Carrabelle, Florida

Carrabelle, Florida
City

Location in Franklin County and the state of Florida
Carrabelle, Florida

Location in the United States

Coordinates: 29°51′14″N 84°39′57″W / 29.85389°N 84.66583°W / 29.85389; -84.66583Coordinates: 29°51′14″N 84°39′57″W / 29.85389°N 84.66583°W / 29.85389; -84.66583
Country  United States
State  Florida
County  Franklin
Rio Carrabella[1] 1877
Carrabelle (Incorporated) May 11, 1893
Government
 • Type Commission
 • Mayor Brenda La Paz
Area
 • Total 5.6 sq mi (14.6 km2)
 • Land 4.5 sq mi (11.7 km2)
 • Water 1.1 sq mi (2.9 km2)
Elevation[2] 26 ft (8 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 2,778
 • Density 617/sq mi (238.3/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 32322
Area code(s) 850
FIPS code 12-10725[3]
GNIS feature ID 0280069[4]
Website www.mycarrabelle.com

Carrabelle is a city in Franklin County along Florida's Panhandle, United States. The population was 2,778 as of the 2010 census.[5] Carrabelle is located east of Apalachicola at the mouth of the Carrabelle River on the Gulf of Mexico.

Geography

Carrabelle is located east of the center of Franklin County along the Carrabelle River, between St. George Sound to the south and the Crooked and New rivers to the north. To the south is Dog Island, separating St. George Sound from the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Route 98 passes through Carrabelle, leading west 22 miles (35 km) to Apalachicola and northeast 30 miles (48 km) to Medart. Tallahassee, the state capital, is 54 miles (87 km) to the northeast.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Carrabelle has a total area of 5.6 square miles (14.6 km2), of which 4.5 square miles (11.7 km2) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.9 km2), or 20.12%, is water.[6]

Carrabelle is the eastern terminus of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1890482—
190092391.5%
1910900−2.5%
19201,05517.2%
1930920−12.8%
19401,01910.8%
1950970−4.8%
19601,14618.1%
19701,044−8.9%
19801,30424.9%
19901,200−8.0%
20001,3038.6%
20102,778113.2%
Est. 20152,729[7]−1.8%
U.S. Decennial Census[8]
Downtown Carabelle

The population of Carrabelle rose from 1,303 in 2000 to 2,778 in 2010 with the expansion of the city limits to the northeast to include the Franklin Correctional Institution.

As of the census[3] of 2010, there were 2,778 people, 1,243 households, and 560 families residing in the city. The population density was 349.2 inhabitants per square mile (134.9/km²). There were 790 housing units at an average density of 211.7 per square mile (81.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.48% White, 5.68% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 1.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.61% of the population.

There were 562 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.0% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 24.1% from 25 to 44, 27.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $23,749, and the median income for a family was $27,955. Males had a median income of $26,719 versus $19,018 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,677. About 14.8% of families and 19.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.9% of those under age 18 and 24.2% of those age 65 or over.

For many decades, Carrabelle had the only tertiary sewage treatment facility in the State of Florida, but this may have been updated in recent years.

History

In 1528 the first Spanish expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez passed through the area on its way from Tampa Bay to the Rio Grande. From the late 17th century through early 18th century a few passages referring to the area are mentioned. Carrabelle, Dog Island, and St. George Island served as points to stage raids on local ports as well as San Marcos de Apalache in 1677 and 1682.

In 1876 explorer Nathaniel Holmes Bishop of Medford, Massachusetts, navigated the Crooked River through the lowlands east to the Ochlockonee River. In 1877, Oliver Hudson Kelly from Massachusetts founded the town and named it "Rio Carrabella".[1] The following year the first U.S. post office was established with its address as Rio Carrabella. By 1881 the population was between 500 and 600 people.

In 1891 the Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad was established to connect Carrabelle northward through Tallahassee to the Florida-Georgia line and eventually terminating in Augusta, Georgia.[9]

On August 1, 1899, the 2nd hurricane of the season struck the area, almost destroying the town and leaving just nine homes.[10]

In 1942, Camp Gordon Johnston was opened for the purpose of training amphibious soldiers on nearby beaches. The camp trained a quarter of a million men and closed in 1946.

