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Protruding further out into the Atlantic than any other point along Florida's east coast, Jupiter has long served as a port of call for sailors, settlers, tourists, and the occasional hurricane.

Before the famous Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse began sending flashes of warning to those at sea in 1860, Spanish explorers, Black and Seminole inhabitants, and early American pioneers began building their own histories there, contributing to the consciousness and pride of residents today.

Gear up for a frightful journey into the mysterious Ocala National Forest.

Central Florida is known as the happiest place on Earth. But an hour’s drive from the amusement parks lies a forest swirling with mystery. For generations, locals have whispered about a dark energy coming from the Ocala National Forest and drifting into nearby towns. Supernatural beasts and apparitions. Ghost lights galore. From cults to monsters to the spirts of those who ventured in yet never reemerged, the woods have long been a source of rumor and tragedy. The vengeful Coyote Woman who dispatches those with evil natures. The soldier of Fort King who vanishes when addressed. The spectral monk of Astor, on the hunt for his killer. Author and folklorist Christopher Balzano takes readers among the trees and beyond to offer a glimpse into the true stories, urban legends and haunted folklore whispered among the residents of these deep woods..

This pictorial history of Islamorada illustrates the people, places, and events that have shaped the area's cultural and natural history.

The name Islamorada came to fruition after Henry Flager's engineer, William Krome, purchased 15 acres of Upper Matecumbe property in 1907. When he registered his parcel as a town site, he called it Islamorada. A faded newspaper clipping, with May 7, 1907, handwritten in the far right corner, reported: ""On the northern end of Upper Matecumbe Key a new town known as Islamorada has sprung into existence. . . . It is believed that Islamorada will become an important tourist stopping place in winter as the location is beautiful and the fishing convenient and excellent."" Today, Islamorada refers to a collection--a community--of islands that includes Plantation, Windley, Upper Matecumbe and Lower Matecumbe Keys, as well as two islands designated as state parks, Indian Key and Lignumvitae Key. While Islamorada has always been known for its fishing, these islands boast some serious history, too.

Author Beverly Mount-Douds highlight's Florida's Forgotten Coast in her book compiled of historic images collected from Gulf County citizens.

Carved out of Calhoun County on June 6, 1925, Gulf County is one of Florida's youngest counties. The county seat, Port St. Joe, was founded in 1913, and construction of the St. Joe Paper Company's plant in 1937 revitalized the area. The popular fishing site Wewahitchka was the county seat until voters elected to relocate it to Port St. Joe in 1964. Until recently, Port St. Joe was a typical company town, anchored by the paper mill headquarters. The town is near St. Joseph, where Florida's first constitution was drafted in 1838, and which was later destroyed by yellow fever and hurricane surge. Today Gulf County is a thriving, growing area of industrial and recreational resources with nostalgic reminders of a glorious past and a promising future. Port St. Joe and Wewahitchka remain away from the hustle and bustle of large cities.

In 1880, there was a brutal murder in sunny paradise. This is the story of greed, violence, and a sensational trial that still captures the public's imagination even well after 100 years have passed.

Archie Newton stepped off the river steamer in 1880 with a letter of introduction and a secret, the young man hoping for a new life on the Florida frontier. Samuel McMillan was a miserly Sanford bachelor who carried large sums of "greenbacks" and trusted no one. One would think that since the ambitious Newton had his eye on purchasing McMillan's profitable orange grove, he wouldn't be foolish enough to do something reckless, but on his way back from Newton's home one evening, McMillan disappeared, and he wasn't seen again until his headless, mutilated corpse was pulled from a nearby lake. Newton's trial was sensational and the evidence gruesome, and local legends grew of a headless ghost rising from the lake, but was the young man in the courtroom innocent or guilty? Author Andrew Fink chronicles the twists and turns of this shocking story.

Once the third-largest port on the Gulf of Mexico, Apalachicola's diverse and colorful past remains visible today.

This delightful little fishing village has a warm and friendly atmosphere, making it even more appropriate that Apalachicola's name is a Native American word meaning ""friendly people."" When Apalachicola was established in 1831, its major industry was cotton export, and the city soon became an important port on the Gulf of Mexico. When the railroads expanded throughout the United States, Franklin County developed several large lumber mills to harvest and process wood from the surrounding cypress forests. These lumber magnates built many of the magnificent historic homes that still line Apalachicola's streets today. With more than 900 historic homes and buildings in the National Register Historic District, visitors are invited to stroll along the picturesque, tree-lined streets where Victorian homes display the charm of years gone by.

These pictorial images of Greek heritage illustrate the people and events that have shaped the culture and history of Tarpon Springs.

Beginning in 1905, large numbers of Greeks from the Dodecanese and Saronic Gulf islands settled in Tarpon Springs to work in the sponge business. They significantly expanded the industry and changed Tarpon Springs forever. Greektown flourished with residences, stores, churches, restaurants, and recreational facilities stretching from the sponge docks to downtown. Sponge fishing and related activities served as the economic base for the community. By 1913, as many as half of Tarpon Springs residents were reputedly Greek, and many businesses displayed both Greek and American flags. Today, Tarpon Springs' Greek community preserves a strong ethnic and maritime heritage. While some major US cities have a larger Greek population, no other has a greater percentage with Greek heritage than Tarpon Springs.

