A Guide-Book of Florida and the South for Tourists, Invalids and Emigrants

PREFACE

This unpretending little book is designed to give the visitor to Florida such information as will make his trip more useful and more pleasant. In writing it I have had in mind the excellent European Guide-Books of Karl Bædeker, the best, to my mind, ever published. Though I have not followed his plan very closely, I have done so to the extent the character of our country seems to allow.

I have borrowed from him the use of the asterisk (*) to denote that the object so designated is especially noteworthy, or that the hotel thus distinguished is known to me to be well-kept, either from my own observation or that of friends.

Most of the localities are described from my own notes taken during an extended tour through the peninsula, but for much respecting railroad fare, accommodations, and charges, I am indebted to a large number of tourists and correspondents who have related to me their experience. To all these I express my warmest thanks for their assistance.

As of course such matters are constantly changing, and as I shall be most desirous to correct any errors, and bring the work fully up to the times in future editions, I shall esteem it a particular favor if those who use this book will forward me any notes or observation which will aid me in improving it. Such communications may be addressed “care of the Penn Publishing Co., 710 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, Penna.”

The map of the St. John River is based on that drawn by my friend, Mr. H. Lindenkohl, U. S. Coast Survey.

Philadelphia, August, 1869.

PRELIMINARY HINTS

THE SEASON FOR SOUTHERN TRAVEL

The season for Southern travel commences in October and ends in May. After the latter month the periodical rains commence in Florida, and the mid-day heat is relaxing and oppressive. About mid-summer the swamp miasm begins to pervade the low grounds, and spreads around them an invisible poisonous exhalation, into which the traveler ventures at his peril. This increases in violence until September, when it loses its power with the returning cold. When one or two sharp frosts have been felt in New York or Philadelphia, the danger is chiefly past. Nevertheless, for mere considerations of health, November is soon enough to reach the Gulf States. Those who start earlier will do well to linger in some of the many attractive spots on their way through the more Northern States. A congestive chill is a serious matter, and even the lightest attack of fever and ague can destroy the pleasure and annul the benefit of a winter’s tour.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY

The comfort of a journey is vastly enhanced by a few simple precautions before starting. And if I seem too minute here, it is because I am writing for many to whom the little miseries of traveling are real afflictions.

Before you leave home have your teeth thoroughly set in order by a skilful dentist. If there has been a philosopher who could tranquilly bear a jumping toothache, his name is not on record.

A necessaire containing soap, brushes, and all the etceteras of the toilet is indispensable. It is prudent in many parts of the South to carry your own towels.

Spectacles of plain glass, violet, light green, or light grey, are often a comfort in the sun and in the cars, and if the eyes are weak should not be omitted.

A strong, silk musquito net, with fine meshes, will be highly prized in the autumn nights. A teaspoonful of carbolic acid or camphor, sprinkled in the room, or an ointment of cold cream scented with turpentine, will be found very disagreeable to these insects, and often equally so to the traveler.

One or two air cushions take up but little room, and should be provided for every invalid.

Shoes are preferable for ordinary journeys. In their make, let reason and not fashion rule. They should be double soled, have low and broad heels, lace firmly around the ankle, and fit loosely over the toes. Rubber boots or overshoes should be abolished, especially from the invalid’s outfit. Rubber overcoats are equally objectionable. They are all unwholesome contrivances. A pair of easy slippers must always be remembered.

For ladies a hood, for gentlemen a felt hat, are the proper head-dresses on the route.

In all parts of the South woolen clothing is required in winter, and flannel under-clothing should be worn by every one who goes there in pursuit of health. Next to flannel, cotton is to be recommended. It is more a non-conductor of heat than linen, and thus better protects the body from changes of temperature.

Every person in feeble health – and those who are robust will not find the suggestion amiss – should have with them a few cases of devilled ham, sardines, potted meats, German sausage, or other savory and portable preparations, which, with the assistance of a few crackers or a piece of bread, will make a good lunch. A flask of wine or something similar, helps out such an impromptu meal. Frequently it is much better than to gulp down a badly cooked dinner in the time allowed by the trains.

A strong umbrella, and a stout pocket knife, are indispensable. Guns, ammunition, rods, and fishing tackle should always be provided before starting. They should be well protected from dampness, especially the guns and powder. Florida is the paradise of the sportsman, and those who are able should not omit to have a “camp hunt” while there. Tents, camp equipage, and the greater part of the supplies should be purchased in the North, as they are dearer and not often the best in the Southern cities.

On arriving at a hotel, first see that your baggage is safe; then that your room is well aired, and the sheets on the bed dry.

