Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
This shopping center opened in 1964 with 10-12 stores around a Winn-Dixie Grocery Store. Across Broad St., the Hernando Plaza Shopping Center was built in 1965 by Edward Strawgate and Seymour Weiss of Miami Beach.
The volunteer fire department was established in 1925. That same year, the city bought its first fire truck.
This house was built in the early 1900s, and later was remodeled as a law office.
Local sawmill owner Mr. Gordy built this home in 1882 with ten-foot ceilings and no closets. It was the residence of Paul James Weeks and his family.
This building was erected in 1916 as the parsonage for the First Baptist Church. In 1975, it was converted to the law office of Bruce Snow.
This community was settled by four families - the Howells to the north, John L. May to the east, the Hales to the west, and the Parsons to the south.
Previously called Pierceville after Franklin Pierce, this town was renamed Brooksville after U.S. representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina. During a session of Congress in the 1850s, Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts had made a negative comment about the South during an address, and Brooks hit him over the head with his walking cane.
Another congressman challenged Sumner to a duel using rifles, but Brooks wanted to use walking canes. Later, it was revealed that Brooks was a publicity man for a manufacturer of walking canes. The duel never occurred. Because the Lykes family admired Brooks, the town was named in his honor.
Brooksville incorporated in October of 1880.
The Brooksville Woman's Club was organized in 1910 by Mrs. R.N. Chelf, and started a library in its meeting room in back of the First National Bank. By 1924, the library was in the Episcopal Church, then moved into the Chamber of Commerce building in 1926, and then to a building on S. Main St. in 1928.
In 1944, the Library Association was chartered and ground was broken five years later in the city park fronting on Howell Ave. for a new library. It was dedicated on April 18, 1950, and was named after the late son of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Lykes of Spring Hill. An addition in 1987 was designed by McKenna Architecture, Inc.
When Theodore Sylvester Coogler was elected the county's first school superintendent in 1870, he took over the supervision of a log house school in what is now the adjoining park.
This two-story wood frame home with a gable roof was built in 1880 by John Taylor. Until 1902, it was the home of Dr. Van Henry Gwynn, who sold it to William Fulton, the organizer of the Florida Citrus Exchange. It was acquired by the MacKenzies in 1957. It has a two-story veranda and the second floor balustrade has an elablorate paling pattern.
Pete Law built this house in 1911. During the 1920s, it was acquired by Harry Zollar, and later owners include the Williams family.
This Mediterranean style hotel building was erected in 1926 on US 41, assuring it of substantial traffic. it was painted a bright tangerine color, after a major local agricultural product. US 41 was later rerouted through another portion of Brooksville.
On October 11, 1931, about eight feet from the sidewalk, city attorney Herbert Smithson was killed, gangland-style, by three shotgun blasts from a dark-colored sedan. Smithson was believed to have been a secret government agent working with Prohibition forces. The city offered a $900 reward for information, but the killers were never caught.
During the 1950s, this was the winter training home of baseball teams.
This two-story house was built in the early 1900s by local pharmacist Ray Chelp. It was later owned by the Lingle family.
In 1852, the Union Baptist Church of Pierceville was founded and met in a wooden building a mile southwest of downtown Brooksville. In 1855, Joseph Hale willed the church a larger tract on N. Main St. (now called Howell Ave.) Within two years, the congregation built a new sanctuary there and worshipped there until it burned in 1882. In 1889, it was renamed the First Baptist Church of Brooksville. Another church it used burned in January of 1899, along with about one-fourth of Brooksville.
By the end of the 1850s, the church was operating a school with 100 students. In the 1870s, the teachers were Profs. Addaholt and G.B. Ramsey.
A 30 x 40 foot sanctuary was constructed in 1900, consisting of a wooden frame with a brick veneer. A pastorium was built in 1907, when Rev. George Hyman arrived as the first full-time minister. Three classrooms were added in 1927.
The church moved to its present location in 1974.
A wood frame high school here had its first graduating class of two students in 1892. It was replaced in 1910 by a nine-room brick school in Saxon Heights with running water, costing $10,000. That school burned in 1918. Classes were temporarily held in the Masonic Hall, City Hall, the Presbyterian Church, the Christian Church, the Jennings Building, and upstairs over the Hernando State Bank.
