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Apalachicola is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,231 at the 2010 census.
[edit] History
Between the years 1513 and 1763, the area that now includes the town of Apalachicola was under Spanish jurisdiction as part of Spanish Florida; however, the Spanish, based out of Pensacola, never ventured as far east as the Apalachicola River, and the area remained unsettled and unexplored during the duration of Spain's first occupation of Florida. The only inhabitants of the area during that time were the Apalachee, Miccosukee and Timucua tribes. In the 1750s, during the French and Indian War, the British captured the Spanish colony of Cuba; however, because Cuba was a prized possession for the Spanish and Florida was mostly unused backwater, the Spanish traded Florida to the British in return for regaining Cuba. Between the years 1763 and 1783, the area that is now Apalachicola fell under the jurisdiction of British West Florida. A British trading post called "Cottonton" was founded at this site on the mouth of the Apalachicola River. In 1783, British West Florida was transferred to Spain; however, the trading post (and its British inhabitants) remained and continued facilitating trade along the Apalachicola River (which was connected to the trading network along the Chattahoochee River). Gradually, after acquisition by the United States and related development in Alabama and Georgia, it attracted more permanent European-American residents. In 1827, the town was incorporated as "West Point". Apalachicola received its current name in 1831, by an act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida. Trinity Episcopal Church was incorporated by an act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida on February 11, 1837. The building was one of the earliest prefabricated buildings in the United States. The framework was shipped by schooner from New York City and assembled in Apalachicola with wooden pegs. In 1837, a newspaper at Apalachicola boasted that the town's business street along the waterfront "had 2,000 feet [600 meters] of continuous brick stores, three stories high, 80 feet [25 meters] deep, and all equipped with granite pillars." Botanist Alvan Wentworth Chapman settled in Apalachicola in 1847. In 1860, he published his major work, Flora of the Southern United States. An elementary school was later named in his honor. On April 3, 1862, during the American Civil War, the gunboat and the steamer (relieving the ) captured Apalachicola. Union forces that occupied west Florida during much of the war moved here. [edit] Dr. John GorrieIn 1849, Apalachicola physician Dr. John Gorrie discovered the cold-air process of refrigeration and patented an ice machine in 1850. He had experimented to find ways to lower the body temperature of fever patients. His patent laid the groundwork for development of modern refrigeration and air conditioning, making Florida and the South more livable year-round. The city has a monument to him, and a replica of his ice machine is on display in the John Gorrie Museum. The John Gorrie Memorial Bridge, carrying the main road out of Apalachicola, U.S. 98, is named for him. [edit] TransportationBefore railroads reached the region in the later 19th century, Apalachicola was the third-busiest port on the Gulf of Mexico (behind New Orleans and Mobile).[1] Scheduled boats transported passengers and goods up and down the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint rivers to Albany and Columbus, Georgia. A paddle steamer, the Crescent City, made a daily round trip to Carrabelle, carrying the mail as well as passengers and freight. The AN Railway, formerly the Apalachicola Northern Railroad, serves the city. Originally built in 1935 and rebuilt in 1988, the John Gorrie Memorial Bridge carries U.S. 98 across Apalachicola Bay to Eastpoint. [edit] Research Tips
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