It is always well in traveling to have baggage enough – always a bother to have too much. A good sized leather traveling-bag will do for the single man; but where a lady is attached, a medium sized leather trunk, which can be expressed or “checked through,” and a light traveling-bag, to be taken into the cars and staterooms, and carried in the hand, are the requisites.

Money can be transmitted so readily by certified check or draft, that a tourist need not carry much with him. He should, however, have a reserve fund about him, so as to be prepared for one of those disagreeable emergencies which nearly every veteran traveler has at some time experienced.

Every one who visits a strange land should strive to interest himself in its condition, resources, history and peculiarities. The invalid, beyond all others, should cultivate an interest in his surroundings. Nothing so well sustains a failing body as an active mind. For that purpose, local histories, maps, etc., should always be purchased. I have indicated, under the different cities, what works there are of this kind in the market, and, in the introductory remarks on Florida, have mentioned several of a more general character, which should be purchased and read before going there. (For further hints see the last chapter of this work.)

PART I.
SOUTHERN ROUTES

1. STEAMSHIP LINES

In visiting the South Atlantic States the tourist from the North has a choice of a number of routes.

Steamers leave New York for Charleston, Savannah, Fernandina, and Key West, advertisements of which, giving days of sailing can be seen in the principal daily papers. Philadelphia has regular steamship lines to Charleston, Savannah, and Key West. From Charleston and Savannah boats run every other day to Fernandina, Jacksonville, and Palatka on the St. John river. The whole or a portion of a journey to Florida can be accomplished by water, and the steamships are decidedly preferable to the cars for those who do not suffer much from sea sickness.

The most direct route by railroad is the “Atlantic Coast Line,” by way of Washington, Acquia Creek, Richmond, Petersburg, Weldon, Wilmington, and Charleston. From Philadelphia to Wilmington the time is 28 hours, fare $21.90; to Charleston 40 hours, fare $24.00; to Savannah, fare $33.00; to Jacksonville, fare $38.65. Through tickets and full information can be obtained in New York at 193 Broadway; Philadelphia 828 Chestnut Street.

It is proposed to establish a direct line of steamers from New York to Jacksonville. It is to be hoped that this will be done promptly, as it will greatly increase trade and travel.

2. WASHINGTON TO RICHMOND

Distance, 130 miles; time 7.30 hours.

Until the tourist leaves Washington, he is on the beaten track of travel, and needs no hints for his guidance; or, if he does, can find them in abundance. Turning his face southward, he may leave our capital either in the cars from the Baltimore depot to Alexandria and Acquia Creek, or, what is to be recommended as the more pleasant alternative, he may go by steamboat to this station, a distance of 55 miles. The banks of the Potomac present an attractive diversity of highland and meadow. A glimpse is caught of Mt. Vernon, and those who desire it can stop and visit those scenes once so dear to him whose memory is dear to us all. The reminiscences, however, which one acquires by a visit to Mount Vernon are rarely satisfactory.

From Acquia Creek landing the railroad passes through a country still betraying the sears and scars of conflict, though, happily, it is recovering in some measure from those sad experiences. Fredericksburg (15 miles; hotel, the Planter’s House, poor,) may have enough of interest to induce some one to “lay over” a train. It is an unattractive spot, except for its historical associations. These are so fresh in the memory of most that it is unnecessary to mention them.

Beyond Fredericksburg a number of stations are passed – none of any size. The distance to Richmond is 60 miles.

Richmond

Hotels.– Ballard House ($4.00 per day); Spottswood, Exchange (each $2 per day); Ford’s Hotel on Capitol Square ($2.50 per day); St. Charles ($2.00.)

Boarding Houses.– Arlington House, corner Main and 6th street; Valentine House, on Capitol Square; Richmond House, corner Governor and Ross streets; Mrs. Bidgood’s, 61 East Main street; Mrs. Brander, 107 E. Franklin street, (all about $12.00 per week).

Telegraph Offices in Spottswood and Exchange Hotels.

Reading Rooms at the Y.M.C.A. The Virginia State Library was pillaged in 1865, and the Virginia Historical Library burned.

Theatre.– The Richmond Theatre has a respectable stock company, and is visited by most of the stars of the stage.

Booksellers.– West & Johnson, 1006 Main St., (Brinton’s Guide-Book.)

Churches of all denominations.

Richmond derives it name from the ancient burgh of the same name on the Thames. The word is supposed to be a corruption of rotre mont, and applies very well to the modern namesake. Like Rome, it is seated upon seven hills, and if it has never commanded the world, it will be forever famous as the seat of the government of the whilom Confederacy. It is situated at the Great Falls of the James river, on the Richmond and Shoccoe hills, between which flows the Shoccoe creek.

