Washington County
FLGenWeb
Area, 1,330 square miles or 211,200 acres.
Population in 1830, 978; in 1840, 859; in 1850, 1,950; in 1860, 2,154; in 1870,
2,302; in 1880, 4,089. Number of public schools, 12; school lands unsold, 27,184
acres; scholars of school age, 762 -whites, 582; colored, __; attendance, 423;
number of acres improved land, __. Horses and mules, 381: cattle, 8,480; sheep,
4,394; hogs. 5,378. Assessed value of property in 1881, $201,355.
The county site is Vernon, situated on Holmes creek, a branch of the
Choctawhatchee river. The navigation of the latter river, the western boundary,
up to the northwest corner of the county, has heretofore afforded an outlet to
market. The Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad will give transportation to the
central part of the county, and St. Andrews bay and the Gulf of Mexico affords
it to the southern portion. The northern part of the county is hilly and
rolling; the remainder, for the most part, is level. Pine land is the prevailing
quality. In Holmes valley, where most of the farming interests are concentrated,
the lands are most excellent. In point of fertility and durability the lands of
Holmes valley cannot be surpassed by any in the State. Some portions of them
have been under cultivation for thirty or forty years, and to-day yield large
crops without the aid of fertilizers. When in good condition they yield about
five hundred pounds of lint cotton to the acre, from thirty-five to forty
bushels of corn, from one hundred and fifty to two hundred bushels of sweet
potatoes, five hundred gallons of syrup, and twelve hundred pounds of tobacco.
The valley is plentifully supplied with fine water, and surrounded by pine
woods. There is no healthier portion of the State. The kinds of timber are oak,
beech, hickory, ash, poplar, bay, magnolia and pine.
Labor is very
scarce. Farm hands receive from twelve to fifteen dollars per month, and
saw-mill hands from twenty-five to forty.
Price of land varies from one
to ten dollars per acre, and the cost of clearing is from five to ten with
cultivation first year.
There are five saw-mills in the county — two
water power and three steam. Lumber sells at eight to ten dollars per thousand.
The climate is delightful. The extreme heat of summer is tempered by the
winds from the Gulf Magnificent springs, large ponds, and pure streams of water
are to be found in all parts of the county.
The people are noted for
their hospitality, and will extend a hearty welcome to all strangers,
irrespective of political opinion, who come to seek homes and who are honest and
industrious.
Of late years very considerable interest has developed in
Washington county in sheep husbandry. The climate is so admirably suited to
sheep that the cost of keeping them is scarcely appreciable, and, although the
great range of natural pasturage in the gently undulating pine woods is not so
rich and bountiful as some of the walks in the West, still they are good enough
to support a flock in very respectable shape, and a few years of pasturing
naturally benefits the land and improves the vegetation. If there is a land in
the world where sheep, bees and orchards will support a man comfortably while
giving employment to some of the more cultured impulses of his mind, it is in
West Florida, and especially in Washington county. The new railroad makes the
outside world accessible for the first time in our history, and ere long many
folks of the earth will come among us.
Contributed 07 Sep 2020 by Norma Hass, extracted from The Resources and Advantages of Florida, by A. A. Robinson, Commissioner of Immigration, published in 1882, pages 186-187.
Washington county has an area of 1,435 square miles. Its population in 1890
was 6,426, in 1900 it was 10,154 and in 1910 it was 16,400.
The Florida
Legislature of 1913 created from the southern part of Washington county, the new
county of Bay. The separate county organization has hardly yet been completed,
and no official reports have been published by which the resources and products
of the two counties have been separated. The present description of Washington
county, therefore, must include with it the facts regarding Bay county. The
little town of Vernon located near the center of the county, is the capital. It
is surrounded by some of the best farming lands in the state and it is the
center of extensive lumbering and naval stores interest. St. Andrews Bay, now in
Bay county, is one of the widely known winter resorts of the state, as well as a
summer resort for visitors from the interior of Florida and Georgia.
Stock-raising is one of the leading successful industries. Cattle and sheep
thrive well on the native grasses. Special attention has been paid here to the
improvement of the sheep stock and a high grade of wool is an article of large
production. Similar attention has been paid to the improvement of cattle breeds,
and Washington county is a section from which large quantities of excellent beef
cattle are sent to outside markets.
The principal farming crops are
cotton, corn, sugar cane, oats, rice, potatoes, peanuts and cassava.
Contributed 07 Sep 2020 by Norma Hass, extracted from Florida, 1513-1913, Past and Future by George M Chapin, page 614
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This page was last updated
12/22/2023