Timeline of Florida History

An 18th-century map of Florida

This is a timeline of the U.S. state of Florida.

History of Florida
The seal of Florida reflects the state's Native American history
Topics Cities - Counties - Politics
Timeline Pre-history, until 1497 Spanish Rule, 1513–1763 British Rule, 1763–1783: American Revolutionary War, 1775–1783 Spanish Rule, 1783–1821: War of 1812, 1811–1814 First Seminole War, 1817–1818 U.S. Territorial Period, 1822–1845: Capitol moved to Tallahassee, 1824 Second Seminole War, 1835–1842 Constitutional convention, 1838 Statehood, 1845–present: Third Seminole War, 1855–1858 Ordinance of Secession, 1861 Civil War, 1861–1865 3rd Constitution, 1865 Reconstruction, 1865–1868 4th Constitution, 1868 5th Constitution, 1885 Great Migration, 1910–1930 Land Boom, 1925–1929 6th Constitution, 1968 Gore v. Harris, Presidential Election, 2000
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Pre-European

• 3400 BC: Horr's Island burial mounds
• Various: Populated by indigenous tribes, such as the Apalachee, Timucua, Ais, Calusa, Jaega, Mayaimi, Tequesta and Tocobaga.

1500s

• 1502: Florida is mapped on the Portuguese Cantino map.
• 1513 April 2: Ponce de Leon is claimed to have discovered Florida.^[1]
• 1515–1519: Spanish explorers visit Pinellas barrier islands while trading with Tocobaga.
• 1528: Panfilo de Narvaez expedition explores the Pinellas Peninsula.^[2]
• 1538: The horse introduced into Florida
• 1539: Hernando de Soto expedition names present Tampa Bay "La Bahia de Espiritu Santo".
• 1549: A fleet led by Tristán de Luna y Arellano anchors in Pensacola Bay and sets up the encampment of Puerto de Santa Maria.
• 1560: Menéndez commanded the galleons of the great Armada de la Carrera Spanish Treasure Fleet.
• 1564: Fort Caroline north of Jacksonville is established by the French.
• 1565: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés establishes the city of St. Augustine.
• 1565 September 20: Spanish attack Fort Caroline and kill most of the French, some escape.
• 1571 December: Pedro Menéndez wrecks at Cape Canaveral and meets hostile natives thought to be of the Ais Indian Nation.
• 1586 June: Sir Francis Drake attacks and sacks St. Augustine.
• 1596 March 22: Gonzalo Méndez de Canço appointed Governor and Captain General of Florida.

1600s

• 1601: King Philip III of Spain commissioned a map of Florida which includes a fort he wants built in Miami.
• 1603: Pedro Ibarra appointed Governor of Florida.
• 1605: "Period of Friendship" between Spanish and Native Tribes started because of the diplomatic trip of Alvaro Mexia.^[3]

1700s

• 1700: Settlers in the Province of Carolina and their Indian allies raid the Ais people.
• 1702–1713: Queen Anne's War. Tocobaga virtually annihilated. English raids reach Tampa Bay. Pinellas largely deserted.
• 1715, July 30: Hurricane causes the sinking of the 1715 Treasure Fleet.^[4]
• 1743: Spanish established a short-lived mission on Biscayne Bay.
• 1739–1748: War of Jenkins' Ear. English mapping expeditions visit Pinellas Peninsula.
• 1757: Spanish expedition renames Tampa Bay "La Bahia de San Fernando", after the Spanish king; names entrance to Tampa Bay "La Punta de Pinal de Jimenez" (Point of Pines).
• 1763: Spain cedes Florida to England at end of the French and Indian War. Split into East Florida and West Florida
• 1768: The colony of New Smyrna is established by Dr. Andrew Turnbull.
• 1783 March 10: Final naval battle of the American Revolution fought off Cape Canaveral with Captain John Barry.
• 1783 October 3: Treaty of Paris ends American Revolutionary War. England cedes Florida to Spain.
• 1795: With the Treaty of San Lorenzo, U.S. and Spain recognized the 31st parallel as the northern boundary of Florida.

