How 10 Florida Towns Got Their Names

Every Florida town has a story in its name. Some were named for a founder or a hero, some for a place far away, some for what stood there, and one was won in a game of dominoes. Here is how 10 of them got their names, each one from the history page of its county, where you can read the rest of the story and see the sources. More towns are coming in the next articles.

A bet, a coin and a birthday cake

Titusville, Brevard County

Titusville was once called Sand Point. Henry Titus, a Confederate colonel, came ashore on the banks of the Indian River in 1867. According to the city, he won a game of dominoes against Captain Clark Rice, and the winner got to name the town. Had Rice won, it might have been called Riceville.

Read it in The History of Brevard County ↗

St. Petersburg, Pinellas County

Peter Demens, a Russian immigrant, built the Orange Belt Railroad onto the peninsula, and the line reached the end of its route on Tampa Bay on June 8, 1888. The place was named St. Petersburg, after Demens's home city. According to legend, Demens and John Constantine Williams of Detroit, who owned the land, tossed a coin for the right to name the city, and Demens won. The first train carried one passenger.

Read it in The History of Pinellas County ↗

Arcadia, DeSoto County

The spot on the bluff above the Peace River had been Waldron's Landing, Raulerson's Landing and, to some, Tater Hill Bluff, for the potatoes grown there. In 1883 Baptist preacher James Madison "Boss" Hendry brought his sawmill. By local legend, he named the town Arcadia to honor Arcadia Albritton Coker, who had baked him a birthday cake.

Read it in The History of DeSoto County ↗

Named for a person

Jacksonville, Duval County

John Warren, who lived in the town, suggested the name Jacksonville. It honored General Andrew Jackson and was accepted without objection. The Jacksonville History Center says there is no firm record of Jackson ever coming to this part of Florida.

Read it in The History of Duval County ↗

Named for a place far away

Panama City, Bay County

Glenda Walters, who heads the Bay County Historical Society, says its first well-known name was Park Place, then Harrison, for President Benjamin Harrison. Around 1905 George West, who had worked for a railroad in Chicago, came up with Panama City. The Panama Canal was being dug, and the hope was that goods from the canal would come into a port here. Walters says a ruler laid across a map from Chicago to Panama runs through the area.

Read it in The History of Bay County ↗

Trenton, Gilchrist County

The area was first known as Joppa, after a church started there in 1870. The City of Trenton says Ben Boyd, an 18-year-old Confederate soldier, had to leave his hometown of Trenton, Tennessee, after a fight at a racetrack, as most people tell it. He moved to Joppa and, by most accounts, simply chose to rename it Trenton. The post office made it official in 1883.

Read it in The History of Gilchrist County ↗

Named for what was there

Panacea, Wakulla County

W. C. Tully founded Panacea in 1895 and named it for the healing powers of its mineral springs. Its Panacea Mineral Springs Hotel had room for 125 guests.

Read it in The History of Wakulla County ↗

Names from the first Floridians

Immokalee, Collier County

The county's centennial history says the town got its name in 1893. Rose Brown, the daughter of a trading post owner, was asked for the Mikasuki words meaning "my home," and she replied "Imokali."

Read it in The History of Collier County ↗

Old names, new names

Lake City, Columbia County

Lake City was called Alligator. The railroad reached it in 1858, and when officials incorporated the town in 1859 they renamed it Lake City. One local story says the new mayor's wife would not put up her lace curtains in a place named Alligator.

Read it in The History of Columbia County ↗

Nobody knows for sure

Key West, Monroe County

There is no reliable record of how Key West got its name. One account traces it to the Spanish name Cayo Hueso, which means bone island. In 1815 Florida's Spanish governor granted the island to Juan Pablo Salas, who later sold it to John W. Simonton of Mobile for $2,000.

Read it in The History of Monroe County ↗

Every county has its story

All 67 Florida counties have a history page on 1stFlorida.com, with a timeline, old photographs, the places where you can still see that history, and the sources for every part. See all 67 county histories ↗

Top photo: Southernmost point buoy, NE view ↗ by Radomianin, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗, from Wikimedia Commons.