Florida Trivia & Tidbits - Page 11

Looking for Florida trivia? Try our list Florida little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

One of the South’s largest stands of live oak is preserved at the 3,230-acre Bulow Creek State Park in Ormond Beach (pop. 36,301).

first appeared: 4/27/2003

An endangered species, the Key deer—standing 24 to 32 inches tall and weighing 45 to 75 pounds—is protected at National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine Key.

first appeared: 4/20/2003

Chalk it up to part legend, but Belle Glade (pop. 14,906) was named in 1928 after suggestions were written on a hotel blackboard and voted on. The settlement had been described as the “belle of the glades.”

first appeared: 4/13/2003

The orange blossom—the white flower of the orange tree—perfumes the state and was designated the state flower in 1909.

first appeared: 4/6/2003

Hazel Haley began teaching English to a third generation at Lakeland High School in Lakeland last year at age 86. The state’s oldest active teacher received her degree in 1937.

first appeared: 3/30/2003

Capt. Francis Hendry platted LaBelle (pop. 4,210) in 1895 and named the town after his daughters, Laura and Belle.

first appeared: 3/23/2003

In 1925, Miami Beach developer Carl Fisher traded 216-acre Fisher Island (pop. 467) to William Vanderbilt for a yacht. Vanderbilt’s Mediterranean-style retreat is now the centerpiece of the luxurious island community.

first appeared: 3/16/2003

Ted Smallwood’s 1906 trading post on Chokoloskee Island (pop. 404) is preserved as a museum today.

first appeared: 3/9/2003

Father of the Famous Amos cookie, Wally Amos, was born in 1936 in Tallahassee. While working as a talent agent in Los Angeles, he baked bite-sized cookies and used them as calling cards.

first appeared: 3/2/2003

About 50 Miami Blue butterflies are known to exist, but only at Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key (pop. 5,032). The blue butterflies were declared an endangered species in 2002.

first appeared: 2/23/2003

The Florida state seal, created in 1865, features a sun, steamboat, sabal palm, and an American Indian woman scattering flowers.

first appeared: 2/16/2003

President Theodore Roosevelt made Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge in Indian River County the country’s first federal wildlife sanctuary in 1903. It was the start of the national wildlife refuge system.

first appeared: 2/9/2003

St. Petersburg is nicknamed the “Sunshine City.” Ironically, it was named after Russia’s St. Petersburg, a much colder city.

first appeared: 2/2/2003

Micanopy (pop. 653) was named after a prominent Seminole chief. The Michael J. Fox film Doc Hollywood was filmed there.

first appeared: 1/26/2003

Pass-a-Grille Beach in Pinellas County got its name from the fishermen who once stopped there to cook their meals on their way across the island.

first appeared: 1/19/2003

When Florida became a state in 1845, its population was 57,921. Today, it is 15,982,378.

first appeared: 1/12/2003

A bald cypress tree in Seminole County, known as the Senator, is 126 feet tall with a trunk circumference of 47 feet. It is 3,500 years old.

first appeared: 1/5/2003

Orange County is named for its many orange groves. Prior to 1845, the area was part of the now-defunct Mosquito County.

first appeared: 12/29/2002

Lakeland was aptly named for the 19 lakes found within its city limits.

first appeared: 12/22/2002

Wewahitchka (pop. 1,722) took its name from an American Indian word meaning “water eyes.” Two lakes along the edge of town look like a perfect pair of eyes, separated by a ridge resembling the bridge of a human nose.

first appeared: 12/15/2002

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