Today, Florida Time brings readers a highly-anticipated list -- and it’s a four-parter of state counties and the origin of their names.
Did you know part of Palm Beach and Dade counties became Broward County in 1915? Read more on how and why in this short history of Broward written by now-retired Palm Beach Post writer and editor Bill McGoun.
For now, let’s jump into the first batch of Florida’s counties with facts from this writer’s book, Florida Fun Facts, as well as the Florida Department of State and the Florida Handbook. Note: Years refer to each county's formation.
Alachua (1824): A Muskogee or Timucua word for sinkhole. Historians say it might have referred to a large one near Gainesville.
Baker (1861): James McNair Baker was a Confederate senator.
Bay (1913): For St. Andrews Bay. One of three counties named for bodies of water (Gulf, Lake).
Florida Time archives: Get caught up on the stories you’ve missed
Bradford (1861): It was New River from 1858 to 1861 but then was named for Capt. Richard Bradford, who died Oct. 9, 1861, at the Battle of Santa Rosa Island. He was the first Florida Confederate officer killed in the Civil War.
Brevard (1855): It was St. Lucie from 1844 to 1855 but then was named for Dr. Ephraim Brevard, writer of the Mecklenberg (N.C.) Declaration of Independence, or Theodore Washington Brevard, Florida’s comptroller in the 1850s. St. Lucie County later formed a little farther south.
Broward (1915) -- Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, governor from 1905 to 1909, earned fame, or infamy, depending on your perspective, by going full-throttle on drainage of the Everglades.
RELATED: Post Time: Broward was carved from Palm Beach and Dade counties
Calhoun (1838): John C. Calhoun was a U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a strong advocate of states' rights.
Charlotte (1921): It might be a corruption of Calusa, the primary native group in the area. It's believed English mapmakers later claimed it for Charlotte Sophia, wife of King George III.
Citrus (1887): The most ironic name; it now has no citrus! Well, mostly none. The industry flourished there in the 1880s, but a series of hard freezes over the next decade wiped out groves and drove growers south.
Read more Florida history: Here are Florida’s top 25 stories of all time
Clay (1858): For Kentucky U.S. Sen. Henry Clay. If not for his Compromise of 1850, historians say, the Civil War might have started a decade earlier.
Collier (1923): By early 1923, New York ad executive Barron Collier owned almost 70 percent of southern Lee County. Lee was responsible for part of the Tamiami Trail to Miami. Collier, frustrated at the pace of the trail's construction, used his clout to help push through legislation splitting off Collier, in order to get more control over improvements in southwest Florida, which in turn helped his financial interests.
Columbia (1832): For Christopher Columbus and/or for the ensuing lyrical name for America. One of three county names with themes from the American Revolution (Liberty, Union).
Dade (1836): Major Francis L. Dade and more than 100 soldiers under his command died north of Tampa in a Dec. 28, 1835 Seminole ambush that sparked the Second Seminole War. The county was to be named for Revolutionary War hero William Pinkney when word came of the clash. In 1997, to maximize the region’s branding, voters renamed the county Miami-Dade.
Dixie (1921): from the historical term for the South.
READER REWIND: What's your Florida story? Share it with Eliot by leaving a voicemail at (850) 270-8418.
Next week: The big black button inside a metal cup
Last week: Florida History: Exploring the heavens with Jules Verne and Florida’s space history
Reader asks: Why do people call it the Civil War when the U.S. Government recognized the southern states as a separate country? Therefore the war would not be a civil war because that would mean it was within one country. - K. Ingold
Eliot answers: Hi Kevin. As you know, my column focuses on Florida, but I will try to answer your question. In fact, the United States never recognized the Confederacy as a separate, sovereign nation. It considered the southern states as being in rebellion with the pact to which they agreed when the national government was codified in 1789. The South, on the other hand, believed it had a right to leave a marriage it willingly had joined all those years back. Had England and some other European nations recognized the Confederacy as a separate nation, it might have been enough for the North to decide it was spending too much blood and treasure to force the South back into the fold and would have let it go. The South's goal never was to "win" the war. It was to hold out long enough that the North would tire and let it stay separate. As for "Civil War,” you're right; that is a misnomer. A Civil War would entail factions competing for control of the same government, which was not the case here. Many historians prefer "war of southern secession," "war of southern rebellion," or still in some parts of the south, "war of northern aggression." Hope this helps.
Eliot Kleinberg has been a staff writer for the past three decades at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, and is the author of 10 books about Florida (www.ekfla.com). Florida Time is a product of GateHouse Media and publishes online in their 22 Florida markets including Jacksonville, Fort Walton Beach, Daytona Beach, Lakeland, Sarasota and West Palm Beach. Submit your questions, comments or memories to FloridaTime@Gatehousemedia.com. Include your full name and hometown. Sorry; no personal replies.