Magnolia, Florida
| Magnolia | |
|---|---|
| Former town | |
 Magnolia
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| Coordinates: 30°13′15″N 84°10′30″W / 30.22083°N 84.17500°WCoordinates: 30°13′15″N 84°10′30″W / 30.22083°N 84.17500°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Wakulla County |
| Established | 1820s |
Magnolia, Florida was a thriving river port town in southern Wakulla County, Florida, established in the 1820s and is classified as an "extinct city" by the State Library and Archives of Florida. All that remains of the city is the run down cemetery - the last known burial was in 1859. The cemetery is on land now owned by the St. Joe Paper Company. The town was located near the small city of St. Marks, Florida.
In June 1827, only 6 years after Spain ceded Florida to the United States, four brothers from Maine- John, George, Nathanial and Weld Hamlin- founded the town of Magnolia on the St. Marks river just north of the existing town of St. Marks. The Ladd family also married into the Hamlin family and helped settle the new town of Magnolia. Their primary purpose was to establish a profitable shipping port for the export of cotton that would be delivered to the port from points north, primarily from the rail terminus in Tallahassee about 20 miles north. The Hamlins had relatives in Maine who owned and operated a large textile mill.
The town experienced initial growth as lots were platted and sold. Several stores, warehouses and even a hotel that billed itself as the "best on the gulf" were established.
Imports also came through the port to supply the growing Florida panhandle area. Such items of record include brown and loaf sugar, Canary, Malga and Bordeaux wine (known then as Claret wine), bleached osnaburg, powder, shot, lead, cordage, leans soup, foolscap sealing wax and Scotch snuff.
Although a crude road made of dirt and wooden boards was constructed to run from this area to Tallahassee, a railroad was sorely needed. (In the early 1850s an upgraded plank road was constructed). By 1835 a rail connection was launched from Tallahassee to the town of St. Marks situated a little farther south on the St. Marks river. The rail effectively by-passed Magnolia. Although the rail line was very crude and initially relied on mules to pull open cars along loosely anchored rails, this connection gave St. Marks a transportation advantage over Magnolia.
By the late 1830s, the fate of Magnolia was sealed and most of the inhabitants picked up and moved either to St. Marks or to the new town of Port Leon south of St. Marks. Some of the buildings were moved along with the people. Port Leon later suffered a devastating hurricane that destroyed the town and caused its inhabitants to move back up closer to the original town of Magnolia and settle the town of Newport. (drawn mostly from The Ghost Towns and Side Roads of Florida, James Warnke, Roving Photographers.)
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Wikipedia