In a few years Florida will celebrate two hundred years as a part of the United States. It was in 1821 that Andrew Jackson traveled to Pensacola to accept transfer of West Florida from Spain and establish himself as interim governor. At the same time, his cohort was working at St. Augustine to receive East Florida. The transfer of Florida as two territories presented an unacceptable situation for Jackson. To resolve this, the entire region was declared a territory divided into two sections called counties, as was standard in other states. To the west of the Apalachicola River would be Escambia County and to the east, St. John’s.
The need for local government of new populations around the new capitol at Tallahassee in the rich cotton belt region soon required establishment of new counties. More were then added for other areas. In 1842 the citizens east of the Escambia River succeeded in establishing a new county for themselves. The west half taken from the then much smaller Escambia County and the east half taken from Walton County (half of the eastern acquisition would later be given up for another new county). The new county was named Santa Rosa, a name taken after the Catholic saint of roses and beautiful women. Declaration of this new county did not mean new populations however, settlements had been established in this area for years. This space allows note of only a few.
In the north along the juncture of the Conecuh and Escambia Rivers, the Scots Bend farm region had been established through land grants in the second Spanish period around 1800. The communities continued until after the Civil War when many settlers along the river were declared squatters and forced out by new logging interests. Of these communities, only places like Coon Hill Cemetery near Chumuckla Springs mark their passing.
To the south, several river and bay communities also grew in this era. One of the most notable was Florida, established during our Spanish era on the northeast side of the Escambia Bay shallows. Florida was the trailhead of a well-known flat land route to the north which avoided streams and rivers that were common along trails on the west side of the Escambia River. It was here that Andrew Jackson sent troops during his first sortie into Spanish Florida in an effort to block fleeing Creek warriors, and due to poor guides it was here that he arrived on the wrong side of the bay in 1817 during his second invasion of the region. In 1842 with the declaration of a new county, Floridatown became county seat. Unfortunately, the scourge of yellow fever decimated the population that year, resulting in the town’s abandonment by many families and a transfer of government. The town later became a retreat for the well-to-do, and still later fell away to become part of the late 1800’s era sawmill community named after the mill’s owners, Pace.
At the end of the Spanish era, Jacob Keller received a large tract near Florida. Keller was the son of a Spanish nobleman and one of his slaves. It is remembered that Keller was probably given this grant in order to distance him from the arriving Americans in Pensacola and their views of blacks. He was widely known in the area as the Mulatto, a term commonly used in the era for half blacks. It was not long before the bayou on his large farm also became known as Mulatto Bayou. Keller died and was buried on his farm in 1827, but the name of the area held on. Over the years, the name was contracted to today’s name, Mulat.
In 1817, in order to supply lumber to the crown, a Spanish nobleman was granted a large tract of timberland along Pond Creek, a stream that empties into the western side of Blackwater Bay. The project languished until a young man called John Forsyth took the land. With the partnership of the Simpson brothers, a prosperous group of water-powered mills were established and became known as Arcadia. The products of the mills were transported by a mule-powered railway to their docks on the Blackwater, and a community of homes soon grew around the docks. The community was later given the name Bagdad. In 1841 the Forsyth and Simpson Company moved to Bagdad and opened new steam-powered mills there; the old facilities were turned to cotton and silk production. Shortly after 1850 however, the mills at Arcadia closed and the site later abandoned. Today the old mill area of Arcadia is a historic site. The sawmills of Bagdad continued on through the evolution of several companies until the Bagdad Land and Lumber Company closed in 1939 after stripping the county of trees from Blackwater Bay into Alabama. The site of Bagdad’s mills are today a park and Bagdad a well-kept historic village.
The origins of the town of Milton are unknown but date into the Spanish era. Located at the terminus of several Indian trails and at the juncture of deep water on the Blackwater River and a rich supply of logs, the site was perfect for trade and ship building. During this era however, the powerful Panton, Leslie Trading Company demanded all trade go through them at Pensacola, so the early life of Milton was probably based on smuggling. By 1840 the established town was given a territorial charter to incorporate. In 1843 it became county seat. By 1848 cotton was being exported here by steamships from inland Alabama, and plans at the port were made for a new, but later failed, Georgia and Pensacola Railway. By 1850 the town claimed five sawmills and five shipyards, and properties in Pensacola were being recommended to residents as quiet getaways from the bustling town. The Civil War would change things. Today the old residential district is very attractive. Among the more unique sites is St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, built in 1867.
Our region is filled with rich sites of our history; visit them. And, visit the ASHS museums. We have volunteers who open our doors each Saturday.
