Happy Birthday, Amy!!!
Weather report showed there was an 80% chance of rain today. It was still overcast, but the rain held off (at least until we were back at camp when it came down with vengeance around 5 pm). . Today's journey was inland to Milton, a town about 45 miles away from the campground. We had learned of a historic site there called Arcadia Mill. We took scenic US 90 where along the bluffs it was very foggy, through the town of Pace and into Milton. Just north of town along 90 there a brick road that went for at least 5 miles. Signs along the way showed that it was SR 1, laid in 1921. A lot of the old bricks were being replaced with newer pavers. At the mill, we took the self guided walking tour along the elevated boardwalk. The land was purchased in 1817 by Juan de la Rua, then sold to Joseph Forsyth in 1928. He and his partners built the sawmill. Over the next 27 years, the land owners constructed a railroad, basket factory, silk factory, ironstone quarry, sawmill and a profitable textile mill. According to the accounts, 40 female slaves produced as much as 1300 yards of cloth per day. By 1853, Arcadia Mill was the largest textile factory in Florida. However, in 1855, the mill burned, and Arcadia closed down. Nothing but a few foundation stones remain of the sawmill, dam, flume, or textile mill. The property, now owned by the University of West Florida, was "rediscovered" in 1964 by a local historian, and has been an archaeological site since.
After the mill, we stopped at a river park in town and the Santa Rosa County Veteran's Memorial. We made one last stop at what was supposed to be a "dog beach" in southeast Pensacola, but it was a far cry from being that.
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| There were two surveyors at the other end of this plank bridge who told me I could walk across, and I assured them I definitely could not! |
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| Not Cracker Barrel...the porch of the Arcadia Mill Visitor Center. Wish the chair was for sale! |
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| Veteran's Park |
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| The alleged doggie beach |
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