157 Fun Facts About Florida

What is the capital city of Florida?

Tallahassee has been the capital of Florida since 1824. It was chosen because of its central location between the two former capitals of St. Augustine and Pensacola.

Which Florida city is known as "The Theme Park Capital of the World"?

Universal's resort, opened in 1990, is the only major theme park actually inside the city limits; Disney World lies about 21 miles southwest in Bay Lake.

What is the nickname of Florida?

Florida is The Sunshine State; the slogan appeared on its license plates from 1949 and was adopted as the official state nickname by the legislature in 1970.

Which massive wetland ecosystem covers much of southern Florida?

The Everglades, nicknamed the 'River of Grass', is a slow sheetflow of shallow water moving from Lake Okeechobee south toward Florida Bay; Everglades National Park was dedicated in 1947.

What is the most populous city in Florida?

Jacksonville had about 950,000 residents at the 2020 census, more than twice Miami's 442,000; it has been Florida's largest city since its 1968 city-county consolidation.

Which European country first claimed Florida, in 1513?

Spain claimed Florida after Juan Ponce de León landed in April 1513 and founded St. Augustine in 1565; Britain held the territory only from 1763 to 1783.

Which NASA facility on Merritt Island has been the agency's primary orbital launch site since 1968?

Kennedy Space Center, originally the Launch Operations Center, was renamed in 1963; it has hosted Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle and Artemis launches from Merritt Island.

Which animal is Florida's official state marine mammal?

The statute never named a species, but the Florida manatee subspecies is the only one normally found in state waters; they crowd into warm springs each winter.

Since 1947, Weeki Wachee Springs has drawn tourists with underwater shows by women dressed as what?

Weeki Wachee's mermaids breathe from underwater air hoses, a trick stunt swimmer Newt Perry built the show around; the viewing windows are cut into limestone below the spring.

Which February NASCAR race on Florida's Atlantic coast is the sport's biggest event yet opens the season?

The Daytona 500, first run in 1959 when Daytona International Speedway opened, is NASCAR's most prestigious race and opens the Cup Series season each February.

Which city is the southernmost in the contiguous United States?

Key West is also the westernmost island in the Florida Keys reachable by highway, about 130 miles southwest of Miami.

Which invasive snake species has become a major ecological threat in South Florida's wetlands?

The Burmese python, descended from escaped or released pets, was recognized as a reproducing population in the Everglades in 2000 and has since devastated native mammal numbers there.

In what year did Walt Disney World open in Central Florida?

Walt Disney World opened on October 1, 1971, nearly five years after Walt Disney, who chose the site himself, died in December 1966.

What is Florida's largest freshwater lake?

Lake Okeechobee covers about 730 square miles; it is the largest lake in Florida and, outside the Great Lakes, the largest freshwater lake lying wholly within the contiguous United States.

Which South Florida NFL team completed the only perfect season in league history in 1972?

The Miami Dolphins went 14-0 in the 1972 regular season and finished 17-0 by winning Super Bowl VII; the team plays its home games in Miami Gardens.

What neighborhood in Miami is the center of Cuban-American culture in Florida?

Little Havana, centered on Calle Ocho (8th Street), has been the heart of Miami's Cuban community since the 1960s. It is famous for its cafecitos, domino games in Domino Park, and annual Calle Ocho Festival.

What road carries US Route 1 across 42 bridges to the end of the Florida Keys?

The Overseas Highway opened in 1938 on the right-of-way of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, which the 1935 Labor Day hurricane had destroyed.

Which category of natural disaster poses the greatest threat to Florida each year?

Hurricanes are Florida's greatest recurring hazard; with coastline on both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, the state has taken more hurricane landfalls than any other and rarely passes a season without a tropical storm.

Which Panhandle resort town became a well-known spring break destination for college students?

Panama City Beach in the Florida Panhandle has been one of America's top spring break destinations for decades, drawing hundreds of thousands of college students each March and April.

What year did Florida become a US state?

Florida became the 27th state on March 3, 1845, 24 years after Spain ceded the territory to the United States in 1821.

Which Lakeland school's campus holds the world's largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings?

Florida Southern College's campus, commissioned by president Ludd Spivey in 1938, holds Wright's 'Child of the Sun' buildings, the largest single-site collection of his work anywhere.

