863-04 Land Use Amendment for Jeter Property

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OR BK 5910 PG 1457 10 of 25 • • vote of 62-7 with representatives from Hernando County voting for secession. Seven states sent delegates to Alabama and on February 4, 1861 the Confederate States of America was formed. Reconstruction, 1866-1879 After the Civil War, Florida came under military rule. The Freedmen's Bureau, created in 1865 to provide assistance to the recently freed slaves, established bureaus in Brooksville and Tampa. Typical during this period in the South, two companies of African-American troops were sent to Confederate strongholds in the South including Fort Brooke in Tampa. Two settlers that came during this time and who became important to the settlement of the area were John and Irvin Spivey. These brothers migrated from Coffee County Georgia to Hernando County. John Spivey filed for homestead land between Pretty Pond and Lake Zephyr. He built a house, Oakdale, and later established a church initially called Lakeview Baptist Church,which would be replaced by the First Baptist Church. Other settlers during the Reconstruction period were Richburg, Adkins,Hudsons, Burnsides, and Eilands. Two visitors to the Zephyrhills area,Andrew Jackson Green and Dr. J.M. Abbott(a physician in the Confederacy) arrived at Tuckertown and set up a sawmill near the present day Zephyr Shopping Center and Highway 301 overpass. Problems between the so-called"carpetbaggers"and"old settler Democrats"flared. Accusations of corruption within the Freedmen's Bureau by the Confederate loyalists caused great conflict sometimes ending in violence. Resistance to changes in the social system continued to plague the Reconstruction period until 1877 when Governor George Franklin Drew, a Democrat and Confederate sympathizer,was elected. Post-Reconstruction, 1880-1897 Attention was then turned to progress in the New South. One of the largest industries that pervaded Florida throughout this period and well into the twentieth century was lumber and turpentine processing. Throughout Pasco County, sawmills and turpentine camps sprung up. This industry became the employer for the majority of African-Americans as well as white men throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century and up to the 1920s. Virgin heart pine was cultivated until exhausted in the 1920s. Cattlemen, including the Tuckers, Lykes, and the Lamers made up the"Cattle Barons"that brought much needed cash into the area. These families were part of a larger cattle ranching industry based in west central Florida that exported an estimated 500,000 head of cattle to Cuba during the 1850-1890 period. Other agriculture crops during the period included sugar cane, coconuts,pineapples, and citrus. Promotion and progress continued to attract settlers to Pasco County. The International Telegraph Line from Washington to Punta Rassa came in the 1870s and the road cut to build the line became known as Wire Road. Even though travel improved with the three major roads, Fort King Road, Stage Road, and Wire Road,no railroads had come into the area and up to 1880 there were still only a few settlers in Zephyrhills. Dr. Abbott built a store, west of Spivey's Oakdale school and church. During this period, Florida was widely heralded for its curative powers due to its warm weather and fresh water springs. Dr. Abbott had originally moved here to improve his health and stayed. Another Confederate surgeon,Dr. James Goodwin Wallace, settled on Lake Buddy in 1876 and began promoting the town of Ellerslie as a health resort. He established the first newspaper in the area called The Fort Dade Messenger. An important state action in the 1880s caused an increase in development and spurred the railroads into building tracks in the central part of the state. William D. Bloxham, governor during this time, sold 4 million acres of state lands in a controversial deal with Hamilton Disston. Railroad building was able to start due to the million dollar Disston purchase. Included in this was 40 acres near Abbott's store. The Central Peninsula and West India Railroad followed the Wire Road and the first train arrived in 1885. Depots were built at Tuckertown(later renamed Richland) and Abbott. 4