Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes was born in Columbia, South Carolina in 1846. He moved to Spring Hill, in the Brooksville area, with his family at a young age. He served with the Confederate Army during the Civil War; he was...
Cattle Ranching
Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes: Founder of the Lykes Brothers
Smiths Island in Lake Apopka is named for Snapper lawnmower inventor
Lake Apopka is Florida's fourth-largest lake. It was once home to some of the best fishing anywhere. However, by 1970, it became the state's most polluted. Phosphates and pesticides from agriculture in the north and runoff and sewerage spills from...
The Parker Brothers Ranch of DeSoto County
Captain John Parker was a Seminole War veteran and former sheriff of Hillsborough County. He was the first settler east of Arcadia (before the town existed) in 1858. He became a cattle baron and established a ranch spanning 125 square...
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 boldly proclaimed the new Highlands County settlement would “become the trading center of the greatest and most profitable truck-farming, poultry-raising...