Land was bought from Mrs. Thomas Gary and a new school was built by 1920. It was constructed for 350 students, but by 1925 had 500. At that time, a new Hernando High School designed by Frank F. Jonsberg was built on Bell Ave., just east of the old building, which became the grammar school.
Later, the school was moved about 1/2 mile to the north to land on Howell Ave. donated by Mr. and Mrs. John C. Emerson. Both the old Howell Ave. and Bell Ave. sites were sold to the First Baptist Church and the schools were razed.
Mrs. Raymond Robins opened a book sales business in December of 1926 in two small rooms of the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Ashbrook in Orange Heights. During the following year, the bookshop moved to the store adjoining the Rogers Department Store, and Mrs. J.K. Coogler was in charge of it. In 1929, it moved to the Maillis Building, later occupied by Lingle's store, and in 1932 it had a new building erected here. The bookstore included a lending library.
Land was acquired here in the late 1950s from the Emerson family as a site for a comprehensive high school. It has been enlarged several times. A $300,000 junior high school was built nearby.
This was organized as the Brooksville Presbyterian Church on April 29, 1883. Early services were held in homes and in the city hall. In 1895, services were led by Rev. Arthur Rowbotham in the First Christian Church building.
In 1914, a lot at the corner of Broad St. and Orange Ave. was purchased by William A. Fulton, L.D. Hathaway, J.C. Burwell, and William M. McKethan, for construction of a new church. It was built the same year, with stained glass windows created by Empire Glass. In June of 1951, a new church was built here for a cost of $85,000.
The first Catholic mass in Brooksville took place on Easter Sunday in 1874, conducted by Bishop Augustine Verot. During the early 1880s, a priest came here from St. Anthony's parish in San Antonio to conduct mass.
This church was built in about 1908. Its cost was paid by A.H. Hirst of Haverford, Pennsylvania, in memory of his son, Anthony, Jr., after whom the church was named. The building became vacant in 1968 when the congregation moved to another building on US 41/SR 577. They sold this building to Kay Peterson who converted it to a residence. She did not buy the cemetery in the back of the home.
This three-story frame house was built in 1880. It has a gable roof, a bay window with an octagonal roof, and decorative wood shingles and lattice work. One of its later occupants was William Sherman Jennings, a cousin of Williams Jennings Bryan and the governor of Florida.
Jennings moved here from Illinois and became a member of the bar in 1886 and served as a judge from 1888 to 1892. A state legislator from 1893 to 1895, he became the speaker of the state house in 1895. He was nominated for governor by the Democrats in 1900 and won easily. The house was later owned by the Rogers family.
This home was built in about 1890 and was the residence of Junius M. and Alice Rogers in the early 1900s. They owned the Rogers Department Store, located on Main St.
This Bungalow was built in the 1920s by Mr. Wurstall.
This home, built in the early 1900s, was the first in Brooksvile with a bathtub and running water. Later owners include the Burwells.
The Burwells built this house in 1887, and it was acquired by the Barnett family in 1921.
This Bungalow was built during the 1920s as a duplex. It was later converted to a single residence.
This rental duplex was built during the 1920s.
This house was built by Mr. Burwell before 1900. Burwell was the publisher of the Brooksville Star.
This house was built in 1911 for Miss Christian, who later married politician Meil Law. Dr. Creekmore bought it in 1925 and sold it to Don and Larie Hensley in 1990.
Christian Cook had this home built in the early 1900s. Later owners include Vivian B. Coogler and Terry B. Hancock.
W.E. Law of Kentucky built this house before 1900.
John and Mary Delbert built this Bungalow in 1927. Later owners include the McFarlands.
This two-story house was built during the 1900s and was later owned by the Pedonesi family.
Jake and Marie Amstutz built this house and owned a Ford dealership. It has ten-foot ceilings and oak floors and was later owned by the Brass family.
This house was built in about 1900 by one of the earliest families to settle in Hernando County, the Ederingtons. Col. Francis H. Ederington had lived in the mansion at Chinsegut Hill north of Brooksville, and had named it Mount Airy.
Richard Wiggins homesteaded 160 acres here in 1843. John May bought this land in 1885 and during the following year he donated 15 acres to the county for use as its seat of government. The first four rooms were built in 1856.
