Liverpool is a ghost town in
DeSoto 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 on the
Peace River
The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...
.
History
Liverpool was a phosphate mining town in Florida and was named for its founder, John Cross, from
Liverpool, England
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. Liverpool was most likely chosen because it was on the
Peace River
The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...
, which provided a way that mined phosphate could be transported to
Charlotte Harbor. A second reason why it was chosen because it was at the
Peace River Mining Company Railroad's southernmost tip and could be shipped down the river with barges. The town was founded in 1880 and was platted, after phosphate had been discovered in the region. Its founder had envisioned the town being a major center of commerce. He operated the town's general store and
J. E. Riley oversaw the town's mining operations, served as its mayor and served as a local sheriff. The town in its heyday had docks along the river, post office, hotel, newspaper and a stage shop. After this, John Cross decided to buy land and develop land in
Charlotte County. The town's postal service was discontinued in 1895, in the same year a map was made of Charlotte County and showed the town on the Peace River. In 1905, the area started to run out of phosphate and the town began to decline. The railroad was soon extended further south to
Punta Gorda and
Boca Grande, making its decline much faster and commerce was starting to shift to
Fort Ogden and by the 1920s it was completely gone.
The phosphate mining railroads of Arcadia
/ref>
See also
* Bone Valley
The Bone Valley is a region of central Florida, encompassing portions of present-day Hardee, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Polk counties, in which phosphate is mined for use in the production of agricultural fertilizer. Florida currently contains t ...
References
Ghost towns in Florida
Geography of DeSoto County, Florida
1880 establishments in Florida
{{DeSotoCountyFL-geo-stub