FLORIDA PLACE TO EXPLORE
Naval Live Oaks Area
Santa Rosa County · Panhandle & Emerald Coast
The first federal tree farm in the country, set aside by John Quincy Adams in 1828 to grow oak for warships.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
Live oak is dense and strong and grows in curves, which made it the timber the early United States Navy wanted for ship frames. The USS Constitution was built of it, and cannonballs bouncing off her sides in the War of 1812 gave her the name Old Ironsides. In 1828 President John Quincy Adams had the government buy this ground near Gulf Breeze and reserve it to grow live oak for the fleet, which made it the first federal tree farm in the country. Henry Marie Brackenridge ran it and experimented with cultivation, and he is sometimes called the first federal forester in the United States. The reservation now covers over 1,300 acres as part of Gulf Islands National Seashore, taken over by the National Park Service in 1971, and went on the National Register on September 28, 1998. US 98 splits it. The visitor center and beach access are on the south side, picnic ground and trails on the north
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