Bristol is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Liberty County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. It is the only incorporated city in Liberty County. The population was 996 at the 2010 census, up from 845 at the 2000 census. Two schools are based in Bristol:

Liberty County High School Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...

and W. R. Tolar Elementary and Middle School.

Geography

Bristol is located in northwestern Liberty County at , in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

. It sits atop a bluff overlooking the east side of the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

. Florida State Road 20 passes through the city, leading west to

Blountstown Blountstown is a city in Calhoun County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,514 at the 2010 census, which represented an increase from 2,444 in 2000. It is the county seat of Calhoun County. Name Blountstown is named for John Blount ...

and east to Tallahassee, the state capital.

Florida State Road 12 State Road 12 (SR 12) is an east–west route in the Florida Panhandle, running from SR 20 in Bristol to U.S. Route 27 (US 27) in Havana. The route continues as County Road 12 (CR 12) on both ends, on the western end running south ...

leads northeast from Bristol to Greensboro. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Bristol has a total area of , all land.

Climate

Like all of North Florida, Bristol has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen ''Cfa'') with hot, uncomfortably humid summers, and comfortable to warm winters.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 845 people, 326 households, and 235 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 393 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.22%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 3.79%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1.78% Native American, 5.44% from other races, and 1.78% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 5.80% of the population. There were 326 households, out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 14.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.91. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,607, and the median income for a family was $36,932. Males had a median income of $26,473 versus $22,500 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $17,949. About 14.8% of families and 19.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 24.9% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

Veterans Memorial Park

One notable feature of the park is the narrow gauge Veterans Memorial Railroad, operating multiple types of locomotives including a coal-powered steam locomotive built by

Crown Metal Products Crown Metal Products was a manufacturer of railroad rolling stock based in Wyano, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Ken Williams in 1946 and initially sold pot cleaners and then electric fence wires and other products. In 1959, the compan ...

Claimed Garden of Eden site

A widely reported claim was once made by Elvy E. Callaway that the site of the Biblical

Garden of Eden In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...

lay in northern Liberty County. He cited as evidence the

, with its four heads, and local sources of

torreya ''Torreya'' is a genus of conifers comprising six or seven species placed in the family Taxaceae, though sometimes formerly placed in Cephalotaxaceae. Four species are native to eastern Asia; the other two are native to North America. They are ...

(which Callaway claimed was

gopher wood ''Gopher wood'' or ''gopherwood'' is a term used once in the Bible for the material used to construct Noah's ark. Genesis 6:14 states that Noah was instructed to build the Ark of (), commonly transliterated as wood, a word not otherwise used ...

, the material said to have been used by

Noah Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

in constructing his

ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

).Gloria Jahoda, ''The Other Florida'', chap. 4, "The Garden of Eden."

References

External links

''The Calhoun-Liberty Journal''
local newspaper
''The Calhoun-Liberty Journal'' full text and images
available at no cost i
Florida Digital Newspaper LibraryVeterans Memorial Railroad
{{authority control Cities in Liberty County, Florida County seats in Florida Cities in Florida Former census-designated places in Florida Populated places established in 1859 1859 establishments in Florida