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Apalachicola

(French Consulate)

(Lafayette Park)

(Lafayette Park)

(View from Market St. Pier)

(Old Cotten Exchange)

(Chapman Botanical Garden)

Apalachicola is a historic riverside town with a wonderful selection of local seafood and area fishing. That seems to run at a slower pace than the rest of the world. The days here just seem to ease by with out a worry in the world.

The name Apalachicola means "people on the other side" in the language of the native Indians.

Apalachicola was established in 1831. Shipping cotton was Apalachicola’s big industry and it soon became the third largest port on the Gulf of Mexico. By the 1850s, the waterfront was lined with brick warehouses and broad streets to handle the loading and unloading of cotton. Steamboats laden with cotton came down the River and were unloaded. Then small shallow draft schooners moved the cargo to larger ships offshore.

As the railroads expanded throughout the United States, a new industry took shape in the city. Since the area is home to large cypress forests, Franklin County developed several big lumber mills in the late 1800s. By the end of the 19th century, oysters and seafood became an important industry.

Lafayette Park
The park has a pier, a gazebo, picnic tables and playground. It is located in Apalachicola on Avenue B between 13th and 15th Streets. The gazebo makes a great location for a wedding or other special event. The pier is great for fishing or just to relax watching the sunset into the bay.

Battery Park and the City Marina
Boat launch, pier, city marina, and park with picnic tables and playground, located in Apalachicola below the bridge on Bay Avenue between 4th and 6th Streets. It is also the location the annual seafood festival, held on the first weekend of every November.

Chestnut Street Cemetery
It is one of the more significant cemeteries on the Gulf Coast. Established in 1831, the stones tell the history of Apalachicola. Funerary art reflects the ethnic diversity of the community, religious beliefs and burial customs trade patterns. Located on Highway 98 between 6th and 8th Streets.

Chapman Botanical Garden
A great place to take a relaxing stroll through canopy walk ways, and to view local flowers.

Orman House
Built in 1838 by Thomas Orman, the wood for this two story home was cut to measure near Syracuse, New York and shipped to Apalachicola by sailing vessel around the Florida Keys then assembled on the bluff overlooking the broad estuary and bay of the Apalachicola River. Today the house still resonates with a genteel aura and warmth of the past.

Name
"Apalachicola" is a combination of Hitchiti Indian words "apalahchi," meaning "on the other side," and "okli," meaning "people". In original reference to the settlement, it probably meant "people on the other side of the river."[2][3] Many inhabitants of Apalachicola, however, choose to translate the name of their town as "land of the friendly people."[4]

History
A trading post called Cottonton was located on the current site of Apalachicola. In 1827, the town was incorporated as West Point. Apalachicola received its current name in 1831, by an Act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida.

Before the development of railways in the Gulf states, Apalachicola was the third busiest port in the Gulf of Mexico (behind New Orleans and Mobile). In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the sponge trade, led by Greek immigrants, was a major industry in the town. Apalachicola is still the home port for a variety of seafood workers, including oyster harvesters and shrimpers. More than 90% of Florida's oyster production is harvested from Apalachicola Bay. Every year the town hosts the Florida Seafood Festival. The bay is well protected by St. Vincent Island, Flag, Sand, St. George Island, and Cape St. George Island.

Trinity Episcopal Church was incorporated by an Act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida on Feb 11, 1837. The builiding was one of the earliest prefabricated buildings in America. The framework was shipped by schooner from New York and assembled in Apalachicola with wooden pegs.

Botanist Alvan Wentworth Chapman (1809-1899) settled in Apalachicola in 1846. In 1860, he published his major work, Flora of the Southern United States. The local elementary school is named in his honor.

In 1849, Apalachicola physician Dr. John Gorrie (1802-1855) discovered the cold-air process of refrigeration and patented an ice-machine in 1850, as the result of experiments to lower the temperatures of fever patients, laying the groundwork for modern refrigeration and air-conditioning. The city has a monument to him, and a replica of his ice machine is on display in the John Gorrie Museum.

The AN Railway, formerly the Apalachicola Northern Railroad, serves the city.