On August 23, 2008, Tropical Storm Fay made its record fourth landfall in the state of Florida at Carrabelle.

Notable people

Richard W. Ervin monument in Carrabelle

Richard W. Ervin, Jr. (January 26, 1905 – August 24, 2004) was the Florida Attorney General from 1949 to 1964, and he served as chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1969 to 1971.[11]

On November 13, 1911, John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil was born in rural Carrabelle, and died October 6, 2006. He was a distinguished Negro league baseball player and coach for the champion Kansas City Monarchs and also worked as a scout for the Chicago Cubs. With his gentle demeanor, he highlighted the work of African-Americans before their integration into the previously "whites only" world of Major League Baseball. He gained a national spotlight during his interviews with Ken Burns' PBS documentary named Baseball.[12]

Attractions

World's Smallest Police Station

The World's Smallest Police Station

Carrabelle is the home of the "World's Smallest Police Station",[13] which came into being on March 10, 1963. The city had been having problems with tourists making unauthorized long distance phone calls on its police phone. The phone was located in a call box that was bolted to a building at the corner of U.S. 98 and Tallahassee Street. Johnnie Mirabella, St. Joe Telephone's lone Carrabelle employee at the time, first tried moving the call box to another building, but the illegal calls continued.

Mirabella noticed that the policeman would get drenched while answering phone calls when it was raining. So when the telephone company decided to replace its worn out phone booth in front of Burda's Pharmacy with a new one, he decided to solve both problems at once by putting the police phone in the old booth.

With the help of Curly Messer, who was a deputy sheriff at the time, Mirabella moved the phone booth to its current site on U.S. 98. The booth did protect the officers from the elements, but some people still sneaked into it to make long distance calls. Eventually the dial was removed from the phone, making it impossible for tourists to make calls.

It has been featured on television shows Real People, Ripley's Believe It or Not, The Today Show, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. It was featured in the movie Tate's Hell, which was produced at Florida State University. Along with police station T-shirts—the design is copyrighted—there are police station hats, visors, postcards, and calendars.

But life has not always been easy for the retired St. Joseph Telephone and Telegraph Company phone booth. Vandals have ripped phones out of the booth and shot holes through the glass. It has been knocked over by a pickup truck, a tourist once asked a gas station attendant to help him load it into his vehicle to take it back to Tennessee, and it was knocked over and damaged by Hurricane Kate.[14]

Museums

Local history museum

Carrabelle has a local history museum which is located in the Marvin Justiss building, also known as "Old City Hall". The museum is open on Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm for visitors interested in learning about the history of Carrabelle.

Camp Gordon Johnston WWII Museum

The Camp Gordon Johnston World War II Museum is located in the Carrabelle City Complex, 1001 Gray Avenue, and admission is free.[15] The museum was named after Colonel Gordon Johnston, an American soldier who served in the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War and World War I.

Crooked River Lighthouse is located 2 miles (3 km) west of town, just past the Carrabelle Beach RV Park. The Carrabelle Lighthouse Association manages the Keeper's House Museum and gift shop.

Education

Carrabelle is a part of the Franklin County Schools system. Students attend the Franklin County K–12 School in Eastpoint, Florida that was built in 2008.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "History". www.mycarrabelle.com. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  3. 1 2 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  5. ↑ "Carrabelle Census 2010". US Census. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Census Summary File 1 (G001), Carrabelle city, Florida". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015". Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  9. ↑ Gulf Pirate: History of Carrabelle & Franklin County
  10. ↑ NY Times article archives:1899 storm
  11. ↑ "Richard William Ervin Jr.". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "Buck O'Neill". www.nlbm.com. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Carrabelle Area Chamber of Commerce
  14. ↑ City of Carrabelle official site
  15. ↑ http://www.campgordonjohnston.com/museum.htm#about
  16. ↑ http://carrabelle.org/the-area/education/
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