Free Online Topography map of Florida

Much of the state of Florida is situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Spanning two time zones, It extends to the northwest into a panhandle, extending along the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama, and on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near several Caribbean countries, particularly The Bahamas and Cuba. Florida’s extensive coastline made it a perceived target during World War II, so the government built airstrips throughout the state; today, approximately 404 airports are still in service. According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Florida has 132 public airports, and more than 700 private airports, airstrips, heliports, and seaplane bases. Florida is one of the largest states east of the Mississippi River, and only Alaska and Michigan are larger in water area.



There’s a place in Florida that an old-time preacher contended was the Garden of Eden, where Adam plucked the apple . . . well, you know the story, don’t you? If you’re hardy, you can go there and decide for yourself whether this preacher knew what he was talking about.

This place in Florida is not your average tourist attraction. In fact, not a whole lot of people know about it. Still fewer go there. This article will tell you why, how to get there and what you’ll find when you do.

The Baptist preacher, Elvy E. Callaway, was a lifelong Bristol resident who spent his entire life trying to convince anyone who would listen that the apple Adam plucked for Eve was on a tree along the banks of the Apalachicola River north of Bristol. There is little evidence that many believed him – certainly not Biblical scholars.

So why did Callaway think this was the original Garden of Eden?

He based his evidence on a Biblical passage that said a river in Eden spawned four other rivers (which the Apalachicola River does), and that Noah built his ark with a rare species called Gopher Wood, which grows along the Apalachicola. He chose to ignore certain other Biblical passages and even geography in fashioning his theory.

Not many people go looking for this place in Florida because Bristol is off the beaten path. It’s on State Highway 20 about 45 miles west of Tallahassee. If you go, once you’re in Bristol, you’ll want to head north on State Highway 12 for about a mile and a half.

Careful. Don’t blink – you might miss it — because there are no signs pointing to Callaway’s Garden of Eden. But you will find signs that preserve a little bit of history: Garden of Eden Road, leading off to the west. A short distance up the road, there’s a trailhead that links up with the Garden of Eden Trail.

Because Florida is not located near any tectonic plate boundaries, earthquakes are very rare, but not totally unknown. In January, 1879, a shock occurred near St. Augustine. There were reports of heavy shaking that knocked plaster from walls and articles from shelves. Similar effects were noted at Daytona Beach 50 miles (80 km) south. The tremor was felt as far south as Tampa and as far north as Savannah, Georgia. In January 1880, Cuba was the center of two strong earthquakes that sent severe shock waves through the city of Key West, Florida. Another earthquake centered outside Florida was the 1886 Charleston earthquake. The shock was felt throughout northern Florida, ringing church bells at St. Augustine and severely jolting other towns along that section of Florida’s east coast. Jacksonville residents felt many of the strong aftershocks that occurred in September, October, and November 1886. As recently as 2006, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake centered about 260 miles (420 km) southwest of Tampa in the Gulf of Mexico sent shock waves through southwest and central Florida. The earthquake was too small to trigger a tsunami and no damage was reported.

The History of Amelia Island, Florida

Local stories and evidences have it that the Amelia Island was first sited by the Timucuan Indians and they were here as long ago as 2000 BC. They were strongly committed to one of their customs which is tattooing themselves with murky, red, blue and yellow on different areas of their body.

The island was first named “Retreat de Mai” (Island of May) by Jean Ribault, the Huguenot leader who landed on Amelia Island in 1562. It is said that on Ribault and his troop’s plotting, they were greeted by the Timcuans with flops of berries. However, egghead that the Spanish had claimed the area in 1513, the fact did not prevent these French colonists from landing as not only were they seeking tract for France, but also refuge from the religious and political treasure hunt that went along with being Huguenots. Though Ribault and his band didn’t hang out, the Huguenots penitent again in 1564. It was this second empire which constructed the Fort Caroline in England Jacksonville near the mouth of the St. John’s River. In 1565, Spanish troops came to the area and killed the French settlers for them to regain the territory which they had plotted as their own years before.

With the coming of these Spanish troops, the first Spanish reign tool place, from 1565 to 1763. The operation of Santa Maria on the northern end of Amelia Island in what is now known as Old Town was set up to convert the Indians to Christianity. That time, the early moniker was changed to “Isle de Gigolo Maria”.