Which author's 1930s Florida Keys house is now a museum famous for its polydactyl cats?

Ernest Hemingway moved into the Key West house in 1931 and wrote there through the decade; roughly half the museum's cats are polydactyl, though all carry the gene.

Which name is given to the southernmost 284-mile stretch of US Route 41 in Florida?

The Tamiami Trail, a portmanteau of Tampa and Miami, opened on April 26, 1928 and crosses the Everglades between the two cities.

Which Florida city has hosted Gasparilla, a mock pirate invasion and parade, most years since 1904?

Tampa's Gasparilla Pirate Festival began in 1904; each year a krewe dressed as the mythical pirate José Gaspar's crew sails a replica pirate ship into downtown Tampa and 'captures' the city.

What is the highest natural point in Florida?

Britton Hill in Walton County is the highest natural point in Florida at just 345 feet (105 meters) above sea level, making Florida the flattest state and the state with the lowest high point in the US.

Which NBA team won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013?

The Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, won consecutive NBA championships in 2012 and 2013, beating the Thunder and then the Spurs in the Finals.

What unique geographic feature makes Florida's aquifer system one of the most productive in the world?

Florida sits on porous limestone karst terrain that feeds the Floridan aquifer, which supplies drinking water to about 10 million people and riddles the state with springs and sinkholes.

Which US president made a Florida Keys commandant's quarters his 'Little White House'?

He spent 175 days there across 11 visits during his presidency; the house is now a museum in the Truman Annex neighborhood of Old Town.

What is the name of the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States?

The Florida Reef (also called the Great Florida Reef) extends about 360 miles from the Dry Tortugas to Martin County. It is the third-largest coral barrier reef system in the world and the only one in the continental US.

Which Florida university's football team is known as the Gators?

The University of Florida Gators, based in Gainesville, compete in the SEC. The school chose the alligator as its mascot in 1911, reflecting the abundance of gators in the state. Their mascots are Albert and Alberta.

Which Florida city is home to the Salvador Dalí Museum?

The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg grew from the collection of Ohio industrialist A. Reynolds Morse and his wife Eleanor; its 2011 building is wrapped in a geodesic glass bubble nicknamed the Enigma.

What is "Florida Man" in internet culture?

'Florida Man' is a meme built on bizarre news headlines; Florida's broad public-records laws give reporters fast access to police reports, which helps explain the flood of such stories.

Which 1969 mission, launched from Florida's east coast, first landed humans on the Moon?

Apollo 11 lifted off on a Saturn V from Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20 while Michael Collins orbited above.

Which company founded by Elon Musk conducts rocket launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida?

SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral's SLC-40 in June 2010 and flew its first crewed mission from that pad, Crew-9, in September 2024.

Which Florida state road hugs the Atlantic coast and became a byword for beach culture?

State Road A1A runs in several sections along Florida's Atlantic coast from Key West to Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, near the Georgia line.

Approximately how many miles of coastline does Florida have?

Florida has about 1,350 miles of general ocean coastline by NOAA's measure, split between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, and more than 8,400 miles of tidal shoreline.

In what year did the first scheduled US airline service begin flying passengers across a Florida bay?

On January 1, 1914 Tony Jannus flew a Benoist flying boat across Tampa Bay in about 23 minutes for $5 a ticket, launching the first scheduled airline service in the United States.

Which railroad tycoon developed much of Florida's southeast coast and built the Overseas Railroad to Key West?

Henry Flagler built the Florida East Coast Railway and extended it to Key West in 1912. Called the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', the Overseas Railroad was destroyed by the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. He also developed Palm Beach and Miami.

What type of tree is Florida's official state tree?

The sabal palm, also called the cabbage palm, became Florida's state tree in 1953; South Carolina uses the same species, and its edible terminal bud is sold as hearts of palm.

What organisms cause the sparkling glow in disturbed seawater at night that kayakers chase in Florida?

Bioluminescent dinoflagellates, single-celled plankton, flash when the water around them is disturbed; the same luciferin chemistry lights fireflies and some fungi.

Which singer, ordered by a Florida judge in 1956 to tame his act, stood still and wiggled only a finger?

