Brief City History:

In 1702, the English and their allies began systematically attacking the missions. In 1704, a band of Creek Indians permanently destroyed and banished the residents from San Luis. More Creek Indians, who later became Seminole Indians, came in the 1730s. They developed villages called “fowl towns” because they raised chickens. By 1763, the British ruled Florida and divided it into East and West Florida, separated by the Apalachicola River. St. Augustine was the capital of East Florida. Pensacola was the capital of West Florida. Twenty years later, after the American Revolution, Florida returned to Spanish control.

In 1821, Florida became a territory of the United States. Both St. Augustine and Pensacola competed to become the capital city. Legislators alternated sessions. Travel was hazardous and took almost twenty days. The governor appointed two commissioners to find a suitable new location. One rode on horseback from St. Augustine and the other sailed by boat from Pensacola. They met at the port of St. Marks about 20 miles south of Tallahassee, halfway between St. Augustine and Pensacola.
They discovered a place north of St. Marks. They reported, “A more beautiful country can scarcely be managed; it is high, rolling, and well watered, the richness of the soil renders it perfectly adapted to farming.” At that time, about 500 Indians led by Chief Neamathla lived in the area. The chief and his men confronted the two white men but did not attack them. Instead they entertained them with food and dance. They soon worked out a deal for the land.

In 1824, Tallahassee was established as the capital city. Three log cabins were built as the first capitol buildings. Tallahassee soon earned a reputation as an outlaw frontier town. Men carried guns and knives. Duels, brawls and knife fights were common. Ralph Waldo Emerson called Tallahassee “a grotesque place…rapidly settled by public officers, land speculators, and desperadoes.” Over 150 years ago, Tallahassee’s Police Department was formed to end this lawlessness. The land around Tallahassee was good for agriculture. Several large plantations were built. Crops were planted including cotton, corn, and sweet potatoes. By 1840, more than 11,000 people lived in the area. There were setbacks during the Second Seminole War, a yellow fever epidemic, and a great fire. Still, the place continued to grow.