PORT LEON
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PORT LEON |
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NAME: Port Leon COUNTY: Wakulla ROADS: 2WD GRID: 1 CLIMATE: Fine BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime |
COMMENTS:
No residents. Take US 98 that runs North/South in the panhandle and take SR 363 South to St. Marks. Port Leon is across the St. Marks River on the Old Florida National Scenic Trail. You have three ways to get there. (1) Go to the edge of the river and call to a boat or hire one to take you to the other side. I am not kidding! Then walk the trail to Port Leon. (2) Go to St Marks National Wildlife Refuge and walk the three mile trail to Port Leon. (3) If it is hunting season there are dirt roads that are drivable down to the site. All three would be an adventure. Also see the St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail, St Marks (an ancient sea port semi-ghost town itself), San Marcos de Apalache (fort originally from the 17th century in St. Marks), Wakulla Springs State Park, and Natural Bridge Battlefield State Historic Site. REMAINS: Old dikes and pilings |
| Devastated by a hurricane and tidal wave in September 1843, just as the community was achieving stability and prosperity after having been incorporated in 1841 as the competitor of two other ports, Magnolia and St. Marks, Port Leon had eight or ten business houses, three or four warehouses, a hotel, and one or two taverns. Wakulla County records show it had a Post Office from 1840 to 1844. It was the seat of Wakulla County after Wakulla was created on March 11, 1843. A bridge across the St. Marks River tied the port to the Tallahassee Railroad. Cotton was transported by the St. Marks Railroad across the bridge and out on the dock at Port Leon for loading on ships, bound for the east coast. After the storm, Port Leon was never rebuilt. Submitted by: Mike Woodfin |
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