1800–1842

• 1812: Republic of East Florida.
• 1817–1818: First Seminole War.
• 1821: Spain cedes Florida to United States (Adams–Onís Treaty).
• 1822: Florida Territory formed from East Florida and part of West Florida
• 1824: Florida's first true lighthouse built in St. Augustine.
• 1824:
  • U.S. Army establishes Fort Brooke (later to become Tampa, Florida).
  • Tallahassee chosen as location of capital (half-way between previous capitals of East and West Florida)
• 1825: Lighthouse built in St. Augustine.
• 1832: U.S. government signs the Treaty of Payne's Landing with some of the Seminole chiefs, promising them lands west of the Mississippi River if they agreed to leave Florida voluntarily
• 1834: Territorial Legislature establishes Hillsborough County, Florida.^[5]
• 1835–1842: Second Seminole War.
• 1837: Fort Ann was established on the eastern shore of the Indian River in what is now Brevard County.
• 1842: Armed Occupation Act provides for land grants in unsettled parts of Florida.^[5]

Statehood era (1845–present)

• 1845: Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th U.S. state.
• 1855–1858: Third Seminole War
• 1856: Florida Historical Society is incorporated.
• 1861: Florida joined the Confederate States of America at the beginning of the Civil War
• 1868: Florida fully restored to the United States
• 1877: Compromise of 1877 completed the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Florida (aftermath of Civil War)
• 1883 December 10: The South Florida Railroad, controlled by Henry B. Plant, becomes the first railroad to arrive in Tampa.
• 1887 August 15: Eatonville, Florida, incorporated; the first all-black town to be formed after the Emancipation Proclamation.
• 1888 February 22: President Cleveland's first Florida visit stop.
• 1888 February 23: President Cleveland visits Winter Park.
• 1894 December: Great Freeze destroys much of Florida's crops (especially citrus).
• 1896 April 15: The Florida East Coast Railway, controlled by Henry Flagler, becomes the first railroad to arrive in Miami.
• 1920s: Florida land boom
• 1928: Overseas Highway opens for cars, connecting Key West to mainland Florida
• 1931: gambling legalized, allowing a Parimutuel betting establishment
• 1943 September 26: Florida's first oil well is drilled in Collier County by Humble Oil Company.^[6]
• 1947: Everglades National Park dedicated
• 1962 February 20: Launched from Cape Canaveral, John Glenn orbits the Earth three times with Friendship 7.
• 1966: Miami Dolphins football team active.
• 1969 July 20: A rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center lands men on the moon with the Apollo 11 mission.
• 1971 October 1: Walt Disney World opens, with Magic Kingdom as its first park
• 1973 December 15: SeaWorld Orlando opens
• 1974: Big Cypress National Preserve became the first national preserves in the United States National Park System
• 1976: Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team active.
• 1980: Emigration crisis caused by the Mariel Boatlift from Cuba
• 1982 October 1: The Walt Disney Company opens its second park in Florida, Epcot.
• 1985: wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha discovered off Key West, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the most valuable shipwreck to be recovered
• 1988: Miami Heat basketball team active.
• 1989
  • May 1: Walt Disney World opens its third park, Disney's Hollywood Studios (originally Disney-MGM Studios).
  • October 13: Orlando Magic basketball team active.
• 1990 June 7: Universal Studios Florida opens in Orlando.
• 1992
  • Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team active.
  • Dry Tortugas National Park established
  • Hurricane Andrew devastated areas of South Florida
• 1993: 3 professional sports teams are introduced in Florida. Miami Marlins baseball team, Jacksonville Jaguars football team and Florida Panthers hockey team.
• 1998
  • April 22: Walt Disney World opens its fourth park, Disney's Animal Kingdom.
  • Tampa Bay Rays baseball team active. (originally as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
• 1999 May 28: Universal Studios opens its adjacent park, Islands of Adventure.
• 2000 November 7–December 12: Disputed Florida ballots in the United States presidential election delay the results of the overall national result
• 2014: Becomes the United States' third-most populous state.

See also

• Timelines of cities in Florida

References

Further reading

• Benson John Lossing, ed. (1905). "United States: Florida (chronology)". Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History. 9. Harper & Bros. – via HathiTrust.