John May lived here until he died in 1858, and his widow Marena in 1866 married Confederate veteran Frank Saxon. Marena died in 1869 during childbirth. Later owners include Dr. Sheldon Stringer, Judge Fred Stringer, and Dr. Earl Hensley and his wife, Helen.
This seven-gabled house consists of 12 rooms on four stories, built in stages from 1856 to 1880. It was purchased by the Historical Society in 1981 and is open to the public for tours.
This home was built in about 1900. Its residents have included Brooksville lawyer Col. Lockhart and his grandson, state representative Bill McCollum.
This home was built in about 1915 with wood drop siding. It has Tuscan style columns and overall is considered a Frame Vernacular style dwelling.
This home was built in 1905 and has large square pillars supporting a portico, beneath which is a small balcony over the front door.
This is a Frame Vernacular style home built in the early 1900s with wood drop siding.
This Frame Vernacular style home dates to the early 1900s. It has Tuscan style wooden columns.
This home built in the early 1900s has been the home of Hill House Antiques since the 1970s.
This Frame Vernacular home was built in the early 1900s with wood drop siding. It later housed the Blueberry Patch Restaurant founded by Mrs. John R. Culbreath and Mrs. Earl Patterson.
This home was built in 1904 with Tuscan style columns. It later was the home of Scarlett Ribbons antiques.
There are five buildings in this complex, which opened here in 1972. They are the Christmas House, Storybook Land, the Christmas Cottage, the Little House Under the Big Oak, and the Brides House (built in 1887 three blocks away and moved here in three pieces).
This home was built in 1864 by Frank Saxon on a tract of 32 acres. Originally, the kitchen and servants' quarters were separate and behind the main house.
During the 1880s, one of Brooksville's two grammar schools was located in the house. In 1885, it was consolidated with the other school located south of the city limits.
This congregation was founded in 1834 by Rev. Peter Nateal. The present sanctuary was built in 1973 while Rev. W.D. Angrett was its pastor.
This church was first known as Bethlehem Progressive Missionary Baptist Church when it met on Broad St. The white Rev. M. Sinclair was its first minister, later replaced by the black Rev. Abe Timmons. It was renamed as the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in 1861 and a church building was erected on Lemon Ave.
The present sanctuary was built in 1959 while Rev. C.H. Bolden was the pastor.
This building erected in 1885 features a wide overhand supported on brackets, post and beam construction, and vertical board and batten siding. It was restored by the Heritage Museum.
The Roddenberrys built this home in 1917. Later owners include the Hendersons and Dr. Lovejoy, who had his dentistry office in the house.
This house was built in 1910 by Mr. Springstead, and was later owned by Mr. Mountain. The Rogers family owned it for 40 years beginning in 1941, and the Martinez family acquired it in 1985.
This home was built in about 1910. In 1986, it was acquired by the Lemon family.
This structure was built in about 1927.
This 1896 home of Owen Whitehurst features a two-story double veranda.
This home was built in the early 1900s, and shows elements of the Colonial Revival style. It was the home of the owner of Maillis Grocery and Market, which was established in 1920.
This home was built in the early 1900s. It belonged to James A. Jennings, who served as the president of Hernando State Bank in 1905. Later, it became the parsonage of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
This Stick style house was built in about 1884.
An Episcopal congregation organized during the 1880s and built a sanctuary on S. Brooksville Ave. in 1885 on land donated by the Saxon family. With a decreasing membership, the church became vacant in about 1919.
Another Episcopal congregation formed on September 29, 1948. The old church was torn down and the new one built here to replace it.
This two-story wood frame house was built in 1908 of cypress and heart pine shipped here from the Carolinas. It was built for Theodore S. Coogler, an attorney who used the house for his law office, as a wedding gift from his father-in-law. It has a Greek Revival style with its paired Ionic columns supporting a pediment over the two-story porch. It was later owned by Keith and Linda Claflin and has been converted to a bed and breakfast establishment.
This home was built in about 1915.
This house dates from the early 1900s.
This two-story home was built in the early 1900s.
This house was built in about 1900. It was the home of John Weeks, the founder of Weeks Hardware.
This was the home of impressionist artist Mary A. Coogler, the widow of Theodore S. Coogler, Jr. It was built in 1935 with a Victorian style. It later was converted to a bed and breakfast.
