Florahome, Florida

Long before the day Flora Sipprell honored this community with her name and Flora's home in Florida became Florahome, this small piece of Florida history was called home by the Native Americans. They were the first to explore the swamp and hear the screech of the owl and make camp beneath the oak. The swamp, drained by others who came long after those first residence had lost all but their Timucuan name, was for a time settled only by a few hardy individuals tough enough to be called Crackers. The Cracker name was actually said to have come from the sound of the whips used by the early cow hunters or 'Florida cowboys' as they drove their herds through the rough Florida terrain. It has since become a sort of blanket label for those of us born here in Florida or for others who have lived here so long they think they were. But at least in Florahome and other out of the way places like it in Florida, the sound of the Cracker whip can still be heard on occasion wielded by those who's blood is pure enough to deserve the title. As time passed, train tracks were put down from Macon Georgia to Palatka, Florida, and what was now called Florahome was discovered and explored by people from places much farther away than the usual Georgia, Alabama or the Carolinas. It's been said that a good time could be had in Florahome in those days when the train station and the hotels were in operation. Fires however were common back then and with the loss of the train station in 1923, lost as well was much of the business it brought to the area. Today, Florahome, like so many places is a mixture of old and new - where the train once came through, a new bike path promises to bring still more new faces to the neighborhood, and maybe that's as it should be. While some may have just moved here, others have family roots as deep as one of Florahome's tall Magnolias, but if you do live here, you or your ancestors at one time were the new face in Florida and like that first Native American to set foot on this land, heard the screech of the owl and camped beneath the oak decided to make this place we call Florahome, Florida 'home'.




Also on Florahome USA:
The Florahome, Florida History Page

Native American Indian History - Florahome, Florida

  Artifacts  - Florahome, FL

The Native American 'Indians' now known as the the Timucua were the original inhabitants of the Florahome, Florida area and lived in a region extending from Southeast Georgia to Northeast and North Central Florida. Evidence of the Timucua recovered from the Florahome area include pottery artifacts as well as a dugout canoe now featured in the new “Dugout Canoes: Paddling Through the Americas,” exhibit at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. Sadly, from their first encounter with Europeans in 1513, the Timucua as a people were doomed to extinction succombing to disease, wars and enslavement. According to Wikipedia, there were no more than five left when Florida was acquired in 1821. Wikipedia is probably the best resource on the web for an overall account of the history and culture of the Timucua. Other places to visit either on the web or in person to learn more about the Timucua, are the Florida Living History website, the Old Florida Museum in St. Augustine, the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in Jacksonville, and of course the Florida Museum of Natural History has many more artifacts and is a great place to explore Florida's past.

For a more in depth study of the Timucua, you might also like to read The Timucua (Peoples of America) by Jerald T. Milanich or the Ripley P. Bullen two book series, The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida and The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida Volume II. Florida resident, Fredric Hitt has also written 3 fictional accounts of the Timucua beginning with Wekiva Winter, followed by Beyond the River of the Sun and The Last Timucuan. There is also a book for younger readers - The Timucua Indians - A Native American Detective Story for ages 9-12.

NEW from Florahome USA
For more on Native American Indians in Florida, you can read Florahome USA's second post on the subject - William Bartram - The Florida Indians

Also on Florahome USA:
The Florahome, Florida History Page