Elvis Presley mocked a Jacksonville judge's August 1956 order by standing still and wiggling one finger; that summer 'Don't Be Cruel'/'Hound Dog' topped the Billboard chart for eleven weeks.

Which bacterial disease, spread by a psyllid insect, has devastated Florida's orange groves since 2005?

Citrus greening, or huanglongbing, is spread by the Asian citrus psyllid and was first found in Florida in 2005; the incurable disease has since cut the state's orange harvest by more than half.

Which theme park opened in 2011 in Winter Haven on the site of the former Cypress Gardens?

Cypress Gardens had operated since 1936 and closed for good in 2009; Legoland kept its historic botanical gardens intact inside the new park.

What does the name of the Florida city Boca Raton literally mean in Spanish?

Boca Raton literally means 'mouse mouth' (boca, mouth; ratón, mouse); 'boca' was sailors' shorthand for an inlet, and 'ratones' may have described jagged rocks that chafed anchor cables.

What struck the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge in a 1980 squall, collapsing its roadway?

The freighter MV Summit Venture hit a support pier in a blinding squall on May 9, 1980; 35 people died as vehicles, including a Greyhound bus, fell into Tampa Bay. The cable-stayed replacement opened in 1987.

Which Florida tribe claims to be the only one never to have signed a peace treaty with the US government?

The Seminole call themselves the Unconquered People: rather than accept removal, some retreated into South Florida's swamps and were never conquered.

What is the name of the underwater statue of Jesus Christ located off the coast of Key Largo?

Christ of the Abyss, an 8.5-foot bronze replica of the 1954 statue off Italy's Ligurian coast, was placed on Key Largo Dry Rocks in 1965 and stands in about 25 feet of water.

Which 1980s NBC crime drama followed undercover detectives Crockett and Tubbs?

Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas starred as Crockett and Tubbs for five seasons on NBC from 1984 to 1989, and the show's pastel palette echoed the city's Art Deco architecture.

In what year did Andrew, a Category 5 storm, devastate South Florida?

Hurricane Andrew made landfall near Homestead on August 24, 1992 with 165 mph sustained winds and was the costliest natural disaster in US history at the time.

Which country lies directly across the Straits of Florida from the state?

Cuba lies about 90 miles south of Key West across the Straits of Florida, which separate the Keys from the island; the Bahamas lie to the east of the peninsula.

How many square miles does Florida cover in total area?

Florida covers 65,758 square miles of total area, ranking 22nd among the states; roughly 12,000 of those square miles are water.

Which Spanish phrase for the Easter season likely gave the state its name?

Ponce de León sighted the peninsula on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, the Spanish 'Feast of Flowers' Easter season, and named the land for the season and its greenery.

Which admiral founded St. Augustine in 1565?

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed on September 8, 1565 and founded St. Augustine, the oldest continuously occupied European-founded city in the continental United States.

Which French outpost in present-day Duval County was destroyed by the Spanish in the 1560s?

Fort Caroline, founded by French Huguenots under René de Laudonnière in 1564, was overrun by Spanish troops from newly founded St. Augustine in September 1565; a reconstruction was built in the 1960s.

Which 1738 settlement near St. Augustine was the first legally sanctioned free Black town in North America?

Fort Mose, established in 1738 just north of St. Augustine, sheltered escaped slaves from the British colonies, who gained freedom in exchange for Catholic conversion and militia service.

What did Spain receive from Britain in 1763 in exchange for Florida?

Britain had captured Havana, Cuba in 1762, and under the 1763 Treaty of Paris handed it back to Spain in exchange for Florida, which Britain then split into East and West Florida.

Which crossing of the St. Johns River, called 'Cow Ford', became downtown Jacksonville?

Wacca Pilatka, the Seminole name the British rendered as 'Cow Ford', was the St. Johns River crossing on the King's Road from St. Augustine to Georgia; the town founded there in 1822 became Jacksonville.

What did the 1810 Republic of West Florida flag, later the 'Bonnie Blue', depict?

The West Florida rebels who seized the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge in September 1810 flew a blue flag bearing a single white star, a design revived in 1861 as the Confederate 'Bonnie Blue Flag'.

Which 1819 agreement transferred Florida from Spain to the United States?

