Quote:
Originally Posted by billethkid
every once in a while we meet a native Floridian. I always enjoy asking them what it was like before the invasion from the North. I enjoy even more their eagerness to tell one about it!!!!
btk
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I'm not a native Floridian but I first visited FL in the early to mid 1950s. Then moved here in 1969. I got $1.00 haircuts from an old-timer in Trilicoochee, FL and he told me some very interesting stories. He remembered when he was a boy that there were lots of Indians in the area and he remembered when people were dropping dead from malaria. He said they couldn't build coffins fast enough. And I talked to some other old time Floridians who said they remembered when you could buy an acre of land for about $20. And Hwy. 301, at that time, was just a dirt road.
The old "plank house" I bought in central FL was built by farmers when Hwy. 301 was just a dirt road.
And here's something interesting: When I first moved to Pasco County, in central FL, you could build a house without getting any permission from anyone. You didn't need an architect to draw up any plans, you didn't need a licensed contractor, electrician, plumber etc.. You could even make your own septic tank out of concrete blocks and you could drill your own water well without permission. You just needed to notify the county that you were there for property tax purposes and to get your mail.