Know the Territory

So, you're going to visit a new place in God's world. Maybe it's more than a visit. You're actually going to MOVE there! In either case, unlike Harold Hill in The Music Man, you would find it far more interesting if you would determine to KNOW THE TERRITORY.


First, secure three maps.

• A road map - basic highways. It does not have to be large.
• A regional map - geographical regions. There are also ecological maps which give you an idea what plants and animals are most prevalent in the different regions.
• A political map - county divisions.

 Judy and I have been fascinated to discover that Florida is not flat. It actually has enough of a "backbone" (stretching down the center of the state) to create identifiable segments with unique characteristics both ecological and social. It even has high hills in the northern and panhandle counties, and several rivers (highways of history) each with its own story.

Speaking of history...

Second, secure a basic summary of the history of the area.

Just as Florida has geographical character, it also has cultural character based on its unfolding stories. Unlike the northeast from which we came, the flow of history here does not follow a basic east-to-west pattern. Rather it is a potpourri of different histories happening in different places at the same time. Michael Gannon, in Florida a Short History points out:

Florida was Europe's first frontier in North America. Its history of permanent settlement by Europeans goes back over four and a quarter centuries. One would not know that fact, however, from reading the typical American history textbook, even some used in Florida's own school systems. According to the best-known accounts, Western civilization arrived in our country with the landing of the English at Jamestown in 1607 and at Plymouth Rock in 1620, but by the latter date Florida had long since been explored and settled and the Spanish city of St. Augustine was fifty-five years old. (p. 3)

I find it helpful to put together a basic summary of the major historic impact events or a region. For example:

• ???? - 1513 - Indigenous Era
• 1513 - 1565 - Era of Exploration
• 1565 - 1763 - First Spanish Era
• 1763 - 1783 - British Era
• 1783 - 1819 - Second Spanish Era
• 1819 - 1845 - US Territorial Era
• 1817 - 1818 - First Seminole War
• 1835 - 1842 - Second Seminole War
•  1845 - 1861 - Early Statehood Era
• 1861 - 1865 - Secession ERa
• 1685 - 1877 - Reconstruction
• Florida Cracker Time Period on into the next era.
• 1877 - 1904 - Bourbon Era (White supremacist)
• 1904 - 1945 - Progressive Era
• 1945 - 1969 - Post War Era

Each of these eras had its own particular impact the effects of which can still be felt today.

Third - Actually travel.

There is nothing quite like visiting real places to develop a "feel" for a region - especially if you can begin to fit that place into its role in the bigger story. Cyber Space can help. For example, there is an app for iPhones (Next Exit History) which locates where you are and gives you a map with icons directing you to various places of interest in the vicinity as well as explanations concerning their significance.

After a year-and-a-half as official Florida residents, Judy and I have already made many discoveries, and we already know places, such as St. Augustine, which we will visit
many times if God allows.  As for where we live? Well, among many other things, we are at the headwaters of the Peace River which flows by a good array of natural, historical and recreational points of interest all the way to Punta Gorda on the Gulf coast. That alone means we should never be bored.