20 FLORIDA : ITS CLIMATE, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, 



and West India Transit Eailroad crosses the northwestern township of 

 the county, about twelve miles from the head of navigation on Black 

 Creek, so the county has excellent facilities to reach markets by water 

 or fail. There are several fine lakes in the southwestern portion of the 

 county, which afford, at all seasons, an abundance of food fish. Lake 

 Kingsley is the largest, in the near vicinity of which, and in the section 

 lying between the lake and the railroad, settlements and improvements 

 are being rapidly made. Most of the soil of this county produces well 

 all the staples of the country,- and the usual vegetables and varieties of 

 fruit. Bordering the many streams and lakes there are rich hammocks. 

 The land, where not opened, is T?ell covered with pine. Marl beds of 

 large extent are found, and on Black Creek fine stone for building pur- 

 poses. Middleburg, formerly the county seat, a town once of consid- 

 erable importance, at head of navigation, was formerly the place of trans- 

 shipment to and from the interior. The building of the railroad from 

 Fernandina has diverted this. The county seat, Green Cove Springs, 

 on the Saint John's, is a thriving place, and a great resort both for win- 

 ter travelers and others who seek benefit from the sulphur spring, which 

 is large. 



CALHOUN COUNTY. 



Bounded on the north by Jackson County, east by the Apalachicola 

 River and Franklin County, south by the Gulf of Mexico, which, with 

 Washington County, form^ the western boundary. Area, 670,000 acres. 

 Lands in the northern part are elevated and rolling; in the southern por- 

 tion level, and in some places low. The Apalachicola River is navigable 

 for large steamers, and the Chipola River, which nearly bisects the county 

 from north to south, is navigable a portion of the year. Other streams 

 abound and afford ample water-power, which is used, whenever desired, 

 to advantage. Chipola Lake, 16 miles long and from 1 to 3 miles wide, 

 is situated near the center of the county, and is full of fish of many 

 kinds j the forests abound in game. Very extensive beds of marl, some 

 quarries of stone, and clay suitable for brick are found in this county. 

 Cotton, sugar-cane, corn, and peanuts, are the principal crops raised, 

 as also vegetables and root crops. Orange culture is rapidly extending, 

 and successfully. Stock-raising is carried on to some extent, and profit- 

 ably. 



DUVAL COUNTY. 



Bounded north by Nassau County, east by the Atlantic Ocean, south 

 by Saint John's and Clay Counties, west by Baker and Nassau. It has 

 an area of about 860 square miles, embracing the mouth of the mag- 

 nificent Saint John's River, the natural outlet of nearly a thousand miles 

 of inland navigable waters. While the lands as a whole are not as rich 

 in an agricultural sense as some other sections, yet there are to be found 

 large and small tracts of rich hammock. Most of the land, however, is 

 light, but the modifying influence of the waters of the ocean and the 



