TANTIE
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TANTIE |
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NAME: Tantie COUNTY: Okeechobee ROADS: 2WD GRID: 3 CLIMATE: hot during the summer, warm to cool otherwise BEST TIME TO VISIT: anytime |
COMMENTS:
located on the north side of Lake Okeechobee, where SR70 meets 441(Parrott Ave). Older section is a few blocks west of Parrott Ave, Tantie Schoolhouse is now across from the airport on US98. REMAINS: Tantie wooden schoolhouse, brick school, bank and storefronts, 1928 Gilbert Oil Company building, various old houses |
| The town of Tantie began in 1896, when Peter Raulerson moved to an area known as "The Bend", unsettled wilderness along Taylor Creek a few miles north of Lake Okeechobee. Other early settlers included Dr SL Hubbard, Henry Hancock, and Sam Grey. The area was a prime location for fishing and hunting. The first school was a palmetto shack, and the second school term was taught in a barn. As the population increased, a schoolteacher was brought down from South Carolina, an energetic redhead named Tantie Huckabee. The Post Office was established in 1902, and a sawmill and several stores started up in the years following. In 1909 a new wooden schoolhouse was built. As a testament to the energy and enthusiasm Ms Huckabee brought to the community, the town and post office were named Tantie in her honor. In late 1910 it was announced that Flagler's Florida East Coast Railroad would be extended to Tantie. FEC Vice President J. Ingraham envisioned the town becoming a great metropolis, and deemed the name Tantie inappropriate for such a big future city. The town was renamed Okeechobee and laid out by the railroad company to be a model city. Flagler railroad officials took over control of the town, platting and selling land, replacing the wooden buildings of Tantie with a city of concrete and brick. Submitted by: Jim Pike |
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