OCKLOCKNEE AND AUCILLA RIVERS. 
91 
agricultural products of this area, and these remained important 
ports until the building of railroads, which diverted travel by over¬ 
land routes. 
The favorable location of Wakulla county, bordering as it does 
on the Gulf of Mexico, permitted its early settlement by seafaring 
people. As early as 1718 the Spaniards built a fort at Port Leon, 
two miles south of St. Marks, giving to it the name of San Marcos 
de Apalache. Remains of the old fort may still be seen. During 
the settlement of the area under discussion St. Marks held a very 
important position, that of port of shipment and of entry for a large 
territory. The country lying to the north produced cotton and 
other staple products, and St. Marks together with Newport re¬ 
ceived the bulk of this for shipment. Public roads were built and 
improved in order to make the transportation into these ports less 
difficult. The volume of business carried on between the ports in 
this county and the counties lying northward, however, merited and 
induced quicker and more satisfactory transportation. Accord¬ 
ingly in the year 1836 General R. K. Call, then Governor of Florida, 
built the first railroad in the State, from Tallahassee to St. Marks, 
which is said to be the third oldest railroad in the United States. 
At the present time the industries of this county include farming, 
stock raising, lumbering and turpentining, as well as fishing. 
CLIMATE 
Records on temperature and rainfall are available at the Talla¬ 
hassee Station from the Lhiited States Weather Bureau. This 
station probably may be accepted as fairly representative of the area 
covered by this report. The average for rainfall and temperature 
at Tallahassee are based on records from 1891 to 1903.* 
The annual mean temperature at Tallahassee, in Leon County, 
is 67 degrees Fahrenheit. The mean for the four seasons of the year 
is as follows : Winter, 53; Spring, 67; Summer, 80; Fall, 68. The 
absolute maximum summer heat recorded at this station is 97 F. 
The minimum winter temperature recorded is -2° F. 
The annual mean rainfall at Tallahassee is 58.2 inches. This is 
distributed throughout the year as follows: January, 3.5 inches; 
February, 4.8 inches; March, 5.9 inches; April, 2.7 inches; May, 
*Climatology of the United States, by Alfred Judson Henry, Bull. Q, U. S. 
Dept. Agriculture. 