In the early maps of the colony, the site of the present city is marked as “Byrd’s Warehouse,” an ancient trading post, we can imagine, said to have stood where the Exchange hotel is now built. In 1742 the city was established, and has ever since been the chief center of Virginian life.

The capitol is a showy edifice, on Shoccoe hill. The plan was taken from the Maison Quarre, of Nismes, with some modifications, among others the Doric pillars. It stands in the midst of a square of eight acres. In this building the Confederate Congress held its sessions. It contains, among other objects, a well cut statue of Washington, dating from the last century, “fait par Houdin, citoyen Francais,” as we learn from the inscription, and a bust of Lafayette. Two relics of the old colonial times are exhibited – the one a carved chair which once belonged to the house of Burgesses, of Norfolk – the other a huge stove, of singular shape, bearing the colonial arms of Virginia in relief. This latter is the product of a certain Buzaglo. It is eight or ten feet high, and slopes from base to summit. A letter of the inventor is extant, addressed to Lord Botetourt, in which he speaks of it as “excelled anything ever seen of the kind, and a masterpiece not to be excelled in all Europe.”

In the square around the capitol is an* equestrian statue of Gen. George Washington, constructed by Crawford, and erected February 22, 1858. Its total height is sixty feet. Around its base are six pedestals, upon which are figures of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Marshall, Gov. Nelson, George Mason and Andrew Lewis, the latter an Indian fighter, once of celebrity in Western Virginia.

To the left of this is a small statue of Henry Clay, erected by the ladies of Virginia, made by Hart, and inaugurated in 1860.

On the eastern side of the square is the residence of the Governor, and on another side the City Hall, a handsome edifice with Doric columns.

St. John’s Church, on Richmond Hill, is the oldest church edifice in the city. The tower and belfry are, however, a modern addition. From its church-yard, dotted with ancient tombs, one of the most charming views of the city can be obtained. In this church, in 1775, the young and brilliant orator, Patrick Henry, delivered his famous oration before the Virginia Convention, which concludes with the famous words, “Give me liberty, or give me death.”

The Tredegar Iron Works, Libby Prison, at the corner of Thirty-fifth and Main streets, Belle Isle, and Castle Thunder, will be visited by most tourists as objects of interest. *Hollywood cemetery, near the city is a quiet and beautiful spot, well deserving a visit.

In the fire of April 2, 1865, about one thousand buildings were destroyed, but the ravages of that disastrous epoch are now nearly concealed by new and handsome structures.

The Falls of the James are properly rapids, the bed of the river making a descent of only eighty feet in two miles. They furnish a valuable water-power.

*Hollywood Cemetery, one mile from the city, is a spot of great natural beauty. Here lie the remains of Presidents Monroe and Tyler, and other distinguished men, as well as of many thousand Confederate soldiers. A rough granite monument has recently been erected in memory of the latter.

Butler’s Dutch Gap and Drewy’s Bluff, and the famous battle fields near the city, will be visited with interest by many.

Those who would visit the mineral springs of Virginia, will find ample information in Dr. Moorhead’s volume on them, or in that by Mr. Burke. Both can be obtained of West & Johnson, booksellers, Main street.

The Natural Bridge, one of the most remarkable curiosities in the State, is best approached by way of Lynchburg, from which place it is distant 35 miles, by canal.

3. RICHMOND TO CHARLESTON

From Richmond to Petersburg is 32 miles on the Richmond and Petersburg railway. The earthworks and fortifications around the latter town, memorials of our recent conflict, are well worth a visit from those who have not already seen too many such curiosities to care for more.

64 miles beyond Petersburg the train reaches Weldon, on the Roanoke river, a few miles within the boundary of North Carolina (Gouch’s Hotel.)

From Weldon to Goldsboro, the next stopping place of importance, is 78 miles, 7.30 hours. It is a place of about 5000 inhabitants, half white and half colored.

Hotels.– Griswold Hotel, Gregory’s Hotel, both $3 per day.

Boarding House by Mrs Tompkins, $2 per day.

The road here intersects the North Carolina, and Atlantic and North Carolina railways, the latter running to Morehead city and Beaufort, on the coast, (95 miles) and the former to Raleigh, the capitol of the State, (48 miles) and interior towns. From Goldsboro to Wilmington is 84 miles.

Hotels.– Purcell House, $4 per day; Fulton House, $3 per day.

Boarding Houses.– McRea House, Brock’s Exchange, about $2 per day, $40.00 per month.

Newspapers.—Post, republican, Journal, democratic.

