Bridgeport Drafting Information

214 Bridgeport Road
Palatka, Florida 32177
(386) 328 1563
bobby@bridgeportdrafting.com
http://bridgeportdrafting.com

Information

B R I D G E P O R T

Long after Europe (Spain, then England) colonized the coast, one story goes, there was a sawmill here. Perhaps in the mid 1800s. It may have supported the Union Army or Navy when they occupied Palatka. Regardless, the mill was gone by the early 1880s. A handful of Connecticut Yankees settled here, and named it “Bridgeport” after their hometown. Or so the story goes. Imagined as a small community, downriver from Palatka. Bridgeport Road and Magnolia Avenue are the only vestiges. Growth and “progress” did not touch this remote corner of rural Putnam County. Never a post office, not even a storefront. The streets envisioned on the original blueprints were never built.

So today, Bridgeport is a beloved and serene corner of North Central Florida. Home to magnolia groves, woodpeckers, hoot owls, a handful of people, and maybe a gator or two.

P A L A T K A

“By 1781, the Indian settlement mentioned by [naturalist William] Bartram was included in a 1,500-acre tract, owned by Dr. Joshua Gray, known as Gray’s Place or Pilatka Tract. In 1818, Bernardo Segui of St. Augustine was given Gray’s Place and on Jan. 18, 1819, he sold it to George Fleming for $1,200. The name Palatka came from the Seminole Indian word Pilo-Taikita meaning boat crossing, and was spelled Pilatka until 1875… During the Seminole Indian Wars (1836-1841), Palatka was the site of Fort Shannon… During the Civil War (1861-1865), Palatka came very close to being burned down by Union Troops.

Palatka, named the ‘Gem City of the St. Johns River,’ was sparkling like a diamond. There were 3,000 citizens and the city hosted crowds of winter tourists and had numerous large well-stocked stores, packing houses, warehouses, churches, schools and hotels. One steamboat passenger described Palatka as it appeared at night. ‘The town was a brave sight, all a twinkle from the big hotels and streets with kerosene lamps’…

After the [Great Fire of 1884] someone was quoted as saying of Palatka, ‘The little town is full of pluck and backbone and no sort of misfortune will keep her down.’ … By 1886, Palatka was a brick city with new buildings that would last until the 1970s when in the name of ‘progress’ the majority of them were demolished to make room for parking lots and modern buildings (most of which were never built)…

While there are vacant buildings, longtime businesses continue to survive, joined each year by other new businesses. A push is on to improve the city’s tourist trade. Old Palatka has two historic districts with many beautiful renovated Victorian and early 1900s homes to see. The North Historic District is home to the Putnam Historic Museum and Palatka’s oldest house, the Bronson-Mulholland House. The South Historic District has the Tilghman Art Gallery and riverfront park. Palatka has come a long way from that little town of Pilatka with 50 buildings. Today she has a population of close to 10,000 and her city limits extend west almost to Francis. She has entered the modern world with chain stores, a modem airport, barge port and business and industrial parks.”

-- <From “150 and counting,” by Allegra Kitchens. Published in Welcome Magazine (Winter/Spring 2003).

-- Photos from the Putnam County Archives

B O B B Y

Bobby was born in Louisiana. He enjoys carpentry, computing, and spending time with his family. He and his wife Renn Stancil Hinton (of Ocala) bought their current home over 30 years ago. They've lived with their five children in Pensacola, Ft. Lauderdale, Eastern Ohio, and Kentucky. But Bridgeport Road always remained their true home.

Bobby and Renn returned to their century-old house on the St. John’s River in 2002. To Putnam County, Bobby proudly offers Blueprints With a Southern Accent. View his resumè and blueprint samples.

C O N T A C T

Mailing address: 214 Bridgeport Road, Palatka, Florida 32177

Telephone: (386) 328 1563

Email: bobby@bridgeportdrafting.com

Website: http://bridgeportdrafting.com

C O P Y R I G H T

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