{"id":6454,"date":"2020-03-20T13:23:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T17:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes-2\/?post=saving-the-apalachicola-squares"},"modified":"2020-04-09T20:15:43","modified_gmt":"2020-04-10T00:15:43","slug":"saving-the-apalachicola-squares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-03-20\/saving-the-apalachicola-squares\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving The Apalachicola Squares"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 If you live in the Big Bend region of Florida, you\u2019re probably aware of Apalachicola – the sleepy little town that gave its name to the formerly plentiful and famous Apalachicola Bay oyster.\u00a0 The town has been through a number of economic bases over its history.\u00a0 Beginning in the early 1800\u2019s as a major seaport town, rivaling New Orleans, Mobile, and Savannah, it later sustained itself with timber, then sponges, then seafood and oysters.\u00a0 Today the oysters are scarce but people do arrive to visit the picturesque waterfront and explore its shops and restaurants and watering holes.\u00a0 The town also has more than its share of beautiful architectural examples sprinkled throughout its historic district. Originally founded in 1831 by the Apalachicola Land Company, the Supreme Court decision on the disposition of the Forbes Purchase had to be settled before the town could be formally established.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Something you might not know – the original town plat was based on the design of old Philadelphia and that Apalachicola has 6 town squares.\u00a0 They\u2019re easy to miss if you don\u2019t know what to look for, but three people there know exactly what to look for, and they\u2019re trying to save the squares.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Copy
Apalachicola Plat<\/strong> from the Apalachicola Land Company<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Woman
Bonnie Davis<\/strong>, President of Historic Apalachicola Plat Preservation, Incorporated. HAPPI<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Retired attorney Bonnie Davis is the president of HAPPI, Historic Apalachicola Plat Preservation Incorporated.  She has this to say about the plat, the town, and the squares, \u201cThe key to Apalachicola\u2019s future prosperity lies in preserving its history.  Because that\u2019s what makes it unique and makes people want to come and\u2026come to our festivals and poke around and just enjoy the ambience of it.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cApalachicola is a historically important …”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman
Diane Brewer<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

   Diane Brewer is a transplant who watched unbridled development mangle south Florida, and says she doesn\u2019t want to see that happen up here. \u201cApalachicola is a historically important, authentic town that can still be saved.  And what makes Apalachicola so precious is, not just its history, but the fact that it has a\u2026one of the, if not the only largely intact plats from that era that\u2019s still in existence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“… \u00a0it was too damned old.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Picture
Thomas Holme<\/strong> plat of Philadelphia commissioned by William Penn<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Older
Willoughby Marshall<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

   Willoughby Marshall grew up in Apalachicola in the 1920\u2019s, 30\u2019s and 40\u2019s, and lives there today.  In college, while studying architecture, he recognized the resemblance of the town\u2019s layout to the 17th<\/sup> century William Penn-Thomas Holme design for Philadelphia.  \u201cI was aware there were four squares in the town and a central square.  And it didn\u2019t really sink in until I was in college and learned that Philadelphia had, as I said, the same plan and many of the same street names and squares.  There\u2019s four squares and a diagonal square, just like this.  And I knew that Philadelphia didn\u2019t copy Apalachicola, because it was too damned old.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aerial
Gorrie Square<\/strong> with round-about intersection in center <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

   Over time, the city allowed roads to run through all but one of the squares, effectively turning the squares into intersections.  The effort to save the squares is based on the idea that preserving Apalachicola\u2019s history will be the driver of the town\u2019s economic future.  In 1974, Marshall was awarded a grant from HUD to study Apalachicola\u2019s economic viability through historic preservation.  That was the genesis of the effort to save the squares.  He says, \u201cPeople are very much interested in preservation and in old architecture and city plans, especially old city plans.  And I saw how this could very much be an attraction around the country and could bring life\u2026help bring life back into the town.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aerial
Chapman Square<\/strong> with Avenue D and 14th street quadrisecting it.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 And all these years later, Brewer adds, \u201cHeritage tourists stay longer and spend more money, according to this study, than tourists who are going to come and go to the beach for the weekend.\u00a0 And they come because Apalachicola\u2026is authentic.\u00a0 So the next phase of Apalachicola\u2019s prosperity is from heritage tourism.\u201d\u00a0 The study Brewer is referring to is the 2010 Executive Summary Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation in Florida<\/em> by the University of Florida.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis adds this nugget of practical wisdom, \u201cI\u2019m a historical preservation nut, but there\u2019s such a clear tie, in this instance, between historical preservation and economic prosperity that, uh, even if you\u2019re not interested in it, there\u2019s good reason to pursue it.\u201d\u00a0 Finally she adds, \u201cI just don\u2019t think there are many places in Florida left like that and this one is really worth preserving.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0 If you live in the Big Bend region of Florida, you\u2019re probably aware of Apalachicola – the sleepy little town that gave its name to the formerly plentiful and famous Apalachicola Bay oyster.\u00a0 The town has been through a number of economic bases over its history.\u00a0 Beginning in the early 1800\u2019s as a major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":6455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[136],"tags":[500,225],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSaving The Apalachicola Squares - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-03-20\/saving-the-apalachicola-squares\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saving The Apalachicola Squares - WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0 If you live in the Big Bend region of Florida, you\u2019re probably aware of Apalachicola – the sleepy little town that gave its name to the formerly plentiful and famous Apalachicola Bay oyster.\u00a0 The town has been through a number of economic bases over its history.\u00a0 Beginning in the early 1800\u2019s as a major […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-03-20\/saving-the-apalachicola-squares\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-20T17:23:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-10T00:15:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/saving-the-apalachicola-squares.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Plummer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-03-20\/saving-the-apalachicola-squares\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/2020-03-20\/saving-the-apalachicola-squares\/\",\"name\":\"Saving The Apalachicola Squares - 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