFER.HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE FORCES THE WATER TO THE SURFACE. MANY OF THE SPRINGS IN FLORIDA ARE CONSIDERED FIRST MAGNITUDE, PUMPING MORE THAN 100 CUBIC FEET OF WATER TO THE SURFACE PER SECOND.  THE GREATEST CONCENTRATION OF SPRINGS IS IN NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA, CONSIDERED TO BE THE CAVE DIVING CAPITOL OF THE WORLD.  SCUBA DIVERS PROBE THESE DARK DEPTHS THAT RUN FOR MILES BENEATH THE SURFACE.  

                              www.anythingsouthern.com 

•   THE "FLASH OF GREEN" IS A RARE BUT DAZZLING ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENON WHICH CAN SOME- TIMES BE SEEN, JUST AFTER SUNSET, ON THE SEA'S HORIZON FROM FLORIDA'S WEST COAST.  

•   JUST OUTSIDE OF PERRY, FLORIDA THERE IS A RESTAURANT THAT HAS BEEN OPEN FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. PEOPLE COMING INSIDE HAVE ALWAYS AND CONTINUE TO BE GREETED BY THE WORDS " THE FINEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR".
 
                                                               

                  WATCH FOR MORE FLORIDA FACTS!

11/15/02