Andrew Jackson convinced President Monroe that Florida would be an asset to the United States. He was the United States Commissioner and Governor of East and West Florida: March 10, 1821 to November 12, He became the 7 th president of the United States in 1829.
First Mayor of Tallahassee Francis W. Eppes was the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson. After moving from Virginia with his family to near Tallahassee, Florida in 1829, he established a cotton plantation. In 1856 Eppes donated land and money for the first university here – now known as Florida State University.
In 1850, Tallahassee had at least 56 plantations including: Improved Land: 700 acres Unimproved Land: 800 acres Number of slaves: 67 Bushels of corn: 4,000 Bales of cotton: 120
-Owned by John Winthrop Improved Land: 2,590 acres Unimproved Land: 1,400 acres Number of slaves: 71 Bushels of corn: 2,200 Bales of cotton: 204 Improved Land: 950 acres Unimproved Land: 970 acres Number of slaves: 70 Improved Land: 3,150 acres Unimproved Land: 1,000 acres Number of slaves: 232 Improved Land: 825 acres Unimproved Land: 564 acres Number of slaves: 80 Bushels of corn: 4,000 Bales of cotton: 352
The Knott House Museum served as the headquarters for the Union Army during the Civil War. It was also from the steps of the Knott House on Park Avenue that the Emancipation Proclamation was read by Brig. Gen. Edward McCook on May 20, 1865, declaring freedom for all slaves in the Florida Panhandle.
Spanish American War Group portrait of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and other high ranking officials of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment: Tampa, Florida (1898)
Downtown Tallahassee 1930’s
Tallahassee Railroad Company's mule drawn car proceeding south between Pensacola and Jefferson (1894)