This two-story house with a hip roof was built in about 1900.
A.P. Jordan and Mr. Hawk published the Hernando News from a building to the east of V.V. Coogler's Drug Store. In about 1888, Fred Ion Robertson, the son of newspaperman Fred L. Robertson, bought the News. In 1890, Col. Austin S. Mann sold the Register to Robertson and he renamed it the News-Register and published it from a building here.
In 1926, Allan Hawkins built a $50,000 theater here to seat 1,000. It was renovated to accommodate talking movies, the first in Brooksville being "Dames Ahoy". It closed in 1930 or 1931 because of lack of customers, and reopened in 1931 as the Dixie Theater and new acoustics. It closed shortly thereafter.
John C. Burwell's efforts brought telephone service to Hernando County in 1900. In a building at this site, the East Florida Telephone Company established the headquarters. It was later bought by C.C. Voyle and his father, and was acquired by Southern Bell on May 1, 1924.
A three-story hotel at this site, built by L.B. Varn in about 1900, burned down in April of 1918 in a fire that may have been set by an arsonist. In 1935, the site was sold to S. Whitehurst's Sons. At the time, the property included C.O.D. Cleaners, the office of the Brooksville Sun, and Whitehursts' law offices.
Just to the east were located the Brooksville Hotel and the New Southern Hotel, the latter built and operated by Mr. and Mrs. R.D. Gray and Mr. and Mrs. N.N. Gray. Also known as the Southern Club, it became the unofficial headquarters for real estate developers. It later burned down.
A department store building was erected here in 1912. J.M. Rogers spent $35,000 to remodel it in 1935.
In the 1880s, the hotel located here was the best place in town for accommodations, with about 100 rooms.
Col. Fred L. Robertson established the first newspaper in Brooksville in 1880. He obtained a small printing press from Tampa and printed his two to four page newspaper here.
In 1884, Col. Austin L. Mann started the Brooksville Register, took over the Florida Crescent, and moved in here. Later, he moved to the second floor of a building on the northwest corner of Main and Broad Sts.
This store was built in 1913 with a style typical for its time. The bricks came from the Brooksville Brick Factory and the walls were stuccoed in 1930. This building features cast iron columns, the original freight elevator, and pressed metal ceilings. Originally, the second floor was office space, a portion of which was occupied by Josiah Weeks for his businesses of turpentine, mining, naval stores and the hardware store.
The building was sold in 1935 to Dr. John Bacon, a druggist and merchant, to use with another building to the north to expand the drug store which he founded in 1926. It was located on the northwest corner of Main and Jefferson Sts.
A bank opened in a new building at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Main Sts. on July 1, 1905. James A. Jennings served as its first president.
On August 16, 1907, the Brooksville Banking Company received its charter, and in 1910 was renamed the First National Bank. On May 14, 1929, it became the First National Bank in Brooksville, and ten years later merged with the Hernando State Bank. This was the area's only bank founded prior to 1925 which survived the Depression.
An auto bank was opened at this corner in 1966, increasing the bank's lobby area by 50%. Formerly on this corner was the R.R. Dingle Department Store, built in 1912.
Hernando County prioneer John J. Hale had this three-story wood frame home built for him in the 1880s. He used special woods shipped to Bay Port and then carried here by wagon. The bricks were made in Massachusetts. Originally, there was a two-story veranda on the front and back, and a separate kitchen. The rear veranda and the breezeway from the kitchen to the house have since been enclosed. Later owners include Alfred McKethan.
This Bungalow was built in the early 1900s with a sleeping porch. Later owners include the Mason family.
This house with an L-shaped plan was built during the 1890s.
In the early days of Brooksville, Methodist services were conducted by circuit riders in local homes.
The first one-room church building was erected for $5,000 in about 1879, and was destroyed by a hurricane in the late 1880s. In 1881, a new building was started and Rev. George W. Sellers became the pastor.
A major building program began during the 1950s, including an education building, several church school rooms, a church office and a new sanctuary, costing over $100,000. The present sanctuary was renovated and rebuilt in 1964.
Henry Carlton, Sr. founded a grocery store business in 1910. In 1947, he acquired this former church building and converted it into the new location for his store.