The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed in February 1819 by John Quincy Adams and Luis de Onís, ceded Florida to the United States in return for assuming $5 million in claims; the transfer took effect in 1821.

Which future president served as military commissioner of the new Florida territory in 1821?

Andrew Jackson, who had invaded Spanish Florida in 1818, took possession of the territory at Pensacola on July 17, 1821 as its first governor; Jacksonville was named for him in 1822.

Which 1832 agreement called for all Seminoles to relocate to Indian Territory?

The Treaty of Payne's Landing, signed in May 1832 on the Ocklawaha River, required the Seminoles to move west within three years; resistance to it sparked the Second Seminole War in 1835.

Which president was in his final full day in office when Florida became a state?

Florida was admitted as a slave state on March 3, 1845.

Which two foodstuffs did Florida chiefly supply to the Confederacy?

Salt and beef were Florida's main contributions: Gulf-coast salt works boiled seawater, and cattle drives from central Florida became vital after the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863 cut off Texas beef.

Which February 1864 clash was Florida's largest Civil War engagement?

The Battle of Olustee, fought near Lake City on February 20, 1864, was Florida's largest Civil War battle and a Confederate victory; Natural Bridge in March 1865 was the other major fight.

Which pest devastated Florida's cotton crops in the early 20th century?

The boll weevil reached Florida around 1916 and wrecked its Sea Island cotton; farmers shifted toward citrus, vegetables and cattle.

Which Miami building processed Cuban refugees and was called the 'Ellis Island of the South'?

Miami's Freedom Tower, a 1925 newspaper building modeled on Seville's Giralda, housed the federal Cuban Assistance Center from 1962 to 1974 and processed hundreds of thousands of refugees from Castro's Cuba.

Students at which university organized a 1956 Tallahassee bus boycott?

Two Florida A&M students, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, were arrested in May 1956 for sitting in the whites-only section; the boycott that followed ran into 1957 and integrated Tallahassee's buses.

Which 2017 hurricane drove hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans to Florida?

Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017 as a Category 4 storm; in the months that followed well over 100,000 Puerto Ricans relocated to Florida, many to the Orlando area.

Which town saw a condominium collapse kill at least 97 people in June 2021?

Champlain Towers South in Surfside, a 12-story beachfront condominium, partially collapsed on June 24, 2021, killing 98 people, one of the deadliest structural failures in US history.

Which two states are the only ones with more water area than Florida?

Florida's roughly 12,000 square miles of water area rank third among the states, behind only Alaska (about 94,700 square miles) and Michigan (about 40,000, counting its Great Lakes waters).

Which 312-foot peak is the highest point in peninsular Florida?

Britton Hill in the Panhandle is the state's true high point.

Which is the longest river entirely within Florida?

The St. Johns River runs 310 miles north from Indian River County to the Atlantic at Jacksonville, dropping less than 30 feet along the way, one of the flattest major rivers in the country.

Which Great Lake is the only freshwater lake entirely within the lower 48 larger than Okeechobee?

Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake lying entirely inside the United States; the other four straddle the Canadian border, leaving Okeechobee the largest freshwater lake wholly in the lower 48 after Michigan.

Which is the only other state besides Florida to have a tropical climate?

Hawaii and South Florida are the only parts of the 50 states with a true tropical climate; Florida's statewide average temperature of about 70.7 °F makes it the warmest state.

In which town was Florida's record high of 109 °F set in 1931?

Monticello, the Jefferson County seat, hit 109 °F on June 29, 1931; the record low of −2 °F was set 25 miles west in Tallahassee in February 1899.

Which region of the state is known as the lightning capital of the United States?

Central Florida's 'Lightning Alley', the corridor between Tampa and Orlando, records more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country, fed by afternoon sea-breeze thunderstorms from late spring to early autumn.

Between 1851 and 2006, how many hurricanes struck Florida?

Florida took 114 hurricane strikes between 1851 and 2006, more than any other state; 37 of them were major hurricanes of Category 3 or stronger.

Which 2005 storm surpassed Andrew as the costliest U.S. weather disaster?

Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 caused about $125 billion in damage, dwarfing Andrew's roughly $27 billion; Katrina crossed South Florida as a Category 1 storm before devastating the Gulf Coast.

