Nalaca, Florida
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Nalaka, sometimes written Nalaca, was a
Highlands County, Florida Highlands County is a County (United States), county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat is Sebring, Florida, Sebring ...
settlement that sprang up as a
turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...
industry town in the early 20th century, founded around 1918 and ceasing to exist by 1929. Nalaka was one of the settlements set up along the
Kissimmee River Railway Kissimmee River Railway was an American single-track standard gauge steam rail line in Polk County, Florida stretching 7.26 miles from Walinwa to Nalaca, an area that developed with logging, sawmill, and turpentine industries. The rail line exten ...
connecting logging and timber industry towns to a branch line of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad system. By the 1920s, the town was controlled by Consolidated Naval Stores (now part of the
Consolidated Tomoka Land Company Consolidated may refer to: *Consolidated (band) **''¡Consolidated!'', a 1989 extended play *Consolidated Aircraft (later Convair), an aircraft manufacturer *Consolidated city-county *Consolidated Communications * Consolidated school district *Con ...
); the only store in the town was the company's commissary. The population of the town was approximately 250 at its peak, large enough to secure it an official
US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
office. In 1929, the town was disassembled by Consolidated Naval Stores and relocated near
Lake Placid, Florida Lake Placid is a town in Highlands County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 2,223 and in 2018 the estimated population was 2,439. It is part of the Sebring Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town has two nickname ...
. This was typical for turpentine operations once the trees needed for raw materials were used up. Archaeologists have found remnants of the clay cups used to catch the turpentine tapped from the area's trees near the site of the former town.


References

Former populated places in Highlands County, Florida Populated places established in 1918 Populated places disestablished in 1929 1918 establishments in Florida 1929 disestablishments in the United States {{HighlandsCountyFL-geo-stub