Carrabelle, Florida

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 1875, explorer Nathaniel Holmes Bishop of Medford, Massachusetts, navigated the Crooked River through the lowlands east to the Ochlockonee River. In 1877, Oliver Hudson Kelley from Massachusetts founded the town and named it "Rio Carrabella", after his niece, Caroline Arabella Hall. The following year, the first U.S. post office was established with its address as Rio Carrabella, and Hall served as the community's first postmaster. It was later renamed the "Town of Carrabelle" when it was first incorporated as a municipality on December 24, 1881.

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

Twelve years after being incorporated as a town, it officially became the City of Carrabelle, when it was chartered and reincorporated by the Florida Legislature on May 11, 1893.

From the History section of Carrabelle, Florida on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.