Which bird species is endemic to Florida, found nowhere else?

The Florida scrub jay, confined to the state's sandy scrub habitat, is the only bird species endemic to Florida; the Osceola wild turkey subspecies is likewise found nowhere else.

About how many American alligators lived in Florida as of 2012?

Florida's alligator population was estimated at roughly one million in 2012 (later estimates put it near 1.3 million), alongside only about 1,500 to 2,000 American crocodiles at the state's southern tip.

Which state park was the first underwater park in the United States?

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park at Key Largo, dedicated in 1960 and opened in 1963, was the first undersea park in the United States and protects about 70 nautical square miles of reef.

Which region holds the largest rock phosphate deposits in the country?

Bone Valley, in central Florida east of Tampa, holds the largest phosphate rock deposits in the country; Florida supplies most of the phosphate rock mined in the United States for fertilizer.

What is the 1981 Winter Park Sinkhole now known as?

The Winter Park sinkhole opened on May 8, 1981, swallowing a house, several cars and part of a pool; about 350 feet wide and 75 feet deep, it was stabilized and is now called Lake Rose.

Why are earthquakes rare in Florida?

Sinkholes are a far bigger geological hazard.

Which county is Florida's center of population located in?

Florida's mean center of population sits in Polk County, south of Lakeland between Fort Meade and Frostproof, balancing the Miami area against the Panhandle and the rest of the peninsula.

Which state did Florida overtake in population in December 2014?

Census Bureau estimates released in December 2014 put Florida at about 19.9 million people, edging past New York to become the third most populous state after California and Texas.

Which Caribbean nation supplies Florida's largest West Indian community?

Haiti supplies Florida's largest West Indian community, concentrated in Miami's Little Haiti and in Broward County; Haitian Creole is the state's third most common first language after English and Spanish.

In what year was English affirmed as Florida's official language in the state constitution?

Voters approved a constitutional amendment making English Florida's official language in November 1988; roughly one in five Floridians speaks Spanish at home.

How many members sit in the Florida House of Representatives?

The Florida House of Representatives has 120 members elected to two-year terms, alongside a 40-member Senate; both chambers meet in Tallahassee.

Which county is consolidated with the City of Jacksonville?

Some references therefore list 66 counties instead of 67.

Which tax does Florida NOT impose?

Sales tax is the state's primary revenue source.

Which two execution methods are authorized in Florida?

Florida authorizes lethal injection, its default method, and the electric chair, which a condemned inmate may choose instead; executions take place at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Which method of casting ballots did Florida ban in April 2022?

Governor DeSantis signed an election law in April 2022 that barred ranked-choice voting in any Florida election, pre-empting local adoption; the same bill created a state election-crimes office.

Which Supreme Court case settled the disputed 2000 Florida recount?

Bush v. Gore, decided on December 12, 2000, halted the Florida recount and left George W. Bush's certified margin of 537 votes, handing him the state's 25 electoral votes and the presidency.

Which interstate's corridor linking Daytona, Orlando and Tampa is the state's biggest swing area?

Interstate 4 runs about 132 miles from Tampa through Orlando to Daytona Beach; the I-4 corridor's mix of suburbs and retirees makes it Florida's classic swing-vote battleground.

Which Republican, elected in 1966, became Florida's first GOP governor since Reconstruction?

Claude Kirk won the 1966 election to become Florida's first Republican governor since Reconstruction, serving from 1967 to 1971; Edward Gurney followed in 1968 as the first Republican US senator.

Which Democrat did Ron DeSantis narrowly beat for governor in 2018?

Ron DeSantis beat Democrat Andrew Gillum, the Tallahassee mayor, by about 32,000 votes (0.4 percent) in November 2018, a margin that triggered a statewide machine recount.

Which Florida port is nicknamed the 'Cruise Capital of the World'?

PortMiami, on Dodge Island in Biscayne Bay, bills itself the 'Cruise Capital of the World' and handled a record 7.3 million cruise passengers in fiscal 2023; it is also a major container port.

Which theme park is the world's most visited?

Magic Kingdom, the original Walt Disney World park, drew about 17.7 million visitors in 2023, more than any other theme park in the world; its neighbor Epcot opened in 1982.

