Wakulla County, Florida

Wakulla County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, 22,863 people lived there. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county was 28,212 people. Its county seat is Crawfordville. Wakulla County is part of the Tallahassee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Spanish rule
In 1528, Panfilo de Narvaez found what would be Wakulla County. He had left Tampa, Florida and was camping where the Wakulla River and St. Marks River joined together. Narvaez felt this was a good place to build a fort. In 1539, Hernando de Soto followed with his soldiers. They created San Marcos de Apalache.

Early 19th century
The area was an active place in the early 19th century. A former British officer named William Augustus Bowles led 400 Creek Indians in an attack to take control of San Marcos. This angered Spain. A Spanish flotilla got to the area about 5 weeks later. The Spanish took control of San Marcos. In 1818, General Andrew Jackson attacked (Wakulla) and took control of San Marcos. Two British people, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, were said to have started Indian raids. They were found guilty of the crime and killed. This caused large diplomatic problems between the United States and England. In 1821, Florida was became a part of the United States. San Marcos controlled by U.S. troops. In 1824, the fort was no longer used. Control of it was given to the Territory of Florida. By 1839, the fort was returned to the U.S. A federal marine hospital was built. The hospital helped people with yellow fever in the area.

Antebellum Wakulla
Wakulla County was created from Leon County in 1843. It may be named for the Timucuan Indian word for "spring of water" or "mysterious water." This is because of Wakulla County's best natural attraction, Wakulla Springs. Wakulla Springs is one of the world's largest freshwater springs. In 1974, the water flow was measured at 1.23 e9USgal per day. This is the greatest recorded flow ever for a single spring. At one time, the town of Port Leon was a very busy cotton-shipping hub. It had a railroad that carried over 50,000 tons of cotton a year. This cotton was sent to ship which mostly went to Europe. Port Leon was the sixth-largest town in Florida. 1,500 people lived there. A hurricane and its storm surge destroyed the town. New Port (today known as Newport) was built two miles (3 km) up river. It never did as well as Port Leon.

Civil War
During the Civil War, Wakulla County was blockaded from 1861-1865. Confederates took control of San Marcos de Apalache. They changed the name to Fort Ward. The Battle of Natural Bridge stopped the Union force that tried to take Fort Ward and nearby Tallahassee. Tallahassee was the last Confederate state capitol that the Union had not captured. The Union forces were not able use all their soldiers. They still had more soldiers than the Confederates. The Confederates chose to fight at a place where the St Marks River goes underground. This was the "Natural Bridge' the battle was named for. The Confederates had over a day to get ready for the battle. The Union could not win and left. Most of the people who died in the battle were African-American soldiers fighting for the Union. A celebration was held in Tallahassee. It was stopped when a telegram arrived telling them about General Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

The Twentieth Century
From the early 1900s to 1966, Wakulla was very poor. It had no doctor and no dentist. There were only a small number of stores in the county. The county newspaper was printed just once a month on a mimeograph machine. Today, Wakulla has several doctors and dentists, There are several supermarkets and retailers. The county has a golf resort and a very good seafood business.

Geography
The county has a total area of 735.74 sqmi. 606.66 sqmi (or 82.46%) of this area is land and 129.08 sqmi (or 17.54%) is water. Wakulla County is part of the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area.

National protected areas

 * Apalachicola National Forest (part)
 * St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (part)

State and local protected areas

 * Ochlockonee River State Park
 * San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park
 * Wakulla Springs State Park

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 22,863 people, 8,450 households, and 6,236 families living in the county. There were 38 people for each square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.10% White, 11.51% Black, 0.59% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. 1.94% of the people were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Incorporated

 * City of Sopchoppy
 * City of St. Marks

Unincorporated

 * Aaran
 * Buckhorn
 * Crawfordville
 * Hyde Park
 * Medart
 * Panacea
 * Port Leon
 * Newport
 * Sanborn
 * Smith Creek
 * Shell Point
 * Spring Creek
 * Wakulla
 * Wakulla Beach

Wakulla County is unusual in that it has almost no municipal population. The two very small municipalities have about 3 percent of the people. The county seat, Crawfordville, is the only unincorporated county seat of Florida's 67 counties.

Roads
There are no Interstate highways in Wakulla County. Several large roads do go through the area. These include U.S. Route 98 and U.S. Route 319. Other important roads in the county include State Road 267, State Road 363 and County Road 375.

Railroads
There are currently no railroads in Wakulla County. In the past, the Georgia, Florida and Alabama Railroad passed through Sopchoppy moving between Tallahassee and Carrabelle. The use of this railroad ended in 1948, The Tallahassee Railroad, the first railroad in Florida, stopped being used in 1983.

Airports
The Wakulla County Airport (2J0)is south of Panacea. It is a small public-use airport. The airport has with a single 2600 ft, north-south turf runway.

Seaports
St. Marks is a small commercial seaport. In the past, it had some importance in the oil industry. It is currently used mainly by commercial fishermen.

Government links/constitutional offices

 * Wakulla County Board of County Commissioners
 * Wakulla County Health Department
 * Wakulla County Supervisor of Elections
 * Wakulla County Sheriff's Office
 * Wakulla County Schools
 * Wakulla County Clerk of Courts

Other links

 * Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce
 * Wakulla County News and Information