Miccosukee is a small

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in northeastern Leon 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is located at the junction of County Road 59 (Veterans Memorial Drive) and County Road 151 (Moccasin Gap Road). Miccosukee was a major center of the

Miccosukee The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. They were part of the Seminole nation until the mid-20th century, when they organized as an independent tribe, receiving fed ...

tribe, one of the tribes of the developing

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

nation, during the 18th century.

Geography

Miccosukee, like other unincorporated areas in northern Leon County, is an area of rolling hills dotted with ponds and lakes. The large,

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

Lake Miccosukee Lake Miccosukee is a large swampy prairie lake in northern Jefferson County, Florida, located east of the settlement of Miccosukee. A small portion of the lake, its northwest corner, is located in Leon County. The small town of Miccosukee, Flo ...

borders the eastern edge of the community.

History

The town of Miccosukee or Mikasuki was settled by members of the

tribe, a group of Creek origin who had settled in

and become part of the developing

nation. The Miccosukee often fought armed battles with white settlers. It was mapped by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

in 1778 and originally called Mikasuki with 60 homes, 28 families, and a town square. Some 70 gunmen protected the town. It was the capital of the short-lived

State of Muskogee The State of Muskogee was a proclaimed sovereign nation located in Florida, founded in 1799 and led by William Augustus Bowles, a Loyalist veteran of the American Revolutionary War who lived among the Muscogee, and envisioned uniting the Amer ...

. At the time he visited on his voyage of destruction in 1818 (

First Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

), "

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

and his men were stunned by the sheer size of the Miccosukee town. Having been occupied since before the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, it was a town of long-standing permanence." Jackson burned over 300 homes before departing on April 5, 1818. Whites estimated there were up to 500 warriors, and "the town was the largest in Florida at the time". In 1831, a U.S. Post Office was built along with schools, churches, and stores. Eventually the area became a center of cotton plantations, as was most of Leon County. Prior to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Miccosukee had three cotton plantations nearby,

Miccosukee Plantation Miccosukee Plantation was a medium-sized cotton plantation of 2,517 acres (10 km2) located in eastern Leon County, Florida, USA. It was developed by John Miller, from Duplin County, North Carolina, who had migrated south during the period of ...

Ingleside Plantation Ingleside Plantation was a Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, forced-labor farm of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida, Leon County, Florida and established by Robert W. Alston and his family. Eventually, the proper ...

and

Blakely Plantation Blakely Plantation was a cotton plantation, forced-labor farm of located in extreme northeast Leon County, Florida, Leon County, Florida. In 1850, the farm included 800 acres worked by 51 enslaved people. Blakely was bounded on the east by Ingle ...

. After the

, the area reverted to farms and by 1887, the Florida Central Railroad served Miccosukee. During the 1890s, wealthy industrialists bought large tracts of land for

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New Wor ...

hunting plantations or estates removing thousands of acres of land from agricultural production. Miccosukee thrived until the

boll weevil The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') is a beetle that feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central Mexico, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing ...

infestation of 1918.

The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

(1929-1935) destroyed Leon County's agriculture and the railroad pulled out in the mid-1940s.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, there were 383 people, 120 households, and 70 families residing in the CDP.

Historical places

Concord School (Miccosukee) Concord School was a school for African-American children built in 1894 in the hamlet of Miccosukee, in eastern Leon County, Florida. History The earliest mention of Concord School was in the minutes of a school board meeting from 1878. It was me ...

was built in 1894 in the town of Miccosukee for grades 1-6. It was closed in 1985. The building is still used for Miccosukee's Head Start program. * Van Brunt-Morris House just north of the junction of State Road 59 and Moccasin Gap Road. *

Averitt-Winchester House The Averitt-Winchester House (also known as the Lee House) is a historic house located on the west side of State Road 59 (Florida), State Road 59, south of the Moccasin Gap-Cromartie Road junction in Miccosukee, Florida, Miccosukee, Florida, Un ...

Miccosukee Methodist Church The Miccosukee Methodist Church (also known as the Miccosukee United Methodist Church or Concord Methodist Episcopal Church) is a historic church (building), church in Miccosukee, Florida, Miccosukee, Florida. It is located on County Road 59 (Flo ...

Strickland-Herold House The Strickland-Herold House is a historic home in Miccosukee, Florida, Miccosukee, Florida, United States. It is located at Main Street, northwest of junction of Moccasin Gap Road and State Road 59 (Florida), State Road 59. On January 9, 1997, ...

, located northwest of the junction of State Road 59 and Moccasin Gap Road.

Civil War history

During the

, soldiers from Miccosukee enlisted in Company K, 5th Florida Infantry and Company B, 1st Florida Cavalry. The following soldiers are interred at Runners Cemetery and other locations. *Pvt. Walter H. Averitt - Born December 24, 1841 in North Carolina
More details
*3rd Lieutenant Walter Richard Blake, Jr. - Born January 13, 1836 in Leon County
More details
*2nd Corporal C. Washington Branch - Born 1838 in Leon Count
More details
*Captain Isham Miles Blake - Born May 3, 1837 in Leon County
More details
*Pvt. Leonidas Byrd - Birth date unknown
More details
*Pvt. John Alexander Cromartie - Born August 14, 1834 in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

br>More details
*4th Sergeant Jesse Sinclair Montford - Born June 13, 1829 in Leon County
More details

Political

Community facilities

*Concord School - Served as a Leon County elementary school until it closed in 1985. The school yard now serves as a county park. *The Miccosukee Community Center is administered by the Tallahassee-Leon County Parks and Recreation Department. The center is used for a variety of activities including monthly "Senior Outreach" days.Leon County parks
/ref> *Reeves Landing is a public boat launching facility on Lake Miccosukee just east of the village.

Groups and organizations

*The Miccosukee Volunteer Fire-Rescue has a fire station in the village, on Cromartie Road. *Miccosukee Youth Education Foundation

References

*Paisley, Clifton; ''From Cotton To Quail'', University of Florida Press, c1968.

External links

1940 map of MiccosukeeMiccosukee Land Co-opPhoto of Reeves Fish Camp, Reeves Landing, Lake Miccosukee
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Leon County, Florida Tallahassee metropolitan area Capitals of former nations History of Leon County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida Former populated places in Leon County, Florida