Which cross-state toll road did the state begin before the 1956 Federal Aid Highway Act?

Florida's Turnpike, begun in 1955, opened its first section from Fort Pierce south to the Golden Glades interchange in 1957; the toll road was later extended north to Wildwood, about 312 miles in all.

Which interstate crosses the Everglades on the toll section called 'Alligator Alley'?

It ends in Hialeah near Miami.

Which Florida city is the southern terminus of Amtrak's Auto Train?

Amtrak's Auto Train runs nonstop between Lorton, Virginia and Sanford, near Orlando, carrying passengers and their cars; Amtrak launched the service in 1983 after a private predecessor folded.

Which higher-speed rail line links Miami and Orlando's airport?

Brightline, a privately run higher-speed railroad, opened between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2018 and reached Orlando International Airport in September 2023, with stops including Aventura, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton.

In what year did Florida's first permanent major-league team, an AFL franchise, begin play?

The Miami Dolphins began play in 1966 as an American Football League expansion team under owner Joe Robbie and joined the NFL in the 1970 merger.

What is the informal name for MLB spring training in Florida?

The Grapefruit League is the nickname for the 15 MLB clubs that hold spring training in Florida each February and March; the other 15 train in Arizona's Cactus League.

Which Florida city hosts the headquarters of NASCAR?

NASCAR was founded in Daytona Beach at the Streamline Hotel in 1948 and keeps its headquarters there, across from Daytona International Speedway, which hosts the 24 Hours of Daytona.

In which Jacksonville suburb is the PGA Tour headquartered?

The PGA Tour has been based in Ponte Vedra Beach, south of Jacksonville Beach, since 1979; its TPC Sawgrass course there hosts The Players Championship.

Which Florida major-league team began MLS play in 2020?

Inter Miami CF, co-owned by David Beckham, played its first MLS match in March 2020 away to Los Angeles FC; Orlando City had joined the league five years earlier, in 2015.

Where do the Gators play, in the state's largest football venue?

It seats 88,548 and often holds over 90,000 for Gators games.

Which Florida university was founded in 1963 as Florida Technological University?

UCF was chartered in 1963 as Florida Technological University to supply engineers to the space program and took its current name in 1978; its main campus is in Orange County.

Which two state symbols were chosen before 1950, in 1909 and 1927?

The orange blossom became the state flower in 1909 and the mockingbird the state bird in 1927; most other Florida symbols were adopted after 1950.

Whose 1947 book cemented the Everglades' nickname 'River of Grass'?

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a former Miami Herald reporter, published The Everglades: River of Grass in 1947 and campaigned for the wetland's protection until her death at 108 in 1998.

Which river near Orlando begins the Everglades water system?

The Kissimmee River flows south from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes near Orlando into Lake Okeechobee, feeding the water that once sheeted south through the Everglades; a 1990s restoration re-meandered its channelized course.

Which crop dominated the farmland carved from the Everglades?

Sugarcane dominates the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee, some 700,000 acres of drained muck soils farmed since the 1920s around towns such as Clewiston and Belle Glade.

Which Cleveland native persuaded Flagler to extend his railway to Miami?

Julia Tuttle, a Cleveland widow who owned land on the Miami River, lured Henry Flagler's railroad south in 1896 with land grants and, by legend, a box of fresh orange blossoms; she is called the 'Mother of Miami'.

What does the Muskogean name Tallahassee mean?

Tallahassee comes from Muskogean words meaning 'old fields' or 'old town', referring to Apalachee farmland abandoned before the Creeks and Seminoles arrived; it became the territorial capital in 1824.

What distinction did Tallahassee hold among Confederate capitals east of the Mississippi?

Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi never captured by Union troops; the Battle of Natural Bridge in March 1865 turned back the one serious attempt.

Roughly how many acres does Walt Disney World cover?

It includes four theme parks and two water parks.

Which body of water did Disney choose as the site for Walt Disney World?

Walt Disney picked the land around Bay Lake, a natural lake on whose shores the Contemporary Resort and Fort Wilderness now sit, after flying over Central Florida in November 1963.

What did the acronym EPCOT originally stand for?

EPCOT stood for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, Walt Disney's plan for a real planned city of about 20,000 residents; after his death it opened in 1982 as a theme park instead.

