(side 1)
Bayport in the Civil War
Bayport was a shallow-water gulf port town in the 1850s. The town was designated the Hernando County Seat and a port of delivery by Congress in 1854. Before the Civil War, the port shipped lumber cut . . . — — Map (db m110440) HM
Bayport's Early Historic Period
During the First Spanish Period (1565-1763) Florida served as a military defense port. In 1763, under British control, agricultural commerce became important. Control of Florida returned to Spain in 1783. In . . . — — Map (db m93297) HM
(side 1)
The Bayport Area Before Human Occupation
The fossilized remains of many prehistoric animals and plants are buried in the Bayport area. During the Eocene Period, 45 million years ago (MYA), the Gulf covered this region. . . . — — Map (db m93296) HM
Side 1
In 1885, Brooksville had a population of 500. Residents depended on horse-drawn wagons and stagecoaches to transport goods and passengers to the outside world. Four innovative businessmen formed the Brooksville Railroad Association and . . . — — Map (db m206334) HM
Side 1
At the beginning of World War II, a group of Hernando County leaders
met with U.S. Senator Claude Pepper and expressed a desire to have a
military airfield built in the county. In November 1942, the Brooksville
Army Airfield consisting . . . — — Map (db m297163) HM
Seminole Indians inhabited this area in the early 1800s. In 1842, a South
Carolina lawyer, Col. Bird Pearson, claimed 6,000 acres from the US
government and named the site Tiger Tail Hill. In 1851, Pearson sold the
land to a fellow South . . . — — Map (db m288951) HM
In 1842, South Carolinian Bird M. Pearson staked a claim on 160 acres and called it Mount Airy, one of the few surviving plantations in Florida and one of the oldest houses in Hernando County. Pearson built the manor house's east wing in 1847 and . . . — — Map (db m67006) HM
The first colony of Muskogee-speaking Upper Creek Indians from Alabama was established nearby in 1767. British surveyor/naturalist Bernard Romans identified the settlement as "New Yufala, planted in a beautiful and fertile plain." It later became . . . — — Map (db m93307) HM
Founding Fathers
W.J. Barnett, Mayor • T.J. Cook, Alderman • F.B. Coogler, Treasurer • William M. Garrison, Tax Assessor • James A. Jennings, Clerk • Christopher C. Keathley, President of Council • Frank E. Saxon, Marshall • W.H. Townsend, . . . — — Map (db m237699) HM
Hernando County originally embraced Hernando, Pasco and Citrus counties. It was created by the Territorial Legislature in 1843 and named for Hernando DeSoto. In 1844 its name was changed to Benton County in honor of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of . . . — — Map (db m123567) HM
Dedicated in memory of the Service Members of Hernando County who gave their lives in the Global War on Terrorism during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
Operation Iraqi Freedom
USMC Sgt. Lea Robert Mills 4/28/2006 . . . — — Map (db m237700) WM
In loving memory of those who gave their lives in the service of their country World War I World War II Korea Vietnam Erected by American Legion in cooperation with the Hernando County Action ‘76 Committee and the Florida State Bicentennial . . . — — Map (db m132461) WM
This historic sidewalk, dated January 6, 1914, was taken from the corner of Howell Ave and Olive Street in Brooksville, Fl. The sidewalks were raised to accommodate the entry and exit into horse drawn carriages, allowing passengers to be raised from . . . — — Map (db m169200) HM
The first St. Stanislaus Church was built here in 1915 by a small group of Polish farmers who had purchased land in this area of Hernando County in an effort to begin a new community. Priests from St. Leo Abbey would come out once a month to . . . — — Map (db m37326) HM
Though mass was first celebrated for Brooksville Catholics at the Hope residence on Easter Sunday 1874 by Bishop Augustin Verot, a formal Catholic mission was not established until 1892. At that time Fr. Roman Kirchner, the Benedictine Pastor of St. . . . — — Map (db m44010) HM
One of the area's early white settlers, Charlotte Crum is the first known burial in the Brooksville Cemetery. Her death occurred immediately following the Second Seminole War (1833-1842), and is symbolic of the epic collision that occurred in . . . — — Map (db m259761) HM
(Side 1)
Garden Grove was carved out of the Chocochatti Hammock, first inhabited by the Upper Creek Nation and then by pioneer families such as the Hopes and Crums. The area remained largely undeveloped up to the 1920s. By that time, the . . . — — Map (db m139121) HM
It’s July 23, 1539…
Conquistador Hernando de Soto and his advance guard of 12 horsemen have just passed the small Indian village of Vicela…
I have decided not to stop here. We must press on further north and reach the chiefdom of . . . — — Map (db m126575) HM
In 1924-26, a group of Slovak and Czech immigrants moved down from New York and Pennsylvania to establish a farming community in Florida, and bought about 10,000 acres in Hernando County. They founded a town here, which they named after Thomas G. . . . — — Map (db m281941) HM
In 1921, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) decided to relocate its depot in Riverland to Richloam. Soon after, in 1922, Postmaster Lucius Sidney "Sid” Brinson moved the Riverland Post Office to the growing community of Richloam and . . . — — Map (db m119132) HM
It’s July 20, 1539…
Here at the Indian village called Luca, Calvary Captain Baltasar de Gallegos reports back to Hernando de Soto –
My mission to meet with the great Chief Urriparacoxi was unsuccessful. The chief hid in the . . . — — Map (db m126574) HM
The light of freedom still burns brightly in our world today because of the service and sacrifice of America's men and women in uniform.
Our Nation's servicemen and women have fought the forces of tyranny and won victories for liberty, human . . . — — Map (db m246854) WM
Shortly after Florida became a U.S. Territory, Fort Brooke was constructed at the mouth of the Hillsborough River and Fort King was established near the present site of Ocala. In 1825, work was begun by the federal government on an overland route . . . — — Map (db m41865) HM
This building was constructed by the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) in 1938. It was originally proposed to be a building that could be used as a polling place on election days and as a community recreation hall.
The School Board saw the . . . — — Map (db m93387) HM
This is the site of the former Schroder Land and Timber Company (SLTC) clubhouse. John Schroder, owner of the SLTC, purchased large tracts of land in Hernando and Pasco counties, including the area later known as Richloam. Built around 1916, the . . . — — Map (db m135933) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m67109) HM
Side 1:
This site was once the location of one of Florida's largest lumber mills. As demand for insect and rot resistant cypress increased, the J.C. Turner Lumber Company began the logging of over 15,000 acres of Red Tidewater Cypress, . . . — — Map (db m110443) HM
