Abandoned towns, crumbling ruins, and overlooked history—these are the places Florida left behind, but we remember.
Two Civil War veterans, a forgotten Florida community, and one unforgettable Exploration Friday. Imagine heading to Publix for a few groceries, pulling into the parking lot, and discovering a cemetery right in front of the store. Not a historical marker commemorating something that once stood there. Not a decorative monument. An actual cemetery. That’s exactly … Read more
The remarkable history of the May Vinzant Perkins House and our unexpectedly short visit to the Lake City-Columbia County Historical Museum. Some historic places welcome you with open doors, fascinating exhibits, and stories waiting around every corner. Others greet you with an empty parking lot and a locked door. Unfortunately, our visit to the Lake … Read more
Exploring Columbus Cemetery, Civil War Earthworks, and the Forgotten History of Live Oak, Florida There is a ghost town hiding inside Suwannee River State Park. Not the kind with abandoned storefronts or houses slowly collapsing beneath the weight of time. This one is quieter. Its streets have become forest trails, its buildings have largely disappeared, … Read more
Hidden in Polk County, Florida, a collection of historic buildings preserves the stories of pioneer families, a nineteenth-century church, and a little schoolhouse that almost disappeared. There are places in Florida where history has been carefully restored, polished, and presented behind museum doors. And then there are places where you pull through an open gate, … Read more
There are certain things you can count on when traveling with us. I will find history. Murph will find an opportunity to complicate something. And apparently, we will visit at least one cemetery. At this point, I don’t think that’s even accidental anymore. After spending some time exploring nearby Falling Creek Falls, we headed just … Read more
There are trips where I carefully research every destination, map out exactly what I want to see, and arrive knowing enough history to understand what I’m looking at. And then there are stops like White Springs Historic District. My itinerary notes for this one were remarkably thorough: “Figure we’ll just drive through and see the … Read more
Most ghost towns leave something behind. Empty houses. Abandoned storefronts. Crumbling churches. Streets slowly disappearing beneath weeds and trees. Brewster, Florida, is different. When this former phosphate company town in Polk County reached the end of its life, people didn’t simply pack their belongings and leave their houses behind. Some of them took the houses … Read more
Long before Florida became synonymous with beaches, theme parks, and roadside attractions, people were already traveling to the state in search of something remarkable. They came for the water. Along the banks of the Suwannee River in the tiny town of White Springs, Florida, a sulfur spring once poured millions of gallons of mineral-rich water … Read more
Some historic places announce themselves. They have signs along the highway, parking lots, interpretive markers, and plaques explaining exactly why you should stop. Others are much quieter. Sometimes you glimpse a few old headstones through the trees as you drive past and think— Wait. Was that a cemetery? That’s exactly how Dusty and I discovered … Read more
Sometimes the wrong turn is the one worth remembering. There are places we carefully plan to visit. We research them. Add them to an itinerary. Figure out where to park and what we want to see when we arrive. And then there are places we find completely by accident. Micanopy Historic Cemetery was one of … Read more