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The Controversial Life of David Levy Yulee

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Nearly everyone in North East Florida is familiar with David Levy Yulee.  At least they think they are.  He is well known as the father of the first cross-Florida railroad connecting Fernandina Beach to Cedar Key.  There is a statue of Yulee in front of the historic Fernandina Beach railroad station.  Just across the bridge, on the mainland, there is even a town, Yulee, named after him. So who was David Levy Yulee?  Was he the enterprising visionary who built the Florida Railroad, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico ?  Was he the savvy political leader who became the first Jewish person elected as a United States Senator?  Or, was Yulee a scoundrel and slave owner who used his political ties to gain personal wealth?  Was he a forceful voice for the secession of the Southern States who did not take up arms himself in the Civil War?  Was David Yulee a traitor? David Levy Yulee may have been all of these things and more. David Levy (his name before changing it
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France, Spain and a Hurricane: The Bloody Battles for Control of North East Florida

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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 actions, sometimes leading
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A Scottish Opportunist, A French Pirate, and the American Occupation of Amelia Island

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By the end of the American Revolution, Great Britain had grown increasing weary of its Florida colony. While Florida had survived the war, despite a few incursions from the North, it was clear that its days a British colony were numbered.  Despite Britain ’s efforts to settle the area, East Florida was mostly inhabited by British loyalists who had fled Georgia and South Carolina during the war and Britain saw very little return on its investment.  Compounding the situation, Spain invaded West Florida in 1779 and claimed it as it’s own by 1781.  This left East Florida standing alone at the conclusion of the war with little hope of engaging in meaningful trade with any of its neighbors. Simply put, Britain no longer had any use for Florida .  In 1783 Britain ceded control of all of Florida to Spain by signing the Treaty of Paris , the same treaty that recognized American independence and marked the end of the Revolutionary War. Spain , like the British before them, had t
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