Monument, located in Gorrie Square, with Trinity Episcopal Church in the background The
Apalachicola Province, after whom the river and, ultimately the city, are named, was located along the lower part of the
Chattahoochee River in Alabama and Georgia in the 17th century, when the Spanish included the Chattahoochee as part of the Apalachicola River. The name is a combination of the
Hitchiti words
apalahchi, meaning "on the other side", and
okli, meaning "people". In original reference to the settlement, it probably meant "people on the other side of the river". Between the years 1513 and 1763, the area that now includes the city of Apalachicola was under Spanish jurisdiction as part of
Spanish Florida. While the Spanish established
missions with the
Apalachee people to the northeast of the city of Apalachicola (centered around Tallahassee), and with the
Chatot people to the north in the upper Apalachicola River valley and the
Chipola River valley, the Spanish did not establish any missions in the area of the lower Apalachicola River during the duration of Spain's first occupation of Florida. The earliest-known settlement by non-indigenous people was in 1705, when the Spanish built a fort in the area. In the 1750s, during the
French and Indian War, the British captured the Spanish colony of
Cuba; however, because Cuba was a prized possession for the Spanish, and Florida was mostly unused backwater, the Spanish traded Florida to the British in return for regaining Cuba. Between the years 1763 and 1783, the area that is now Apalachicola fell under the jurisdiction of
British West Florida. A British trading post called "Cottonton" was founded at this site on the mouth of the
Apalachicola River. In 1783,
British West Florida was transferred to Spain; however, the trading post (and its British inhabitants) remained and continued facilitating trade along the
Apalachicola River (which was connected to the trading network along the
Chattahoochee River). Gradually, after acquisition by the United States and related development in
Alabama and
Georgia, it attracted more permanent European-American residents. In 1827, the town was incorporated as "West Point". Apalachicola received its current name in 1831, by an act of the
Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida.
Trinity Episcopal Church was incorporated by an act of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida on February 11, 1837. The building was one of the earliest
prefabricated buildings in the United States. The framework was shipped by schooner from New York City and assembled in Apalachicola with wooden pegs. In 1837, a newspaper at Apalachicola boasted that the town's business street along the waterfront "had of continuous brick stores, three stories high, deep, and all equipped with granite pillars." In 1860, he published his major work,
Flora of the Southern United States. An elementary school was later named in his honor. On April 3, 1862, during the
American Civil War, the
gunboat and the steamer (relieving the ) captured Apalachicola.
Union forces that occupied
west Florida during much of the war moved here. In 1849, Apalachicola physician
John Gorrie discovered the cold-air process of
refrigeration and patented an
ice machine in 1850. He had experimented to find ways to lower the
body temperature of fever patients. His patent laid the groundwork for development of modern refrigeration and
air conditioning, making Florida and the
South more livable year-round. The city has a monument to him, and a replica of his ice machine is on display in the
John Gorrie Museum. The
John Gorrie Memorial Bridge, carrying the main road out of Apalachicola,
U.S. 98, is named for him. Before railroads reached the region in the later 19th century, Apalachicola was the third-busiest port on the Gulf of Mexico (behind
New Orleans and
Mobile). Scheduled boats transported passengers and goods up and down the
Apalachicola,
Chattahoochee, and
Flint rivers to
Albany and
Columbus, Georgia. A
paddle steamer, the
Crescent City, made a daily round trip to Carrabelle, carrying the mail as well as passengers and freight. The
AN Railway, formerly the
Apalachicola Northern Railroad, serves the city. Originally built in 1935 and rebuilt in 1988, the
John Gorrie Memorial Bridge carries
U.S. 98 across Apalachicola Bay to
Eastpoint. ==Geography==