Lone Rider Pedals: Marianna, FL to Tallahassee, FL

Today we travelled to Tallahassee, FL via Grand Ridge, Sneads, and Chattahoochie.

Florida State Hospital - Amos Building

Florida State Hospital, the hospital involved in the famous 1975 U.S. Supreme Court decision,O'Connor v. Donaldson [A state cannot constitutionally confine a non-dangerous individual who is capable of surviving safely in freedom by themselves or with the help of willing and responsible family members or friends], is next to Chattahoochee. The former arsenal and current Administration Building of Florida State Hospital is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hospital was featured in a 1989 movie, Chattahoochee, starring Gary Oldman and Dennis Hopper, in which a war hero, Chris Calhoun, is involuntarily committed to Florida State Hospital where he sees doctors at the hospital humiliating patients and experiences filth and abuse.

Then it was through Gretna and Quincy, FL.

There are several locations in Quincy which have been included in the National Register of Historic Places, most of which are within the Quincy Historic District.
They are:

E.B. Shelfer House

E.C. Love House

John Lee McFarland House

Old Philadelphia Presbyterian Church

Judge P.W. White House

Willoughby Gregory House

Quincy Academy Library

Quincy Woman's Club

Stockton Curry House

Established in 1828, Quincy, is the county seat of Gadsden County. Quincy lies in the rolling hills of North Florida. Part of the woodlands run along the banks of the Ocholocknee River and Little River.

Coca-Cola Quincy investors were largely responsible for the development of its local Coca-Cola company into a world wide conglomerate. Quincy was once rumored to be the home to many millionaires due to the Coca-Cola boom. Mr. Pat Munroe, a banker, father of 18 children from 2 wives, and W.C. Bradley were among the stockholders of three of the banks that released 500,000 shares of new Coca-Cola common stock. They urged widows and farmers to invest for $40 each and several did. Eventually that stock split, and made as many as 67 accounted for investors and Gadsden county residents rich. To give you an idea of the stock's value, a single share of Coca-Cola stock bought in 1919 for $40 would be worth $6.4 million today, if all dividends had been reinvested.

Notable current and former residents of Quincy include:

The Lady Chablis, transgendered entertainer best known for her appearance in the book and subsequent movie adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Billy Dean, Country Music Singer

Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world.

After Quincy we traveled through Midway, FL before reaching Tallahassee, FL.

On the way I stopped at Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park, in northern Tallahassee, FL, which is one of the most important archaeological sites in Flordia. A former chiefdom and ceremonial center of the Fort Walton Culture (1100-1550), the complex originally included six earthwork mounds, a constructed public plaza and numerous individual village residence.