Category: History

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats A glimpse into the life of the Thomas Scott family offers a fascinating picture of what life was like in Lamont during the 1940s and 1950s. Thomas was…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats It started with tung nuts and ended with Nazis. An unlikely story perhaps, but this is how it goes: Tung oil, derived from the nuts of the tung…

Danny Federico ECB Publishing, Inc. “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.” (Mark Twain) “I hate it that Americans are taught to…

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute Although we usually think of the early settlers arriving immediately after Florida became a U.S. Territory as the first settlers in…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats “I mailed a letter to coach today.” So ended the day’s journal entry of a sixteen-year-old boy in April of 1941. As young Jim Sledge laid aside his…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats Driving through the gates of Roseland Cemetery for another visit, I note with relief that my vehicle fits easily between the tall posts that flank the road. Though…

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute Based on writings of local historian Mary Lou Bennett, a cave system as large as the well-known Florida Caverns in the…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats It was a crisp September morning in 1780. The American colonies were desperately attempting to defend themselves against the overwhelming forces of Great Britain marshaled against them. Throughout…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats For more than one hundred and fifty years, Roseland Cemetery has marked the final resting place of many Jefferson County and Monticello residents. Each silent marker within its…

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute Today, the Aucilla and its tributaries are known for excellent fishing. But, this is not a modern development. Since prehistoric times,…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats If you stepped back in time to the 1920s and 1930s, you’d find many differences between the Monticello of that day and the one that exists at the…

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute One of the most intriguing aspects of the Aucilla and Wacissa River basins is the large number of Native American mounds…

  George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute One of the most interesting parts of the Aucilla River is where it suddenly is swallowed by the Earth. The…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats Immediately to the east of what used to be Jackson’s drugstore on East Dogwood Street is a narrow, unassuming storefront housed between the old drugstore and Gellings’ florist…

Story Submitted by Aucilla Research Institute There is no detailed history of the community on the lower Aucilla River known as “Nutall Rise.” It is randomly mentioned in narratives related to the…

Written and submitted by Rev. Gene Hall Then Deborah said to Barak, “Go! This is the day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord gone ahead of…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats For a town of its size, young Monticello had invested in few public safety resources to meet an emergency. When a fire roared through the downtown district in…

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute Even though the Great Timber Boom was over, the impact of that era was not. During the boom no thought had…

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats An old map of the town of Monticello reveals the surprising fact that, among the multiple commercial establishments and residences in the growing community in 1909, only a…

George M. Cole and John E. Ladson III Aucilla Research Institute   The area around the lower Aucilla was isolated and remote during the early days of statehood. U.S. Highway 98 was…