“Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.”
Dr. Seuss
Yes,
it's true, there is a real town called Christmas in Florida. This
tiny town has a population of less than 2000 people and if you blink,
you may miss it. Right before we got in the town of Christmas, we
saw an attraction that caught our eyes. There, on the side of the
road, is the home of the worlds largest alligator shaped building.
This building is over 200 feet and is the mouth is the entrance and
store for the natural habitat to many Florida animals. It is huge,
to say the least and is a popular tourist attraction. This
“alligator” is lovingly called Sammy and is quite an unusual site
to see.
As
you enter Christmas, a welcome sign lets you know you are in town.
There is also a decorated Christmas tree set up on the side of the
road as a permanent reminder that this town is Christmas every day,
all year. A sweet nativity scene is placed next to the Christmas
tree.
We
turned at the corner of Route 50 and North Fort Christmas Road and
headed towards Fort Christmas Historical Park. We were surprised by
what an amazing park we found. The park features replica houses, a
fort, and a sugar mill from the 1800’s and it doesn’t cost a
thing to enter and explore the fort and the homes. Walking around
the fort and park, we learned about the history of this area.
The
Seminole Indians were in Florida since the early 1700’s where they
raised crops, cattle, and citrus groves. As more and more people
moved to Florida, the government decided they wanted to move the
Indians out of their area and wrote up the Treaty of Payne’s
Landing in 1832. This treaty was written by the government to move
the Indians to the Arkansas Territory west of the Mississippi River.
The Seminole Indians opposed the treaty and when Chef Osceola was
asked to sign the treat, he kindly refused by putting his knife
through the treaty paper.
Osceola
was arrested, put in chains, and put in prison until he agreed to
sign the treaty. When he agreed, they let him out but instead of
signing the treaty, he went right to the Seminole Indians encouraging
them to revolt against the white man. On December 23, 1835, one
hundred and eleven officers and men left Fort Brooke on a 100 mile
march when they were ambushed and all but three were killed and
scalped. That was the start of the Second Seminole War.
In
the beginning of the Second Seminole War, they sent 2000 US Army
Soldiers and Alabama volunteers to build a fort as a supply depot.
The fort was named after their arrival date on December 25, 1837,
(Christmas). This fort never saw battle and was closed in March
1838 when the Seminole Indians had left the area. By the time the
war ended, 3,824 Seminoles had been transported to Oklahoma leaving
only 200 – 300 Indians left behind. Those Indians hid in the
Everglades and were not found. More than 2000 Seminole Indians
still live in Florida on reservations in Hollywood, Big Cypress,
Brighton, Immokalee, Fort Pierce, and Tampa.
The
buildings on Fort Christmas are set up with furniture from the
pioneer days. It is a great park to walk around and imagine how it
was during that time. This is not just a historic park but also a
great recreation area. There are three pavilions that can be rented.
Two pavilions seat 100 people and another one seats 50 people.
There is also a nice playground, basketball court and a small
baseball field.
The
parks hours during the summer are from 8 AM to 8 PM and during the
winter 8 AM to 6 PM. The hours change when the clock changes. They
are closed December 24 and 25th.
The
Christmas post office was first established in 1892 and is a very
popular place during Christmas card season. Many people drive for
miles just to have their cards postmarked in Christmas as a novelty.
Sometimes, Santa comes to visit and sits inside to greet the
customers. Also many of the roads are named fun names like, Cupid,
Blitzen, St. Nicholas, Rudolph, and Dasher Streets. So this town
has much more to offer than what you would imagine.
Go
and check out Christmas and enjoy your day and keep Christmas in your
heart all year. Till next time. Bye for now.
