The story of industrial-scale timber harvesting is what would become Corbett and Hungryland WMA's begins with one of the largest land purchased in Florida history. In 1902, the Southern States Land and Timber Company, a New Orleans-based firm, purchased approximately 2-million acres in the vicinity of Lake Okeechobee for .25 cents an acre. This massive acquisition made Southern States one of the largest landholders in the region and positioned the company to exploit the virgi

Much to no one's surprise, I have been deep in thought on the lumber industry in Palm Beach and Martin Counties circa the 1940s. What did it look like before the trees were felled? Were the pine forests more spread out? How did the lumber makes its way out of the swamp and sloughs of Palm Beach and Martin County? The other night, I was perusing the 1940-1950s aerials from UF's database and I followed a trail south off the old Jupiter-Indiantown grade. I realized the trail was

Bridges of all shapes and sizes stretch over the waterways of Martin County. Old, new, tall, small. Some bridges are around 100 years old! The Gaines-Annie bridge used to be the gateway to Indiantown but today it is a quaint foot bridge going over the South Fork of the St. Lucie. The bridge onto Hutchinson Island was a toll bridge. Most of the old bridges were either swing bridges or ferry rides. There was even a road named Bridge Road (in Hobe Sound. But why?   The one bridg

This lecture was conducted in the Spring of 2024 at the Historical Society of Martin County on Hutchinson Island, located in Martin County, Florida. The Whiticar family has been a local staple for about 100 years. Curt Whiticar played an integral role in Martin County's famed sport fishing industry. Because of Curt, Stuart was put on the map as the "sailfishing capital of the world!" Curt's meticulously crafted fishing vessels, Whiticar Boatworks, grace the waters of Martin C

Previously, I had written about John Ashley and what was happening in his life leading up to his death 100 years ago this year. According to records, John over the hot summer season of 1924, probably was laying low. Even though John Ashley was out of the papers and seeking refuge, his nemesis, Sheriff Bob Baker, was soon-to-be off the hook on a prohibition law conspiracy trial because the witnesses who testified against Bob were indicted on perjury charges. While we take a br

January 1924 began on a somber note when John’s father, Joseph “Joe” Warren Ashley was killed by a member of the sheriff’s posse at his moonshine camp while putting on his slippers one rainy night after hearing John’s dog, “Shine” barking close by.  Joe was sixty-four years old. At this time, John was almost a year into being on the run again and was staying with his father while helping him in the distilling business. The moonshine still camp ambush was sparked by a train st

Long before strip malls replaced the undeveloped vistas along US1 and Dixie, Florida’s treasure coast was blanketed with miles of pineapple fields. Starting in the 1870’s in our Stuart area, local families began the grow process and within two decades, Jensen Beach was known as the “Pineapple capitol of the world”. But with miles of pineapples and just one family per grove, how did the delicious crop gain its popular success?  Many of Martin county’s migrant worker population

Little is known about the once small town called Fruita. Located just north of what is now Hobe Sound, Fruita was a small farming and fishing community surprisingly nestled between Dixie Highway and the Jupiter narrows north of Hobe Sound. A beautiful hilly landscape coated in fertile soil, fruit trees, colorful gardens, pines and palmettos. This community was prime territory for farming fruits and growing locally famous citrus but also the site permitted easy access to the a

Interview conducted in early December 2021 in Hobe Sound, Florida. Jeff Whittman has been an important part to my research into Palm Beach and Martin County history. As a local, Jeff knew many key players growing up that helped tell the story of the quiet town of Hobe Sound. Throughout the years, Jeff has fought hard against and with county commissioners and the like to help keep Hobe Sound the beautiful, environmentally important and historically complex town it deserves to

The scandalous Ashley Gang of Florida, fabled to have been villainous, murderous robbers and bootleggers of the early twentieth century, were not as nefarious as the media portrayed them to be. Instead, based on current research and interviews, the close-knit family were modern day Robin Hoods, working hard to survive in the swampy conditions of early 20 th  century Florida.            A book written in 1928 by Stuart Hix set in stone the infamous reputation of the Ashley Gan