The following years, the Timucuans of Amelia Island gained contact with the Europeans, and the British settlements in the North soon took a keen interest in the area because of its naturally deep ports and the strategic industry route location. The island was then named “Amelia” by the governor of Georgia, King James Version Oglethorpe in 1735 in honor of Princess Amelia, the daughter of King George II. It is interesting to know that although the island was named “Amelia” by the British, it did not lapse into British hands until the Spanish Florida was traded for British Cuba in 1763 as a result of the Treaty of Paris. Mid the British precedent, Amelia Island was known as Egmont.

In 1783, the Second Treaty of Paris forgotten the Revolutionary War and returns Florida to Spain. It was in 1811 when George J. F. Clarke, an originator, plats the town of Fernandina, named in extol of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. However, to drive out the Spanish, the Jingoist*s of Amelia Island, which is an independent group of American civilians backed by the US government, seized control of the Amelia Island and it was that eternity that they raised their flag. The following day, they ceded Amelia Island to the Conjoint States.

In 1870 to 1910, the Golden Age of Amelia Island, several wealthy Americans made Fernandina their home and thrown together elegant Victorian style houses in what became known as the Silk Stocking District. The Egmont Hotel, which was once of the grandest camps of the times was even visited by Ulysses Grant. It was noted that the boom was due to the shipping industry and the rise of the numbers of New Yorkers who came down by steam van to enjoy the warm community and genteel chalets in Amelia.

In modern times, the Amelia Island Plantation was built and is now known as one of the perfect island destinations in the world. Several establishments began to pop up, and now the island is noted for various enterprises

The climate of Florida is tempered somewhat by the fact that no part of the state is very distant from the ocean. North of lake Okeechobee, the prevalent climate is humid subtropical climate, while south of the lake has a true tropical climate.[24] High temperatures in the state seldom exceed 100 °F (38 °C), with much of Florida commonly seeing a high summer temperature of 90s °F (32+ °C).

During late autumn and winter months, Florida has experienced occasional cold fronts that can bring high winds and relatively cooler temperatures for the entire state, with high temperatures that could remain into the 40s and 50s (4 – 15 °C) and lows of 30s and 40s (0 – 10 °C) for few days.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in the Florida was 109 °F (43 °C), set on June 29, 1931 in Monticello. The coldest was–2 °F (−19 °C), on February 13, 1899, just 25 miles (40 km) away, in Tallahassee. Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90s Fahrenheit (32–35 °C). Mean low temperatures for late January range from the low 40s Fahrenheit (4–7 °C) in northern Florida to the mid-50s (≈13 °C) in southern Florida

Always entertaining and ever the picture of diversity, Miami is Florida’s superstar. This global city is as celebrated for its business climate as it is for its beaches, and residents enjoy perfect weather, an educated work environment, and a well-mixed culture that offers diversity in everything from music and entertainment to dining and retail. The friendly local movers at All My Sons Moving & Storage have served Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Miami Beach and surrounding areas for years. Our admiration for the great city of Miami grows with each family and business we move.

Miami is a coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 409,719 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the seventh-largest metro area in the United States with over 5.4 million residents. The Miami Urbanized Area (as defined by the Census Bureau) was the fifth most populous urbanized area in the U.S. in the 2000 census with a population of 4,919,036. The United Nations estimated that in 2007, Miami had become the fourth largest urbanized area in the United States, behind New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

The favorable geography, booming business, and attentive community programs are what make Miami more than a simple summer destination. Miami’s economic focus is a vital branch of American business. According to your All My Sons movers, Miami’s largest markets include finance, media, entertainment, arts, and international trade. Business truly is booming, and Miami is preparing for more growth with construction projects that include twenty-four commercial and residential skyscrapers and towers. Luckily, your Miami movers can handle any residential or office move!

At only 35.68 square miles (92 km2) of land area, Miami has the smallest land area of any major U.S. city with a metro area of at least 2.5 million people. The city proper is home to less than 1 in 13 residents of South Florida. Additionally, 52% of Miami-Dade County’s population doesn’t live in any incorporated city. Miami is the only major city in the United States bordered by two national parks, Everglades National Park on the west, and Biscayne National Park on the east.