This building was erected during the 1920s and served as a Dodge dealership into the 1940s. It was later renovated as a law office by Thomas Hogan.
When a part of this store was built in the 1940s, it served as a filling station. It later became a store, the home of Old Town Flower Shop.
This building was erected in 1910 with two stories, and in 1927 Classical Revival style columns, pediment and stucco were added. For a time beginning in 1940, this was also used as the post office. It has also housed business and insurance offices.
Early settlers tried to establish a county headquarters at DeSoto or Fort DeSoto, but had trouble digging through rock for a well. Without it, there was insufficient water and they moved south to Melendezville (later Pierceville, later Brooksville). For a time, the county headquarters was at Bay Port, but was moved back here.
John L. May and William Hope (the executor of the Joseph Hale estate) deeded land to the county on October 15, 1856, to be used for the creation of a new county seat.
The 1856 courthouse burned down on September 29, 1877. Lumber from Theodore S. Coogler's mill was used to build it in 1911 in several sections down Jefferson St., where it became part of the home of C.D. Lanier.
This Classical Revival style courthouse was built in 1913 by J.F. Jenkins and Company with a simple rectangular plan by William A. Edwards. It is of brick with cast iron details, massive Ionic columns, an elevated base, and latticed windows.
A three-story addition was built during the early 1970s for about $1,000,000. The county also acquired the former Ford agency across the street for more office space.
Erected in 1915, this is a typical storefront building of its period. It features cast iron columns supporting a brick facade, a corbeled brick cornice, and simply detailed windows. Tenants here included a drug store, dentist, general store, barber shop, restaurant and pool hall.
This structure was built during the mid-1950s.
S.D. Lovett started publishing the Brooksville Sun in 1932, initially in a building adjacent to Garnett's Furniture Store on E. Jefferson St. The office was moved here in 1945.
Amos Roberts had started publishing the Brooksville Star in about 1890, and sold it to John C. Burwell who published it through his company, Star Enterprises, starting in 1910. It merged in 1922 with the Southern Argus and was published as an educational monthly by the county school superintendent. After it was acquired by Edwin R. Russell, it was renamed the Brooksville Journal.
In 1959, Almon Brooks Wilder bought the Sun and the Journal and published the Sun-Journal until 1961. It was eventually sold to Gannett and Company, and then to Park Newspapers of Florida.
Wesley Grimsly built this commercial structure in 1885 as a country store. In 1977, it became the home of Brooksville Printing.
This building was erected in 1924 as a bakery. During the 1930s, it was purchased by Earl Rogers as the home of the Brooksville Cleaners.
This building was erected in about 1907 as this organization's club house.
This house was built before 1900.
This house was built in the early 1900s.
This house was constructed in 1858 by Theopholis Higginbothem. Later owners include George Maillis.
This building was erected in 1914 by Frank Griffin as a livery stable. It has also served as a garage, second-hand shop, and in 1932 became West Coast Lumber Co., managed until 1945 by A.C. Dick.
This Dutch Colonial style home was built in 1925 from a Sears & Roebuck mail order kit. The materials were shipped by train to the depot and then carried here in a 1920 Model T truck. The instruction book was 76 pages long.
This home was built during the 1890s. Later owners include attorney James M. Brown.
This house was built in the 1900s, and was later converted to a law office.
A History of Hernando County, by Richard J. Stanaback (Daniels Publishers 1976)
Back Home: A History of Citrus County, Florida, by Hampton Dunn (Citrus County Historical Society, Inc. 1989)
Brooksville and Hernando County, Florida, by Mary K. Whitehurst (Hernando County Y.W.C.A. 1936)
Country Roads of Florida, by Bill McMillon (Country Roads Press 1994)
Florida From Secession to Space Age, by Merlin G. Cox and J.E. Dovell (Great Outdoors Publishing Co. 1974)
Florida Historic Stained Glass Survey: Sites of Historic Windows in Public Facilities in the State of Florida, by Robert O. Jones (Florida Members of the Stained Glass Association of America 1995)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Hernando County: Our Story, by Alfred A. McKethan (1989)
History of the First South Florida Missionary Baptist Association (1888-1988), by Altermese Smith Bentley (The Mickler House 1988)
The Illustrated Guide to the Florida West Coast, by M.C. Bob Leonard (Purple Islands Production 1992)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)