Steamboat Line to Fayetteville, N. C., (130 miles, fare $5.00); to Smithville, at the mouth of Cape Fear, (30 miles, fare $1.50.)

Wilmington (16,000 inhabitants) is on Cape Fear river, 25 miles from the sea. It is well built. The staples are turpentine and resinous products. The vicinity is flat and sandy. At this point the railroad changes from the New York guage, 5 feet, to the Charleston guage, 4 feet 8 inches.

The journey from Richmond to Charleston can also be made by way of Greensboro, Charlotte and Columbia. This route leads through the interior of the country, and, though longer, offers a more diversified scene to the eye.

To Greensboro, on the Richmond & Danville and Piedmont Railways, is 189 miles; thence on the North Carolina Railway to Charlotte, 93 miles; then on the Charlotte & S. Carolina railway to Columbia, S. C., 107 miles (Nickerson’s hotel, $3.00 per day, newly fitted up); thence by the Columbia Branch of the South Carolina Railway to Charleston, 130 miles.

Salisbury, N. C., 150 miles south of Greensboro, is the most convenient point to enter the celebrated mountain regions of North Carolina. A railway runs thence to Morgantown, in the midst of the sublime scenery of the Black mountains, and in close proximity to the beautiful falls of the Catawba. Charlotte (hotel, the Mansion House), is in the center of the gold region of North Carolina, and the site of a United States Branch Mint. It is also the scene of the battle of Guilford Court House, during the revolutionary war.

The capitol, in Columbia, is considered a very handsome building.

Charleston

Hotels.– *Charleston Hotel, Mills House (newly furnished), both on Meeting Street. Charges, $4.00 per day. *Pavilion Hotel. Mr. Butterfield, proprietor, $3.00 per day, also on Meeting Street. Planter’s Hotel, Church Street, Victoria House, King Street, both $2.50 per day.

Telegraph Office, on Broad near Church Street; branch office in Charleston Hotel.

Post Office, on Hazel Street, near Meeting.

Churches.– Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Huguenot, Methodist, &c.

Theatre, at the corner of King and Market Streets.

Bathing Houses.– One of salt water near the battery; two, with water of the artesian well, one at the well, the other in the Charleston Hotel.

Livery Stable, 21 Pinckney Street, connected with the Charleston Hotel.

Street Cars run on several of the streets; fare, 10 cts., 15 tickets for $1.00. All the hotels have omnibuses waiting at the depots.

Physician.– Dr. Geo. Caulier, 158 Meeting Street.

Newspapers.– The Daily Courier, the Daily News.

Depots.– The depot of the Northeastern R. R. from Wilmington to the north, is at the corner of Chapel and Washington Sts.; that of the road to Savannah is at the foot of Mill street; and that of the S. C. R. R. to Aikin, Augusta, Atlanta, etc., is in Line street, between King and Meeting streets.

Bookseller.– John Russell, 288 King street. (Brinton’s Guide-Book.)

Libraries.– Charleston library, 30,000 vols.; Apprentices’ library, 12,000 vols.

Charleston claims 40,000 inhabitants, the whites and blacks being about equal in number. It is curious that since the war the mortality of the latter has been twice as great as of the whites.

The city is seven miles from the ocean at the junction of the Ashley and Cooper rivers, and has an excellent harbor, surrounded by works of defence. On the sea line is Fort Moultrie; Castle Pinkney stands at the entrance to the city; south of the latter is Fort Ripley, built of palmetto logs; while in the midst of the harbor stands the famous Fort Sumter.

The ravages caused by the terrible events of the late war have yet been only very partially repaired in Charleston. The greater part of the burnt district is deserted and waste.

The history of Charleston, previous to that event, is not of conspicuous interest. The city was first commenced by English settlers, in 1672, and for a long time had a struggling existence. Many of its early inhabitants were Huguenots, who fled thither to escape the persecutions which followed the revocation of the edict of Nantes. A church is still maintained in which their ancient worship is celebrated.

Of public buildings, the ancient church of St. Michael’s, built about 1750, has some claim to architectural beauty.

The fashionable quarter of the city is the Battery. *Magnolia cemetery, on the Cooper river, is well worth a visit. It is one of the most beautiful in the South. It was laid out in 1850, and contains some handsome monuments.

The Custom House is a fine building, of white marble.

Those who wish to visit Fort Sumter, and review the scenes of 1861, can be accommodated by a small sailing vessel, which leaves the wharf every morning at 10.30 o’clock.

In the church-yard of St. Philip’s is the tomb of John C. Calhoun. A slab, bearing the single word “Calhoun,” marks the spot.

The museum of the Medical College is considered one of the finest in the United States.