Jefferson County, FLGeWeb

State Coordinator: Jeff Kemp | Assistant State Coordinator: Tricia Aanderud
County Coordinator - Vacant

Jefferson County is a county located in the Big Bend region in the northern part of the U.S. state of Florida. Its county seat is Monticello.

Jefferson county is located at that part of the western section of Florida, where the distance between the gulf and the Georgia state line is shortest. It has an area of 585 square miles. Its population in 1890 was 15,757, in 1900 it was 16,195 and in 1910 it was 17,210.

Topographically its surface is generally high and rolling, offering nearly all the variations one may find in traveling through several states. Originally it was well covered with a virgin growth of pine forests and as the land rises to higher levels an abundance of live oak, hickory, magnolia, poplar and a variety of mahogany were found.

The soil presents considerable variety adaptable to the usual variety of vegetables and farm crops to be found in this locality. Within the last ten years large attention has been paid to the cultivation of the pecan and large groves have been set to this nut with much protit to their owners. It seems probable that it will be one of the richest pecan producing sections in the Gulf states.

The capital is Monticello, which lias sent to the other parts of the state and Georgia some of the most progressive and energetic men that have helped build Florida into a great state. It has retained for its own upbuilding men of character and energy, who are making this one of the most important cities in the center of northern Florida.

from, Chapin, George M., FLORIDA 1513-1913, Past, Present and Future, Four Hundred Years of Wars and Peace and Industrial Development, 1914, Vol. 1, pp. 607-608

Monticello is...the county seat of Jefferson County. The city is named after Monticello, the estate of the county's namesake, Thomas Jefferson, on which the Jefferson County Courthouse (Monticello, Florida) was modeled. Monticello is home to Indian mounds and many historic buildings, including the Perkins Opera House and Monticello Old Jail Museum. ---Wikipedia

Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, musician, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801, and as the first United States secretary of state under George Washington between 1790 to 1793. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form... [see more]

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