St. Joseph, Florida

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St. Joseph, Florida was a boomtown that briefly became the largest community in Florida, before being destroyed only eight years after it was founded. St. Joseph was founded in 1835 on the shores of St. Joseph Bay, one of the finest natural harbors on the Gulf Coast of the United States. As no rivers flowed into St. Joseph Bay, two railroads were built connecting St. Joseph with the Apalachicola River in an attempt to siphon off some of the cotton and lumber being shipped down the river to the port of Apalachicola.

By 1837 St. Joseph had become the most populous place in the Territory of Florida, with approximately 6,000 inhabitants. In 1838 the town hosted the first Constitutional Convention for Florida, which drew up the constitution used when Florida became a state in 1845. Some have called St. Joseph "Constitution City" and even transferred the name to the new Port St. Joe.^[1]

In 1841 a ship brought yellow fever to St. Joseph. The disease killed many of the town's inhabitants, and caused the rest to flee. A hurricane in 1843 struck with a large storm surge, destroying the abandoned town. The area remained uninhabited for the rest of the 19th century. In the early 20th century Port St. Joe was founded about two miles north of the site of old St. Joseph. The only remains of old St. Joseph are some tombstones in the Old St. Joseph, or 'Yellow Fever', Cemetery in present-day Port St. Joe.