Apalachicola, Florida
The town of Apalachicola was established in 1831. Shipping cotton was Apalachicola’s first big industry and it soon became the third largest port on the Gulf of Mexico. By the 1850s, the waterfront was lined with rows of three story brick warehouses and broad streets helped to handle the loading and unloading of cotton. Steamboats laden with cotton traveled down the Apalachicola River to town where they were unloaded. Small shallow draft schooners (lighters) then shuttled the cargo to ships moored offshore. The ships then took the cotton to Europe and New England for processing. The port was so prominent that a US customs house was opened in 1821, and the French established a consulate office to monitor their commercial interests.
As the railroads expanded throughout the United States making it more efficient to ship cotton by rail, a new industry took shape in the city. Home to large cypress forests, Apalachicola developed several large cypress lumber mills in the late 1800s. Lumber magnates built many of the magnificent historic homes that still line our streets.
By the end of the 19th century, oysters and seafood became the most important industry. Seafood processing houses offloaded millions of pounds of fresh shrimp, oysters and fish each year. Today Franklin County harvests more than 90 % of Florida’s oysters and 13 % of the oysters consumed in the nation. Shrimp, blue crab and finfish are also very important commercially, bringing in over $14 million worth of fresh, raw seafood to Franklin County docks annually.
Noteworthy citizens of Apalachicola include Dr. John Gorrie, who during the yellow fever epidemic developed a machine that produced ice to cool his patients. His invention laid the groundwork for modern refrigeration and air conditioning. A contemporary of Gorrie, botanist Alvin Chapman also lived and worked in Apalachicola. Chapman was the James Audubon of his time where flora was concerned. He wrote the monumental Flora of the Southern United States.
Today tourism is an important sector of our economy. People come to Apalachicola because it authentic and has a strong sense of place. In addition, we have over 900 homes and buildings listed in our National Register of Historic Places District and Apalachicola’s rich history and maritime culture are very visible on the landscape. Our working waterfront with its shrimp and oyster houses is interwoven with an array of eclectic and discretely sophisticated shops housed in meticulously restored turn of the century buildings.
Seafood is still an important component of our economy and culture identity. We have at least a dozen acclaimed restaurants that all use fresh, locally harvested seafood (oysters, shrimp, fish and crabs) harvested from the Bay and brought to our docks daily to serve their patrons. Several have been noted in national publications such as Saveur and Gourmet.
More than 87% of Franklin County is in state or national forests or preserves. Apalachicola is buffered from overdevelopment by these public lands. In addition, we have strict building codes that stress low density development and a height limit of three stories throughout the county.
Apalachicola Bay and most of its drainage basin encompass what is considered one of the least polluted, most undeveloped, resource rich systems left in the United States. For more information contact Anita Grove at the Apalachicola Bay Chamber (850) 653-9419 www.apalachicolabay.org,
As the railroads expanded throughout the United States making it more efficient to ship cotton by rail, a new industry took shape in the city. Home to large cypress forests, Apalachicola developed several large cypress lumber mills in the late 1800s. Lumber magnates built many of the magnificent historic homes that still line our streets.
By the end of the 19th century, oysters and seafood became the most important industry. Seafood processing houses offloaded millions of pounds of fresh shrimp, oysters and fish each year. Today Franklin County harvests more than 90 % of Florida’s oysters and 13 % of the oysters consumed in the nation. Shrimp, blue crab and finfish are also very important commercially, bringing in over $14 million worth of fresh, raw seafood to Franklin County docks annually.
Noteworthy citizens of Apalachicola include Dr. John Gorrie, who during the yellow fever epidemic developed a machine that produced ice to cool his patients. His invention laid the groundwork for modern refrigeration and air conditioning. A contemporary of Gorrie, botanist Alvin Chapman also lived and worked in Apalachicola. Chapman was the James Audubon of his time where flora was concerned. He wrote the monumental Flora of the Southern United States.
Today tourism is an important sector of our economy. People come to Apalachicola because it authentic and has a strong sense of place. In addition, we have over 900 homes and buildings listed in our National Register of Historic Places District and Apalachicola’s rich history and maritime culture are very visible on the landscape. Our working waterfront with its shrimp and oyster houses is interwoven with an array of eclectic and discretely sophisticated shops housed in meticulously restored turn of the century buildings.
Seafood is still an important component of our economy and culture identity. We have at least a dozen acclaimed restaurants that all use fresh, locally harvested seafood (oysters, shrimp, fish and crabs) harvested from the Bay and brought to our docks daily to serve their patrons. Several have been noted in national publications such as Saveur and Gourmet.
More than 87% of Franklin County is in state or national forests or preserves. Apalachicola is buffered from overdevelopment by these public lands. In addition, we have strict building codes that stress low density development and a height limit of three stories throughout the county.
Apalachicola Bay and most of its drainage basin encompass what is considered one of the least polluted, most undeveloped, resource rich systems left in the United States. For more information contact Anita Grove at the Apalachicola Bay Chamber (850) 653-9419 www.apalachicolabay.org,