- Greater Miami is the only metropolitan area in the
United States whose borders encompass two national parks.
You can hike through pristine Everglades National Park or
ride on glass-bottom boats across Biscayne National Park.
- Saint Augustine is the oldest European settlement in
North America.
- The name Punta Gorda, which means, "fat point" when
translated from Spanish. The moniker was given to the city
because a broad part of the land in Punta Gorda juts into
Charlotte Harbor. The harbor itself is somewhat unique, as
it is the point where the Peace River meets the ocean.
- Orlando attracts more visitors than any other amusement
park destination in the United States.
- New England Congregationalists who sought to bring their
style of liberal arts education to the state founded Rollins
College, the oldest college in Florida, in Winter Park in
1885.
- Cape Canaveral is America's launch pad for space
flights.
- Florida is not the southernmost state in the United
States. Hawaii is farther south.
- A museum in Sanibel owns 2 million shells and claims to
be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks.
- The Benwood, on French Reef in the Florida Keys, is
known as one of the most dived shipwrecks in the world.
- Safety Harbor is the home of the historic Espiritu Santo
Springs. Given this name in 1539 by the Spanish explorer
Hernando de Soto. He was searching for the legendary
Fountain of Youth. The natural springs have attracted
attention worldwide for their curative powers.
- Niceville is home to the famous Boggy Bayou Mullet
Festival celebrated the third weekend in October.
- The United States city with the highest rate of
lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater.
- Gatorade was named for the University of Florida Gators
where the drink was first developed.
- Young aviator Tony Jannus made history on January 1,
1914 when he flew the world's first scheduled passenger
service airline flight from St. Petersburg's downtown yacht
basin to Tampa.
- Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola invented mechanical
refrigeration in 1851.
- Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first
suntan cream in 1944. He accomplished this development by
cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's
stove.
- Neil Smith and his brother of Montverde developed the
first Snapper riding lawn mower.
- Key West has the highest average temperature in the
United States.
- The Saint John's River is one of the few rivers that
flows north instead of south.
- The largest lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee.
- May 20, 1970 Florida lawmakers passed and sent to the
Governor a bill adopting the moonstone as the official state
gem. Ironically, the moonstone is not found naturally in
Florida...nor was it found on the moon.
- In 1987 the Florida legislature designated the American
alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) the official state
reptile. Long an unofficial symbol of the state, the
alligator originally symbolized Florida's extensive untamed
wilderness and swamps.
- Miami installed the first bank automated teller machine
especially for rollerbladers.
- Ybor City was once known as the Cigar Capital of the
World with nearly 12,000 tabaqueros (cigar-makers) employed
in 200 factories. Ybor City produced an estimated 700
million cigars a year at the industry's peak.
- Plant City, the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World,
holds the Guinness record for the world's largest strawberry
shortcake. The 827 square-foot, 6,000 pound cake was made on
Feb. 19, 1999 in McCall Park.
- The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a cable-stayed concrete
bridge. Opened in 1987 the bridge coasts through the clouds
at 190 feet above water. Its bright yellow support cables
spread from the two center pillars. The structure gives
drivers unobstructed view of the water during the 4.1 mile
trip over Tampa Bay.
- Nearly 80 percent of the states intake of sweet Atlantic
white shrimp is harvested in Amelia Island waters. Two
million pounds of shrimp are delivered to Fernandina docks
annually.
- A swamp such as the Fakahatchee Strand in the Everglades
functions in three major ways. First, its vegetation serves
as a filter to clean the water as it makes its slow journey
southward. Secondly, it's a major habitat for wildlife and
plant life. Finally, it actually prevents flooding by
slowing down the flow of water after heavy rains.
- DeFuniak Springs is home to one of the two naturally
round lakes in the world.
- The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens at Delray Beach
is the only museum in the United States dedicated
exclusively to the living culture of Japan.
- Fort Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America
because the city has 185 miles of local waterways.
- Fort Meade is the oldest settlement in Polk County. It
dates back to 1849 when a settlement grew up around the
United States Cavalry fort during the Seminole Indian Wars.
- The Fred Bear Museum in Gainesville is a tribute to the
accomplishments of Fred Bear a promoter of proper wildlife
management and the founder of Bear Archery Company.
- The Hawthorne Trail a part of Florida's Rails to Trails
program and attracts many outdoor enthusiasts to walk,
cycle, or ride horseback through its 17-mile length.
- Just north of Haines City is the Baseball City Stadium
the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals. Haines
City is known as The Heart of Florida.
- The city of Hypoluxo's name comes from the Seminole
expression water all 'round -- no get out.
- Islamorada is billed as the Sports fishing Capital of
the World.
- Key Largo is known as the Dive Capital of the World.
- Marathon is home to Crane Point Hammock, a 63.5 acre
land tract that is one of the most important historical and
archaeological sites in the Keys. The area contains evidence
of pre-Colombian and prehistoric Bahamian artifacts, and
once was the site of an entire Indian village.
- Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West was built between 1845
and 1866. Controlled by the Union during the Civil War, the
fort was the home base for a successful blockade of
Confederate ships that some historians say shortened the
conflict by a full year. The fort also was active during the
Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II.
- The first graded road built in Florida was Old Kings
Road in 1763. It was named for King George of England.
- During the 1991 Gulf War the busiest military port in
the country was Jacksonville. From this location the
military moved more supplies and people than any other port
in the country.
- When first completed in 1989 the Dame Point Bridge
became the longest cable-stayed span in the United States,
the longest concrete span of its type in the Western
Hemisphere, and the third longest cable-stayed bridge in the
world.
- The longest river sailboat race in the world is the
Annual Mug Race. The event runs 42 miles from Palatka to
Jacksonville along the St. Johns River.
- The Olustee Battlefield State Historic Site commemorates
the largest battle fought in Florida during the American
Civil War.
- Venice is known as the Shark Tooth Capital of the World.
Collecting prehistoric sharks teeth has been a favorite
pastime of visitors and residents of the Venice area for
years
- The Florida Museum of Hispanic and Latin American Art in
Coral Gables, is the first and only museum in the United
States dedicated to the preservation, diffusion, and
promotion of Hispanic and Latin American Art.
- The Pinellas Trail, a 47 mile hiking/biking trail
connecting St. Petersburg with Central and north Pinellas
County, is the longest urban linear trail in the eastern
United States.
- Titusville, known as Space City, USA, is located on the
west shore of the Indian River directly across from the John
F. Kennedy Space Center.
- Florida is the only state that has 2 rivers both with
the same name. There is a Withlacoochee in north central
Florida (Madison County) and a Withlacoochee in central
Florida. They have nothing in common except the name.
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