Old Settlers Reunion at Alpine Groves Park

The St. Johns County Park and Recreation Department and the William Bartram Scenic and Historic Highway Management Council reported to Historic City News that they will be holding the first of what they hope will be many annual Old Settlers Reunions.

Historic City News readers are invited to attend the free event at Alpine Groves Park from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday, November 6th.

This party is in part to let people know about the rich history of the area.

Florida became a state in 1845. At that time there were only about 60,000 residents, most of them living in the coastal regions. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 18.5 million people now live in Florida and about 187,500 of those live in St. Johns County.

Settlement of the state was triggered by the pioneer railroad movement because there were hardly any roads in the state other than Indian trails. This was especially true of East and West roads, with the Old Spanish Trail from Pensacola being the exception.

Prior to that, most travel was done on waterways. The interior region of the state was being settled not by those coming in from the coast, but by families moving down from Georgia and the Carolinas.

The Bartram area became a mixture of those pioneers and families from the town of St. Augustine who wanted to extend their small holdings into the rest of the state. Although plantations had been settled in the area, the abolition of slavery gave rise to a new kind of settler, those who had only small land holdings. Farming, cattle, turpentine and citrus became the norm.

At the Old Settlers Reunion, participants are invited to come in period dress — the men will participate in a whisker growing contest and play some horseshoes.

Children can participate in a pumpkin-rolling contest, a sack race, hopscotch, checkers and dominoes. There will be a scarecrow-building contest for all ages.

There will be demonstrations throughout the day, including a blacksmith, corn grinding, hoecakes and cane syrup, boondoggling, whip-cracking, soap and fishing net making. There will be folk and country music as well as sour orangeade and pine needle tea to drink.
The whisker-growing contest will be divided into categories: bare-faced beginning and others. Men can participate by sending a “before” photo with their name and address to Trout Creek Park, 6795 Collier Road, Orangedale, FL 32092.

Most of all, it will be a time for pioneer families to get together and for those of us who are newer to the area to become acquainted with the history of Northwest St. Johns County.

Several special guests will be invited, including those interviewed during the special oral history project. For more information on this event or to find out about participating, please contact Beverly Fleming at (904) 522-1573.

Photo credits: © 2010 Historic City News contributed photograph by Beverly Fleming