Torreya State Park

About this property

Torreya State Park is a 13,735 acres (55.58 km2) Florida State Park, United States National Natural Landmark and historic site thirteen miles (21 km) north of Bristol. It is located north of S.R 12 on the Apalachicola River, in northwestern Florida (Florida Panhandle), at 2576 N.W. Torreya Park Road. It was named for the Florida Nutmeg (Torreya taxifolia) trees, a rare species of Torreya tree endemic to the local east bank of the Apalachicola River's limestone bluffs. With river swamps and high pinelands, extensive ravines and high bluffs along the river, the park has one of the most variable terrains of any in Florida. The high elevation of the park is about 91 m (300 ft) at the top of Logan Hill. Many streams run through the park. Torreya State Park is one of the original Florida state parks developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. The park was named for the Florida tree Torreya taxifolia. Due to the river's importance during the Civil War, a six-cannon battery was placed on a bluff to prevent the passage of Union gunboats. These cannons never saw combat action at this location. The gun pits' remains can still be seen in the park. Prior Native American inhabitation has been confirmed by archaeological discoveries in the area. In 1818, General Andrew Jackson and his army crossed the Apalachicola here during the First Seminole War. Ten years later, the first government road to cross the new Territory met the river here (see the Bellamy Road). In 1849, Jason Gregory built a plantation house at Ocheesee Landing, across from the park's current location. After the Civil War, like most plantations, it fell into disuse. Not long after the Civilian Conservation Corps was established in 1933, they started work to create the park. Part of the project in 1935 was disassembling the old Gregory House, moving it across the river and reconstructing it in the park, where it stands today. Visitors can tour the Gregory House for a small fee. On October 10, 2018, the eye of Hurricane Michael tracked a few miles west of the park, producing sustained winds over 130 miles per hour. Catastrophic damage occurred within the park and its surrounding area. Trees were either felled, snapped, or stripped of branches, so thinning the tree canopy to a high degree. The park was closed for the remainder of autumn and all through winter as staff toiled to cut hazardous trees and clear fallen wood. However, many of the Florida nutmeg trees under park protection survived. The park is one of the few places in Florida where the endangered species few-flowered croomia (Croomia pauciflora) can still be found. Other endangered species of Florida in the park include the feathery false lily of the valley (Maianthemum racemosum), Canadian honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis), and bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis).

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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