St. Joe Summary

Louise M. Porter was an author, historian, and a founding member of the St. Joseph Historical Society. She was the society’s president for the first seven years of its existence. She was instrumental in the establishment of the bylaws, goals, rules and procedures that made the society function effectively. She had a passion for the rich history of the West Florida area and Port St. Joe in particular. She dedicated many years of her life in researching and editing the manuscript for this book. Louise died in 1972, before this book was published. Other work by this author include: Territorial Giants, Florida's Founding Fathers, co-authored with Charles B. Smith. (St. Joseph Historical Society, 1990), and Pasqua Florida; the Feast

The author provided all the sources in the chapter, as part of the chapter. This makes it very convenient for researchers. An interesting aspect is that she gives details about the people that are making the history in Saint Joseph. In Book I, she chronicled Florida from the time of the first known exploration in 1498 and mapped in 1513, until the height of Saint George’s boom in 1840. She also gives remarkable detail about the development of the “Twin Cities” of Saint George and Apalachicola. As she describes the events that shaped Saint Joseph, she also described much of the politics that affected the region. For instance, she covered, in detail, Florida’s first Constitutional Convention, and Saint Joseph Times owner Peter Gautier’s election to the Florida House of Representatives then subsequently to Speaker of the House. She also included railroad and ship fares, store and shipping receipts. The author even included some of the recreational side of Saint Joseph with documents about hunting and fishing excursions, horse racing, and night life. A very real aspect that relates to modern times. Book II and III are much shorter than Book I. Book II covers the decline and eventual calamity of Saint Joseph. How the cotton trade almost stopped due to the railroad’s expansion from the Atlantic into Alabama, and from Georgia to the Mississippi River. Book III chronicles the aftermath of the financial scare, yellow fever epidemic, and the hurricanes that literally wiped much of Saint Joseph from the map. Book III also provided details on the people memorials erected, the legacy that was left behind, and tribute paid to the once proud but long ago lost