How tall is the space center's Vehicle Assembly Building on Merritt Island?

The Vehicle Assembly Building stands 525 feet tall and encloses about 130 million cubic feet, one of the largest buildings by volume in the world; Saturn V, Space Shuttle and SLS rockets have been stacked inside.

From which numbered site were Apollo, Shuttle and Artemis missions flown?

Launch Complex 39, built on Merritt Island land NASA acquired in 1962-63, launched Saturn V Moon rockets from 1967, the Space Shuttle from 1981 and Artemis I in 2022 from its pads 39A and 39B.

After whom was Cape Canaveral officially renamed from 1963 to 1973?

President Lyndon Johnson renamed the cape 'Cape Kennedy' a week after John F. Kennedy's assassination in November 1963; Florida restored the name Cape Canaveral in 1973 at local urging.

Which area code did the Space Coast famously secure?

The Space Coast got area code 321 in 1999 after a local campaign to match a launch countdown, '3-2-1'; it serves Brevard County and also overlays Orlando's 407.

What is Key West's Spanish name?

Cayo Hueso, Spanish for 'bone key', was the island's name under Spain, reportedly for the human bones early sailors found there; English speakers later corrupted it to Key West.

Under what name did Key West symbolically secede in 1982?

Key West declared itself the Conch Republic on April 23, 1982 in protest at a Border Patrol roadblock on US 1; the mock secession is celebrated every April with Conch Republic Independence Days.

Which Flagler property now houses Flagler College in St. Augustine?

The Ponce de Leon Hotel, Henry Flagler's Spanish Renaissance resort that opened in 1888, was built of poured concrete and decorated with Tiffany stained glass; Flagler College has occupied it since 1968.

Which company did Henry Flagler help found before turning to Florida?

Henry Flagler was a founding partner of Standard Oil with John D. Rockefeller in 1870; the fortune he made there financed his Florida railway and hotels.

Near which Upper Keys community did the 1935 Labor Day hurricane make landfall?

The 1935 Labor Day hurricane came ashore near Islamorada on Upper Matecumbe Key at 892 millibars, the most intense landfall recorded in the United States; it killed more than 400 people, many of them veterans.

What is the smallest subspecies of white-tailed deer in North America?

The Key deer, a white-tailed deer subspecies standing about 2.5 feet at the shoulder, survives only in the Lower Keys, where the National Key Deer Refuge was established on Big Pine Key in 1957.

Which span on the Overseas Highway leads into the town of Marathon?

The full highway opened to traffic on March 29, 1938.

Which levee protects the areas around Lake Okeechobee from overflow?

The Herbert Hoover Dike, a 143-mile earthen levee around Lake Okeechobee, was begun in the 1930s after the 1926 and 1928 hurricanes pushed the lake over its banks, killing more than 2,500 people in 1928 alone.

What does the Hitchiti name Okeechobee mean?

Okeechobee combines the Hitchiti words oki, 'water', and chubi, 'big', hence 'big water'; Hitchiti is closely related to Mikasuki, the language of most Florida Seminoles and the Miccosukee.

What was Orlando called before it took its current name?

Orlando began as Jernigan, named for cattleman Aaron Jernigan who settled near Fort Gatlin in 1843; the post office changed the name to Orlando in 1857.

Jacksonville is the largest city in the contiguous U.S. by what measure?

Jacksonville's 1968 city-county consolidation gave it about 747 square miles of land area, the most of any city in the contiguous United States, with a population of about a million.

Which Tampa district reflects its Cuban and Spanish cigar-making heritage?

Ybor City was founded in 1885 when Vicente Martinez Ybor moved his cigar factory from Key West to Tampa; by 1900 its factories employed thousands of Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants.

Which combatant command is headquartered at Tampa's MacDill Air Force Base?

U.S. Central Command, which directs American forces across the Middle East and Central Asia, has been headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base since its creation in 1983; Special Operations Command shares the base.

Which NASCAR founder built Daytona International Speedway in 1959?

Bill France Sr., who founded NASCAR in 1948, opened Daytona International Speedway in February 1959 with 31-degree banked turns, the steepest the asphalt of the day could hold.

Ponce de León led the first European expeditions to Florida and which island?

