Muscogee, Florida
Encyclopedia
Muscogee, Florida, is a ghost town
located twenty miles northwest of Pensacola, Florida
, in Escambia County
, along the Perdido River
, in the United States
. Named after the Muscogee Lumber Company, formed by Georgia lumber men, the European-American town was founded in 1857 by a group of lumbermen to harvest timber from the surrounding pine forests. They and the following company clearcut the timber, and once the forests were gone, lumbering was ended in this area.
In 1889 Southern States Land and Lumber Company bought the founding company. They had pines brought to the mills from Florida and Alabama by river, oxcart and rail. The company had five locomotives and seventy cars; it built approximately 50 miles of logging railroad and spur track. Its tugboat worked on the Perdido River, maneuvering logbooms. At the peak of production, the logging camps and associated four lumber mills employed over 1,000 men from the area. The town had a Southern States commissary and other stores, and schools to serve the children of the families.
In one year, the company exported 60 million feet of lumber: 13 million feet to the eastern United States, and the remainder to markets nations of Central and South America, the West Indies, Europe and Africa. Businessmen stayed at the hotel or boarding houses in town, which was served by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
and the Pensacola, Alabama, and Tennessee Railroad.
In 1925 Southern States began to liquidate its holdings. It abandoned the mills, and in 1928 sold the town and surrounding 2300 acres to B.C. Davis, a land owner and turpentine operator from DeFuniak Springs. At the time, the town had a population of 300 to 400. Gradually the residents moved away to other places where there was work and a future.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
located twenty miles northwest of Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, in Escambia County
Escambia County, Florida
Escambia County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Florida. The 2010 population was 297,619. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 296,772. Its county seat is Pensacola.- History :...
, along the Perdido River
Perdido River
The Perdido River is a river in the U.S. states of Alabama and Florida. The river forms part of the boundary between the two states along nearly its entire length and drains into the Gulf of Mexico...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Named after the Muscogee Lumber Company, formed by Georgia lumber men, the European-American town was founded in 1857 by a group of lumbermen to harvest timber from the surrounding pine forests. They and the following company clearcut the timber, and once the forests were gone, lumbering was ended in this area.
In 1889 Southern States Land and Lumber Company bought the founding company. They had pines brought to the mills from Florida and Alabama by river, oxcart and rail. The company had five locomotives and seventy cars; it built approximately 50 miles of logging railroad and spur track. Its tugboat worked on the Perdido River, maneuvering logbooms. At the peak of production, the logging camps and associated four lumber mills employed over 1,000 men from the area. The town had a Southern States commissary and other stores, and schools to serve the children of the families.
In one year, the company exported 60 million feet of lumber: 13 million feet to the eastern United States, and the remainder to markets nations of Central and South America, the West Indies, Europe and Africa. Businessmen stayed at the hotel or boarding houses in town, which was served by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
and the Pensacola, Alabama, and Tennessee Railroad.
In 1925 Southern States began to liquidate its holdings. It abandoned the mills, and in 1928 sold the town and surrounding 2300 acres to B.C. Davis, a land owner and turpentine operator from DeFuniak Springs. At the time, the town had a population of 300 to 400. Gradually the residents moved away to other places where there was work and a future.
Notable residents and natives
- Jackie CochranJacqueline CochranJacqueline Cochran was a pioneer American aviator, considered to be one of the most gifted racing pilots of her generation...
, aviator, was born in Muscogee in 1906.