Near Weeki Wachee in Hernando County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Bayport

Photographed By Tim Fillmon, June 1, 2013

1. Bayport Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

The interior of Central Florida opened for settlement by whites in the mid-1840s following the end of the Second Seminole War. In the absence of roads and railroads, coastal and inland waterways provided the transportation routes essential to farmers for marketing crops and receiving supplies. The village of Bayport, located at the mouth of the Weekiwachee River, sprang up in the early 1850s as a supply and cotton port. During the War Between the States, Union naval squadrons blockaded Florida's coasts to prevent goods and supplies from passing into and out of the State. By 1863, the East Gulf Blockade Squadron effectively closed the larger ports along the Gulf Coast. Small rivers, such as the Weekiwachee, became important trade routes. Shipping at Bayport attracted the attention of the Union Blockade Squadron, which intercepted eleven blockade runners near there between 1862 and 1865. After the war, Bayport became Hernando County's major outlet for lumber and agriculture products, and continued to serve as its transportation center until railroad service came to Brooksville in 1885.

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Settlements & Settlers • War, US Civil • Wars, US Indian. A significant historical year for this entry is 1863.

Location. 28° 32.076′ N, 82° 39.006′ W. Marker is near Weeki Wachee, Florida, in Hernando County. Marker is on Cortez Boulevard, on the right when traveling south. Marker is at the end of Cortez Boulevard near pier in Historic Cortez Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 4140 Cortez Boulevard, Spring Hill FL 34607, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Bayport's Early Historic Period/Post Civil War Era (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Bayport Area Before Human Occupation/Bayport's First People (about 600 feet away); Bayport in the Civil War/The Battle of Bayport (approx. 0.2 miles away); Aripeka Historic District (approx. 7.1 miles away); Town of Centralia (approx. 8 miles away); Veterans Memorial Flag Pole (approx. 9 miles away); Hudson Cemetery (approx. 12.1 miles away); Vereen Methodist Episcopal Church, School and Cemetery (approx. 12.1 miles away).

Also see . . . History of Bayport, Hernando County Florida.
An article in the Tampa Herald on August 31, 1854, reported,

Bayport Marker after restoration image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Tim Fillmon, March 17, 2020

2. Bayport Marker after restoration

“Major John Parsons had expended a large amount of his means to bring this place into notice, and will not fail in his undertaking. He has laid the town off into lots, and will dispose of them to any one that will improve them at once. He has left a beautiful square of three acres in the centre of the town for a public walk, and enclosed with all the different types of trees with which our forest abounds.... There are at present seven families living here, and, all told about sixty persons, and would be more if the people could get lumber for building purposes. A Hotel will soon be erected for the purpose of invalids; and the spirited contractor of the mail route will have a hack line to run from the Court House, whenever it is necessary, or desired, for the conveyence of passengers.” (Submitted on April 10, 2014, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)