History of Jackson County

Florida's first govenor, Andrew Jackson, was appointed in 1821. At that time, the state was divided into two counties. To the east was St. John; the west, Escambia.

In 1822, Governor Jackson passed a bill to add a third county, to be named in his honor. Jackson County came into existence and was located in the middle of the other two counties.

Because there were no towns in Jackson County initially, the first county court met at "Robinson's Big Spring," now known as Blue Springs. The following year, 1823, they met at "Big Spring of the Choctawahatchee," now known as Waddell's Mill Pond.

Webbville was the first town established in Jackson County in 1827. It was designated as the county seat.

A second town, Marianna, was also founded in 1827, by a Scotsman, Robert Beveridge. In 1828, Beveridge and other Marianna settlers enticed the Florida Legislature to move the county seat to Marianna, with the offer of free land, construction of a court house, a public square and $500 to purchase land to be sold at public auction to finance the new government.

With this shift in government Marianna began to grow and prosper. The new courthouse was completed in 1829. Many of Webbville's prominent citizens moved to Marianna. When the railroad decided to bypass Webbville it sealed the town's fate. Webbville does not exist today.

Historic Markers

Along many streets in Marianna and throughout the county one still finds evidence of the rich heritage of the area in its elegant, distinctive antebellum homes, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Among those are the Bellamy Plantation, Nickel's House, Ely-Criglar House (1840), Sylvania Plantation, Jacob Robinson Plantation, Great Oaks Plantation (1860), Davis-West House and the John Irwin House (1861).

Historic markers can be found in many places in the county. One, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, marks a site from the War Between the States. Its churchyard is the burial grounds for some of Florida's distinguished citizens, including John Milton, (Governor, 1861-1865).

Confederate Park, at the center of Marianna, pays tribute with its monument to Confederate soldiers who fought at the battle of Marianna.

Marianna is also the site of the 1881 L&N Railroad Depot. It was moved from its original site, but was gutted by fire in 1979. In 1981, it was moved again and restored.

The city of Greenwood is the location of the oldest store in Jackson County in continued operation, Pender's General Store, which opened for business in 1878.