Author Erik T. Robinson takes the reader through the city's colorful past up to its promising future using both familiar and never-before-seen photographs.

Located in the rolling hills of Florida's Panhandle, Tallahassee has long stood as a capital city. It has been home to prehistoric Native Americans, who built the Lake Jackson Mounds in the 13th century; the Apalachee Indians, who learned to live with the Spanish Mission in the 17th century; and to European settlers and the American residents of today. Tallahassee's tree-lined, canopied roads and bountiful dogwoods and azaleas have always been associated with the leadership and history of the state. The presence of institutions such as Florida State University and Florida A&M have also made Tallahassee an attractive center of higher learning and diversity. Throughout prosperity and adversity, both Tallahassee's population and complexity have continued to increase. Combining historic landmarks, such as the San Luis Archaeological Site and the Old City, and new neighborhoods, such as Frenchtown and Lafayette Park, the capital city is a unique representation of Florida, from its days as a territory to its status as one of the country's most visited states.

Daytona lays claim to being The World's Most Famous Beach, and with good reason. Experience the birthplace and home of NASCAR in 100 years of racing on the sands.

NASCAR, one of America's favorite pastimes, got its start on Daytona Beach--""The World's Famous Beach."" For decades people have flocked to Daytona's 23 miles of white sand not only for relaxation and spring breaks, but also for the racing action once offered on its hard-packed sand shore. Dozens of records were set on the beach during low tide before promoter Bill France Sr. organized the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing at the Streamline Hotel in 1947. From those humble beginnings years ago, France turned his vision of what NASCAR could become into the brand of racing known today. Daytona Beach: 100 Years of Racing follows NASCAR's evolution from grassroots racing to its rise as one of the most talked about spectator sports in the world. The more than 200 images in this photo history illustrate why this sport--once known only to those south of the Mason-Dixon Line--is now aninternational phenomenon. Travel the course of racing's famous and lesser-known heroes like Sir Malcolm Campbell, Lawson Diggett, Clessie L. Cummins, Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Experience the pile-ups, victories, and defeats, and understand why NASCAR history is incomplete without Daytona Beach.

Mention Daytona Beach, and most people would have images of brilliantly painted stock cars roaring over the racetrack at over 200 miles per hour.

Some would envision sun-worshipping beach-goers covering the beaches during spring break. However, the Daytona Beach area has a colorful history that reaches back decades before the town became one the world's key auto racing centers as well as one of the most famous and beautiful beach communities.

Beyond the sunny shores and emerald waters of Panama City, restless spirits lurk.

The ghosts that haunt this lovely city are reminders of Florida's past: the battles, murders, and destructive acts of nature that took the lives of countless men and women. Staff at the City Center for the Arts can still hear the footsteps of inmates pacing the cells of the Old County Jail that once occupied the grounds, and a phantom known as Virginia still frequents the elevators of the historic Bay County Courthouse. Not all spirits bring doom and gloom, however--one local family learned how to befriend the resident ghost of their new home that was fond of whistling at night. Using extensive research and interviews, author Beverly Nield details the ghastly history of haunted Panama City.

Large landholders sold property in this unknown paradise to working-class people, and since the 1950s, Port Charlotte has had a colorful history of progress.

In the '50s, General Development Corporation created Port Charlotte by expanding the canals previously dug by John Murdock to drain the swampy land. The Mackle Company carved Arthur Frizzell's 80,000 acres into small, perfectly rectangular lots for resale to middle-class retirees--the targets of mass advertising and sales practices that included displaying models of Port Charlotte in department stores throughout Chicago and New York. Encouraging retirees to come to Port Charlotte resulted in the area having one of the highest concentrations of residents aged 65 and older in the nation. Port Charlotte's boom-and-bust history is a microcosm of the frenzied social and economic growth that transformed Florida in the second half of the 20th century.

The area known as Manatee County opened for settlement at the close of the Second Seminole War in 1841.

This was due to Congress's passage of the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, which allowed settlers to claim 160 acres of land at a cost of $1.25 an acre if they were able to bear arms and live on the land for five years. It wasn't long before settlers appeared up and down the beautiful Manatee River, led by Josiah Gates and his family on the south side. Many of his friends had suffered losses with the collapse of the Union Bank in Tallahassee and were anxious to join him. The opulent shores on both sides of the river quickly enticed other settlers to make their claims, offering a cornucopia filled with some of Florida's best resources for growth and prosperity. This volume provides a pictorial account of those lives, which were caught in the struggle to carve out a niche against all odds in a place that faced epidemics of yellow fever, malaria, typhoid, and a third uprising of the Seminole Indians. In 1861, Florida seceded from the Union, which was followed by the Civil War with a Union victory in 1865 that brought an end to slavery and plantation ownership.

Visit ""the island where time stands still"" and explore the romantic, almost forgotten history of old Florida in this visual history.

Rich in small town atmosphere and old Florida history, Cedar Key is a quiet island community nestled among many tiny keys on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Refuge for birds and wildlife, Florida's oldest port, and home to artists and writers, the island has long been admired for its tranquility and natural beauty.