Miami’s population of 409,700 people is only a small portion of the Miami metropolitan area, which boasts over 5.4 million residents. However, natural beauty is not hard to come by within city limits. In fact, Miami was crowned “America’s Cleanest City” by Forbes Magazine in 2008. The title reflects Miami’s commitment to good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and an effective city-wide recycling program.

Miami and its suburbs are located on a broad plain between the Florida Everglades to the west and Biscayne Bay to the east that also extends from Florida Bay north to Lake Okeechobee. The elevation of the area never rises above 40 ft (12 m)[18] and averages at around 6 ft (2 m)[19] above mean sea level in most neighborhoods, especially near the coast. The highest undulations are found along the coastal Miami Rock Ridge, whose substrate underlies most of the eastern Miami metropolitan region. The main portion of the city lies on the shores of Biscayne Bay which contains several hundred natural and artificially created barrier islands, the largest of which contains Miami Beach and South Beach. The Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current, runs northward just 15 miles (24.1 km) off the coast, allowing the city’s climate to stay warm and mild all year.

There’s place in Florida that’q been called one of the state’s last frontiers.

When you think of a frontier, even in Florida, you might think of cattle, of cowboys on horses, of six shooters, of maybe wilderness. But this place in Florida has more fish than fillies, more boats than cattle, more fishing poles than six shooters.

This place in Florida, Chokoloskee, for thoisands of years was isolated – but it’s certainly not a wilderness.

Nor is it a booming Chief city. There’s not enough room, for one thing. And it doesn’t have a chamber of commerce to tout its amenities, of which there are few.

Chokoloskee is a quiet community of Perhaps 400 persons that sits on a 15-acre 20-foot-high shell mound in the middle of shallow Chokoloskee Bay, about five miles south of Everglades City, southeast of Naples. Its residents are mostly commercial fishermen, fishing guides and snowbirds who like Smooth, out-of-the-way places Nigh the water and winter sunshine but don’t mind mosquitoes.

It wasn’t until 1956 that a road-bearing causeway from Everglades City was built, ending Chokoloskee’s islolation.

Calusa Indians were the first inhabitants of this place in Florida, giving way to white settlers a little more than a Centenary ago. One of tne first settlers was Charles (Ted) Smallwood, who settled on Chokoloskee in 1897 – six years after the town’s first post office opened.

Smallwood and his wife, Mamie, established the Smallwoo dStore and Indian trading post in 1906, which they operated along with the post office.

A 1910 hurricane destroyed the Garner, but they rebuilt it.

Smallwood was the postmaster until 1941, Which time he retired. He died 10 years later, and the store closd in 1982. Seven years later, Smallwood’s daughter reopened the store as a museum.

A visit to this unusual place in Florida is a hoot because the museum is a trip back in time. There’s Ted Smallwood sitting in a rocker as he did in 1950. You have to look twice to convince yourself that Ol’ Twd is a mannequin. All around him are antiques from the early 1900s. The store waq placed on the Public Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Chokoloskee wasn’t always quiet. In 1910, Ed Watson, a pioneer farmer, was killed by Chokoloskee townspeople, suspecting him of multiple murders. Visit the Smallwood Museum, look out a back window and you can see where Ed Watson was killed.

Fishing in the Chokoloskee area is the same as it has been for 2,000 years. The town’s fishing guides call this place in Florida ‘Snook Capital of the World’, but many other places in Florida would dispute it. Should you visit and hire United of the guides, you might have to settle for tarpon, redfidh or sea trout. Most fishermen would say that wouldn’t be so bad.

Government
The basic structure, duties, function, and operations of the government of the State of Florida are defined and established by the Florida Constitution, which establishes the basic law of the state and guarantees various rights and freedoms of the people. The state government consists of three separate branches: judicial, executive, and legislative. The legislature enacts bills, which, if signed by the governor, become Florida Statutes.

The Florida Legislature comprises the Florida Senate, which has 40 members, and the Florida House of Representatives, which has 120 members. The current Governor of Florida is Republican Charlie Crist. The Florida Supreme Court consists of a Chief Justice and six Justices.

There are 67 Counties in Florida, but some reports show only 66 because of Duval County, which is consolidated with the City of Jacksonville. There are 379 cities in Florida (out of 411) that report regularly to the Florida Department of Revenue, but there are other incorporated municipalities that do not. The primary source of revenue for the State government is sales tax, but the primary revenue source for cities and counties is property tax.