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

I am a Master's student in the Florida Studies program at USF St. Petersburg, Florida! This is a video presentation on my research from this past semester, Spring 2020. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments! Correction: In the first image where I say there is perhaps an "auto", my Professor corrected me explaining that it is most likely shorthand for "Audiençia".

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

Hernando de Soto and the Indians of Florida : Milanich and Hudson          Milanich and Hudson wrote this book with the intention of proving their stance on the Soto route’s location based on archaeological evidence that has surfaced since Swanton’s creation of the Soto route in the early 1900s. Together, they wanted to develop a picture of social geography among the Indians of Florida. Hudson believes that in doing so, he was able to give the Indians life. “Now, the Florida

Chessy Ricca Dr. Michael Francis October 22, 2018 Indian powers within the American south focused primarily on furthering their private agendas. Long before Spaniards, French, or English colonists arrived in the New World, Indian communication paths were interconnected over enormous distances. Gold and supplies were a top priority to these Spanish colonists, but the Indian itinerary was always movement, harmony, war, trade and territorial control. Any information involving th

Chessy Ricca Dr. Michael Francis September 19, 2018 The Myths and Legends of the early 16 th  century were the foundation for Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon’s Spanish exploration of La Florida and the land’s ultimate colonization in 1565. In Paul E. Hoffman’s book, A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient , he discusses how those Legends were instrumental in inspiring the multiple expeditions of the early 1500s. The Chicora Legend lived by the writings of Peter Martyr, a man who neve

Its that time of the year where graduation is getting closer, I'm getting more and more excited about my future and I'm applying to grad school. In the 5 years leading up to this Spring 2018, I have walked the distance to get to know myself as an artist, an angler, a friend and an individual. I stumbled into my passion of Florida about a decade ago when I didn't know who I was or where I was going. History books enabled me to get lost in the past and dream about my ancestors

A friend introduced me to this location. Allapattah. We took a drive a few months ago and ended up taking a walk through time. The reason I went with my camera was to preserve the beauty the spring brings to Old Florida country. I knew then that I'd want to come back to paint the herds of cracker cattle that roam free.   "A drive across the Martin Grade is a drive through the beauty of Old Florida – through land that time seems to have forgotten.   To the east lie barrier isl