Juan Ponce de León conquered and governed Puerto Rico from 1508 before sighting Florida in 1513; he died in Cuba in 1521 from a Calusa arrow wound suffered on his return to Florida.

Which unfinished fortress is the centerpiece of Dry Tortugas National Park?

Fort Jefferson, begun in 1846 and never completed, is the largest brick masonry structure in the Americas with more than 16 million bricks; it stands on Garden Key about 70 miles west of Key West.

Which Lincoln-conspiracy doctor was imprisoned in the Dry Tortugas?

He was pardoned in 1869 after helping avert an outbreak.

Which shell-based stone was used to build the Castillo de San Marcos?

The Castillo de San Marcos, built by the Spanish from 1672 to 1695, is made of coquina, a soft shell-rock quarried on Anastasia Island that absorbed cannonballs instead of shattering.

Who chose the Florida panther as the state animal in 1982?

Florida's schoolchildren picked the panther in a 1982 statewide student vote, and the legislature made it the state animal that year; the Florida panther is the only breeding cougar population in the eastern United States.

Which flight demonstration team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola?

The Blue Angels, the Navy's flight demonstration squadron formed in 1946, have been based at Naval Air Station Pensacola since 1955 and fly practice shows over the base in season.

Which Native American group were the main ancestors of the Seminole?

They settled in Spanish Florida from the early 1700s.

Which restaurant chain did the Seminole Tribe purchase in 2007?

The Seminole Tribe of Florida bought Hard Rock International, including the Hard Rock Café chain, from Rank Group for $965 million in 2007 and has since branded casinos and hotels under the name.

What was Osceola's name at birth?

Osceola was born Billy Powell around 1804 in Creek country in Alabama, the son of a Creek mother and an English trader father; he took the name Osceola, from the Creek 'black drink singer', as a young man.

Which Tampa social club, founded in 1904, stages the annual Gasparilla pirate invasion?

Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, founded in 1904 and modeled on New Orleans Mardi Gras krewes, stages the mock invasion and parade each winter; its members dress as the crew of the mythical pirate José Gaspar.

Which ingredient is in a Tampa Cuban sandwich but usually not a South Florida one?

Genoa salami is the Tampa touch, a nod to the Italian immigrants of its cigar district; both versions layer ham, roast pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard on Cuban bread.

In what year did Key lime pie become Florida's official state pie?

The Florida Legislature named Key lime pie the official state pie in 2006; the classic version uses Key lime juice, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk in a graham-cracker crust.

Which cook is said in legend to have invented Key lime pie for William Curry?

Legend credits 'Aunt Sally', cook to Key West ship-salvage magnate William Curry, with the first Key lime pie in the late 19th century, though sponge fishermen may have made it at sea first.

What does the name of the Ringling mansion Cà d'Zan mean?

Cà d'Zan is Venetian dialect for 'House of John', John Ringling's 1926 bayfront mansion, modeled on Venetian Gothic palaces such as the Doge's Palace.

Which city hosted the Ringling circus's winter quarters from 1927?

John Ringling moved the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey winter quarters from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Sarasota in 1927, and his art museum and mansion remain the city's landmarks; Bertha Honore Palmer had earlier promoted the area.

Which Florida city is nicknamed the 'Venice of America' for its 165 miles of waterways?

Fort Lauderdale's 165 miles of inland canals earned it the 'Venice of America' nickname; the city was the nation's spring-break capital for decades until it discouraged the crowds in the mid-1980s.

Big Cypress and which Texas site became the first U.S. national preserves in 1974?

Big Thicket National Preserve in southeast Texas and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida, about 720,000 acres, were both created on October 11, 1974 as the first two units of that designation.

Which heiress bequeathed Mar-a-Lago to the United States on her death in 1973?

Marjorie Merriweather Post, the Post Cereals heiress, left Mar-a-Lago to the federal government on her death in 1973, hoping it would serve as a presidential retreat; the government returned it to her foundation in 1981.

Which 1878 shipwreck's cargo of 20,000 coconuts gave Palm Beach its palms?

The Spanish brig Providencia ran aground in January 1878 carrying 20,000 coconuts from Havana; settlers planted them along the shore, and the resulting palms gave Palm Beach its name.