Milton in Santa Rosa County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Arcadia Railroad & Twitchell Sawmill
Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site
The Arcadia Railroad
The three-mile Arcadia Railroad, one of the oldest in territorial Florida, was completed in 1840. Built in just five months, it connected Arcadia with the mouth of Pond Creek at the Blackwater River. Mules pulled cars along wooden rails covered with flat strips of iron. Although primitive , the railroad was useful for transporting lumber from Arcadia to the Blackwater River
Timothy Twitchell
In November 1830 Timothy Twitchell bought the northeast quarter of the Arcadia land from Joseph Forsyth for $121 . He dammed a small creek and erected a small sawmill. A 1,000 foot ditch dug from Arcadia’s hugh mill pond to Twitchell’s mill provided additional waterpower and carried logs directly to his mill site. In 1836, Twitchell added a shingle a shingle mill to his operation. By the end of the 1830’s, Twitchell’s sawmill and shingle mill had shipped more than 150,000 board feet of lumber and more than 50,000 shingles to New Orleans.
The Arcadia Pail Factory
In 1841 Twitchell built the Arcadia Pail Factory, a system of water-powered machinery that assembled wooded buckets made of juniper and white cedar wood. With only four laborers, the small enterprise produced about 1000 buckets per year.
The “Silk Boom”
During the ‘silk boom’ of the late 1830s, Twitchell planted eight acres of Chinese mulberries and erected a 100-foot long, two story cocoonery to house around 400,000 silkworms, along with silk reels and other machinery for transforming silk cocoons into bales of raw silk. Unfortunately, the silk industry boom collapsed, and Twitchell’s endeavors were unsuccessful.
Erected by University of West Florida Historic Trust.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Horticulture & Forestry • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars.
Location. 30° 36.8′ N, 87° 4.907′ W. Marker is in Milton, Florida, in Santa Rosa County. Marker can be reached from Mill Pond Lane, 0.1 miles north of Juan De Laurua Court when traveling north. Marker located within the Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5709 Mill Pond Lane, Milton FL 32583, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Arcadia’s Cotton Textile Mill (here, next to this marker); Plunge Pool (a few steps from this marker); The Millrace (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Existing Foundations: Sawmill and Textile Mill (about 400 feet away); Arcadia Dam and Water Works (about 500 feet away); Arcadia Mill (about 600 feet away); Arcadia Community (about 600 feet away); Arcadia Dam (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Milton.
Also see . . . Explore Arcadia Mill. Historic Pensacola (Submitted on July 18, 2020.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 18, 2020. It was originally submitted on July 16, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 160 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 16, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.