Highlands County
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Pioneer Justice: How to make a thief talk
John Collier, Jr. knew he had found the thief. Now he just had to extract the truth from Perry Sellers. […]
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The Great Hot Springs of Sebring
A town still in its infancy bursts with excitement over a natural wonder found in the heart of downtown! “Eureka!” we […]
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Lorida, Florida: Origins of a Cracker Town
Many towns in Florida were started by skilled real estate developers with capitalistic dreams of striking it rich, not Lorida. […]
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The Illusion of Freedom: African Americans in 1890s Florida
Despite being granted their freedom some thirty years prior, freed slaves in turn of the century Florida were still barely […]
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Is it Fort Basinger or Bassenger or Bassinger…?
Since just about 1837 there has been confusion over the name of the Seminole Wars fort and its sister towns […]
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Brighton, Florida: Ghost town that was almost a county seat
“Here will soon be one of the busiest and most populous towns in Florida,” insisted one October 1925 announcement. Another advertisement […]
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Sebring and Avon Park Battle for County Seat
When the Florida legislature formed Highlands County from DeSoto County in 1921, it kicked off a heated campaign to decide […]
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The Marvelous Wooden Railroad
John C. Burleigh needed a steam engine for his sprawling sawmill in Avon Park, and nothing would stop him! Imagine […]
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The Lost Colony of Pabor Lake
Most people interested in the history of Highlands County have heard about the involvement Melvil Dewey (of Dewey Decimal System […]