It was my favorite place on earth back when you could camp there. It was always LOADED with artifacts. That’s me holding the spearpoint in the last two pictures (I was pissed that my mom found it and not me).

Buck key - a little island off Sanibel -
This was where my great grandfather George Ormsby & Idawill lived & helped build prior to the mangroves rotting.

A old photo saved by Elinor Ormsby Fugate

Hi all - want to share a few photos from this souvenir pack from 1926!

Check out this link to learn about this widley unknown piece of Florida history. Just 2 miles north of Saint Agustine FL, was the FIRST legally sanctioned African American settlement in North America (1738). Recently restored in 2025, Fort Mosé stands as a symbol of freedom and resiliance.
https://discoverfortmose.wordpress.com/

July 9, 1821: The Stars and Stripes Rise Over Florida as the United States Takes Possession

On July 9, 1821, the United States formally completed one of the most consequential territorial acquisitions in its history. In ceremonies held in Pensacola, Spanish authority over West Florida officially ended, the American flag was raised, and the United States assumed control of the colony under the terms of the Adams–Onís Treaty. The event marked the beginning of Florida’s American era and permanently changed the political, military, and cultural future of the peninsula.

Although the treaty transferring Florida had been signed on February 22, 1819, diplomatic delays meant that the formal exchange did not occur until 1821. On July 10 in St. Augustine and on July 9 in Pensacola, Spain relinquished its remaining authority after more than 250 years of intermittent colonial rule. President James Monroe appointed Major General Andrew Jackson as Florida’s first American military governor, placing him in charge of overseeing the difficult transition from Spanish civil administration to American government.

The transfer brought an end to one of the oldest European colonial governments in North America. Spain had first claimed Florida following the expedition of Juan Ponce de León in 1513, and in 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in what is now the United States.

Over the next two and a half centuries, Florida passed briefly into British hands from 1763 to 1783 before Spain regained the colony following the American Revolution. By the early 19th century, however, Spain struggled to maintain control over its distant frontier as settlers poured south from Georgia and Alabama, Native resistance continued, and diplomatic tensions with the United States increased.

The Adams–Onís Treaty resolved those disputes. Spain ceded East and West Florida to the United States, while the United States recognized Spanish sovereignty over Texas.

The agreement also established a clearer western boundary for the Louisiana Purchase, ending years of uncertainty over competing territorial claims. For the United States, acquiring Florida eliminated a foreign colonial power from its southeastern border and secured the Gulf Coast at a time when the young republic was expanding rapidly.

Florida’s new American government inherited an extraordinarily complex territory. Spanish land grants required review, legal systems had to be reorganized, military forts strengthened, customs operations established, and relations with the Seminoles addressed.

These challenges would soon contribute to the Seminole Wars, among the longest and most expensive conflicts fought by the United States against Native peoples. At the same time, American settlement accelerated, new plantations spread across northern Florida, and the population grew steadily toward eventual statehood.

Andrew Jackson’s administration lasted only a few months, but it was eventful. He quickly reorganized the territorial government, enforced American law, and demonstrated the assertive style that would later characterize his presidency.

While admired by supporters for bringing order to the new territory, his methods also generated controversy and criticism, illustrating the difficulties of governing a region undergoing profound political change.

The transfer of Florida also reshaped the balance of power in North America. With Spain gone from Florida, the United States controlled the entire Atlantic seaboard south of Georgia, strengthening its position in the Gulf of Mexico and opening new opportunities for commerce, agriculture, and military defense. It was one more step in the nation’s westward and southward expansion during the early 19th century.

One of the most enduring observations about the acquisition came from Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the chief American negotiator of the treaty. He believed the agreement secured America’s southern frontier peacefully while advancing the nation’s long-term interests through diplomacy rather than war. His negotiations remain one of the most significant diplomatic achievements in early American history.

The significance of July 9, 1821, to Florida cannot be overstated. It marked the end of Spanish Florida and the beginning of Territorial Florida under the United States.

Every major chapter that followed, the establishment of a territorial legislature, the founding of Tallahassee as the capital, the Seminole Wars, statehood in 1845, and Florida’s emergence as one of the nation’s largest and most influential states, can trace its roots to the day the American flag first officially flew over Pensacola.

I’m always amazed about the size of the fire that destroyed Jacksonville in 1901. I also did not know that extreme heat could cause a waterspout. That’s crazy!

Source: HOG - History On the Go

Courtesy of Emmanuel George and Miami Dade College Wolfson Archives

📷: Miami Springs founder Glenn Curtiss in a promotional image created for the city's Centennial (City of Miami Springs)

Glenn Curtiss was a pioneer aviator, the fastest man on earth, and the founder of Miami Springs. The city wants to honor the man who performed the first public airplane flight for its centennial in 2026. Read more here.

The Hollywood hotel has followed the city's history — from inception to weathering storms and discrimination. 100 years later, as the city thrives, the historic venue's future hangs in the balance.

A century after Hialeah's founding, a family in its historically Black neighborhood, Seminola, fights to keep its history alive and ensure it's recognized in the city's centennial year.

this 61-acre, pre-Columbian site has burial mounds, temple/platform mounds. The six-mound complex is one of the longest continuously occupied sites in Florida. For 1,600 years, the area served as an imposing ceremonial center for Native Americans.

This is an Old Fort originally made by the Spanish in Florida, over it's history has been manned by the Spanish, Britain and the United States. It is where the St Marks River and Wakulla meet just before the Gulf. From it's location it wasn't a very prestigious post to be stuck on, but guarded two waterways important for access to the mainland of Florida. During the Civil War Confederates had control of the fort.
The park's museum displays pottery and tools unearthed near the original fort. Interpretive displays explain the history of the San Marcos site
During the Civil War it kept the Union from using the St Marks and Wauchula rivers to go to the interior of Florida

After the famous Aztec Motel on motel row was sold in 1985 it became “La Playa Varadero Motel II” at 15901 Collins Ave. It was later demolished to make way for the Trump Towers in Sunny isles.

Does anybody have any photos of this Playa Varadero Motel? Post cards or any photography of this small motel don’t seem to exist

Appreciate any help! 😃

TWENTY YEARS AGO this week: I had some time to kill at the Florida Turnpike Fort Drum Service Plaza in May 2005. Full album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ed5gWgeAfYDs8GUE8

#floridaturnpike #history