The History of Northeast Florida

On May 13, 1980, Judy Buenoano decided to take her three children (Michael – age 19, James – age 14 and Kimberly – age 13) on a fishing trip.  They drove to the East River, about a half-hour from their home in Gulf Breeze, Florida .  Kimberly was left on shore while the other three boarded a two-person canoe.  James was in the front, Judy was in the back, and Michael was seated between them in a folding lawn chair because he had just been fitted with braces on both his legs and his right arm. About two hours into the trip the canoe capsized throwing all three into the water.  Judy and James stayed afloat and were rescued by a passing boater.  Michael, having no function in his arms or legs and weighed down by his heavy metallic braces sank to the bottom of the river and died. This is the story of Judy Buenoano, dubbed “the Black Widow” by prosecutors and the press, who on March 30, 1998 became the first woman to die in Florida ’s electric chair. Judias (Ju...

North East Florida has seen its share of hurricanes.  Luckily, the region has, for the most part, escaped much of the devastation that these storms have caused in other parts of the state.  Due to its unique “indented” shoreline, most Atlantic hurricanes have bounced off the shore further south, avoiding landfall in North East Florida, and then collided with land again in the Carolinas .  Most Gulf of Mexico storms either track due North or are considerably weakened by the time they arrive in this part of the State. It is reasonable to assume that the region had seen hurricanes for many millenniums before the first one was recorded.  The indigenous people that lived in Florida before the arrival of European settlers were much attuned to nature.  It is likely that they regarded hurricanes as part of the natural cycle – or perhaps warnings from the Gods. Many early explorers and colonizers did not have previous experience with the severe storms to guide their ac...