Miccosukee means " Naked River", and is a historical small unincorporated community in northeastern
Leon CountyLeon County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its population in July 2008 was estimated to be about 264,000. The principal place in Leon County is Tallahassee, the county seat and state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major public universities, Florida A&M...
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, at the junction of
County Road 59State Road 59 runs north to south through the eastern Florida Panhandle, with a northern terminus at US 90 near Lloyd, and a southern terminus at US 98 in rural Jefferson County....
(Veterans Memorial Drive) and
County Road 151State Road 151, now County Road 151, is a former state route in northeastern Leon County, Florida.Beginning at the junction of State Road 265 and Seventh Avenue, the route runs north along Centerville Road across Capital Circle to County Road 59 in Miccosukee....
(Moccasin Gap Road).
Miccosukee, like other unincorporated areas in northern Leon County, is an area of rolling hills dotted with ponds and lakes. The large,
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
y
Lake MiccosukeeLake Miccosukee is a large swampy prairie lake in northern Jefferson County, Florida, USA, located east of the settlement of Miccosukee.-Characteristics:Lake Miccosukee forms the northern border between Jefferson and Leon Counties...
borders the eastern edge of the community.
This village was first settled by American Indians belonging to the Creek Tribe often in armed battles with white settlers.
Miccosukee means " Naked River", and is a historical small unincorporated community in northeastern
Leon CountyLeon County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its population in July 2008 was estimated to be about 264,000. The principal place in Leon County is Tallahassee, the county seat and state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major public universities, Florida A&M...
,
FloridaFlorida is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the north. It was the 27th state admitted to the United States...
, at the junction of
County Road 59State Road 59 runs north to south through the eastern Florida Panhandle, with a northern terminus at US 90 near Lloyd, and a southern terminus at US 98 in rural Jefferson County....
(Veterans Memorial Drive) and
County Road 151State Road 151, now County Road 151, is a former state route in northeastern Leon County, Florida.Beginning at the junction of State Road 265 and Seventh Avenue, the route runs north along Centerville Road across Capital Circle to County Road 59 in Miccosukee....
(Moccasin Gap Road).
Geography
Miccosukee, like other unincorporated areas in northern Leon County, is an area of rolling hills dotted with ponds and lakes. The large,
swampA swamp is a wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a substantial number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types...
y
Lake MiccosukeeLake Miccosukee is a large swampy prairie lake in northern Jefferson County, Florida, USA, located east of the settlement of Miccosukee.-Characteristics:Lake Miccosukee forms the northern border between Jefferson and Leon Counties...
borders the eastern edge of the community.
History
This village was first settled by American Indians belonging to the Creek Tribe often in armed battles with white settlers. It was mapped by the
BritishThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
in 1778 and originally called Mikasuki with 60 homes, 28 families, and a town square. Some 70 gunmen protected the town. It was the capital of the short-lived
State of MuskogeeThe State of Muskogee was a proposed sovereign nation located in Florida.English adventurer William Augustus Bowles was elected director general of the State of Muskogee by a congress of Creeks and Seminoles in 1799. Both these tribes speak Muskogean languages. At the time they were living in...
.
In 1818,
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . He was military governor of Florida , commander of the American forces at the Battle of New Orleans , and eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy...
invaded the village and defeated village chief Kinhagee. In 1831, the U.S. Post Office was built along with schools, churches, and stores. Eventually the area became a center of cotton plantations as was most of Leon County. Miccosukee had 2 cotton plantations nearby in
Ingleside PlantationIngleside Plantation was a medium sized cotton plantation of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida and established by Joel C. Blake.-Location:...
and
Blakely PlantationBlakely was a small cotton plantation of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida and established by Miles Blake.-Location:Blakely was bounded on the east by Susan's son's Ingleside Plantation and would have been bound on the west by what is now County Road 59...
.
After the
Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, the area reverted to farms and by 1887, the
Florida Central RailroadThe Florida Central Railroad, headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, constructed a 47 mile line between that city and Fanlew, Florida in 1907 and 1908.The first 10 miles ran from Thomasville to the lumber mill in Metcalf, Georgia, then on to Roddenberry...
served Miccosukee. During the 1890s, wealthy industrialists bought large tracts of land for quail hunting plantations or estates removing thousands of acres of land from agricultural production. Miccosukee thrived until the
boll weevilThe boll weevil is a beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters, which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central America, it migrated into the US from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all US cotton-growing areas by the 1920s, devastating the...
infestation of 1918. The Great Depression (1929-1935) destroyed Leon County's agriculture and the railroad pulled out in the mid 1940s.
Historical Places
- Concord Elementary School was built in 1934 in the town of Miccosukee for grades 1-6. It was closed in the mid-1980s. The building is still used for Miccosukee's Head Start program.
- Van Brunt-Morris House just north of the junction of State Road 59
State Road 59 runs north to south through the eastern Florida Panhandle, with a northern terminus at US 90 near Lloyd, and a southern terminus at US 98 in rural Jefferson County....
and Moccasin Gap Road.
- Averitt-Winchester House
The Averitt-Winchester House is a historic home in Miccosukee, Florida, United States. It is located on the west side of State Road 59, south of the Moccasin Gap-Cromartie Road junction. On November 15, 1996, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.-References and external...
- Miccosukee Methodist Church
The Miccosukee Methodist Church is a historic church in Miccosukee, Florida. It is located ont County Road 59, south of the junction with State Road 151. On June 28, 1996, it was added to the U.S...
- Strickland-Herold House
The Strickland-Herold House is a historic home in Miccosukee, Florida, United States. It is located at Main Street, northwest of junction of Moccasin Gap Road and State Road 59. On January 9, 1997, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places....
NW of the junction State Road 59 and Moccasin Gap Road.
Civil War History
During the
Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
, soldiers from Miccosukee enlisted in Company K, 5th Florida Infantry and Company B, 1st Florida Cavalry. The following soldiers are interred at Runners Cemetery and other locations.
- Pvt. Walter H. Averitt - Born December 24, 1841 in North Carolina. More details
- 3rd Lieutenant Walter Richard Blake, Jr. - Born January 13, 1836 in Leon County. More details
- 2nd Corporal C. Washington Branch - Born 1838 in Leon County More details.
- Captain Isham Miles Blake - Born May 3, 1837 in Leon County. More details
- Pvt. Leonidas Byrd - Birth date unknown. More details
- Pvt. John Alexander Cromartie - Born August 14, 1834 in North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
More details.
- 4th Sergeant Jesse Sinclair Montford - Born June 13, 1829 in Leon County. More details
Political
| Miccosukee Governmental Representation |
| Position |
Name |
Party |
|
| County Commission At-Large |
Cliff Thaell |
Democrat |
| County Commission At-Large |
Akin Akinyemi |
Democrat |
| Commissioner Dist. 4 |
Bryan Desloge |
Republican |
| U.S. House |
Allen Boyd F. Allen Boyd Jr. is an American politician, and has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing . His district includes all of Bay, Gulf, Calhoun, Jackson, Liberty, Gadsden, Franklin, Wakulla, Taylor, Suwannee, Lafayette, and Dixie Counties....
|
Democrat |
| Florida House |
Michelle VasilindaMichelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda is an attorney and college professor living in Tallahassee, Florida.Vasilinda was born in Rochester, New York and is a Democratic politician who serves as the member of the Florida House of Representatives from District 9. She is a Tallahassee Vasilinda came to...
|
Democrat |
External links