Fort Braden is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

 in western Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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History

On December 3, 1839 Fort Braden was established as a military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 fort during the Second Seminole War

Second Seminole War

The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...

. It was located on the Ochlockonee River

Ochlockonee River

The Ochlockonee River is a fast running river originating in Georgia and flowing for before terminating in Florida.- Background :The Ochlockonee originates south of the town of Sylvester in Worth County in southwest Georgia emptying into Ochlockonee Bay, then into Apalachee Bay, in Florida...

 eighteen miles southwest of Tallahassee

Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...

. Fort Braden was named for Virginia Braden, formerly Virginia Ward. She married Dr. Joseph Braden, a prominent citizen of Tallahassee. Joseph Braden's brother, Hector, was director of Tallahassee's Union Bank.

Virginia was the daughter of Leon County plantation owner, George T. Ward of Southwood Plantation

Southwood Plantation

Southwood Plantation was a large cotton plantation of located in southern Leon County, Florida, United States and owned by George Taliafero Ward.-Location:Southwood Plantation bordered the Francis Eppes Plantation on the north and the R. G...

 and Waverly Plantation

Waverly Plantation

Waverly Plantation was a large cotton plantation of unknown area located in southern Leon County, Florida, United States and owned by George Taliafero Ward.-Multiple Plantation Statistics:...

.

On June 12, 1840 a fight with Indians near Fort Braden resulted in the deaths of two soldiers of Company B of the 2nd Infantry. Fort Braden was abandoned on June 7, 1842 at the conclusion of the Seminole War.

Like other forts around the nation, a small community had grown near this fort. In 1843 an E.M. Garnett attending the Leon County Convention in Tallahassee came from the area. In 1847 collection of taxes took place at the Fort Braden School House. In 1856 and 1872 Fort Braden was one of the voting precincts in Leon County.

Cotton planters

Though Fort Braden was south of the cotton rich Red Hills Region

Red Hills Region

The Red Hills Region is a unique 300,000-acre area of the southeastearn United States overlapping parts of southwestern Georgia and north Florida.-Location:...

, it had successful planters Hugh Black, H.H. Black, P.B. Chanlers, John Gray, Joseph Haines, C. Gray, John Grissette, R.L. Harvey, and J. E. Williams.

Early churches

It is reported that in Florida State Gazetteer of 1886-1887 that Fort Braden had one Methodist church and one Baptist church.

Other buildings

Fort Braden is reported to have had a school house, a blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 shop, a grist mill, and a cotton gin

Cotton gin

A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...

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