Tallahassee in Leon County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Chandler's Tourist Camp
1925-1929
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, January 5, 2017
1. Chandler's Tourist Camp 1925-1929 Marker
Inscription.
Chandler's Tourist Camp. In 1915, construction began on the Dixie Highway system that linked Florida with the Midwest via highways running from Michigan through Tallahassee along Old St. Augustine Road toward Miami. In the 1920s, the number of auto tourists visiting Florida increased dramatically. Roadside accommodations and inexpensive lodging were very limited. Some early auto tourists, later called Tin Can Tourists, modified their automobiles to provide sleeping quarters, kitchen equipment, and barrels of water as they traveled to what were then remote locations. Gilbert S. Chandler, Sr., an asparagus farmer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a pioneer of the tourist camp industry in Florida, leased seven acres of city land south of the Capitol on Adams Street to begin an auto camp in 1925. Chandler’s camp consisted of a store, a laundry, a community center, a bathhouse, and three tiny tourist cabins with electricity and homemade furniture. As auto tourism continued to grow, Chandler’s Tourist Camp moved to Lake Ella in 1929 to take advantage of tourist traffic on the Old Spanish Trail that linked Florida to California. The vacated city property became the Ben Bridges ball field before state buildings were built there in the 1960s.
In 1915, construction began on the Dixie Highway system that linked Florida with the Midwest via highways running from Michigan through Tallahassee along Old St. Augustine Road toward Miami. In the 1920s, the number of auto tourists visiting Florida increased dramatically. Roadside accommodations and inexpensive lodging were very limited. Some early auto tourists, later called Tin Can Tourists, modified their automobiles to provide sleeping quarters, kitchen equipment, and barrels of water as they traveled to what were then remote locations. Gilbert S. Chandler, Sr., an asparagus farmer from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and a pioneer of the tourist camp industry in Florida, leased seven acres of city land south of the Capitol on Adams Street to begin an auto camp in 1925. Chandler’s camp consisted of a store, a laundry, a community center, a bathhouse, and three tiny tourist cabins with electricity and homemade furniture. As auto tourism continued to grow, Chandler’s Tourist Camp moved to Lake Ella in 1929 to take advantage of tourist traffic on the Old Spanish Trail that linked Florida to California. The vacated city property became the Ben Bridges ball field before state buildings were built there in the 1960s.
Erected 2014 by The Family of Gilbert S. Chandler, Sr., The Family of O.I. Gramling,
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Sr., Deborah Desilets, In Memory of Harvey A. "Coach" Desilets and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-817.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical year for this entry is 1915.
Location. 30° 25.946′ N, 84° 16.907′ W. Marker is in Tallahassee, Florida, in Leon County. Marker is at the intersection of South Adams Street and West Van Buren Street, on the right when traveling north on South Adams Street. Marker located at the western boundary of Cascades Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Tallahassee FL 32301, United States of America. Touch for directions.
2. Chandler's Tourist Camp 1925-1929 Marker looking east into Cascades Park
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, January 5, 2017
3. Chandler's Tourist Camp 1925-1929 Marker looking west toward Florida A&M University
Photographed By Florida Memory
4. Chandler's Tourist Camp ca.1925
Credits. This page was last revised on January 17, 2017. It was originally submitted on January 16, 2017, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 340 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on January 16, 2017, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.