James, is Altha still a "town" - I know that it is there and that a fair number of people live there, but is it incorporated as a civic/political entity? If not, that may have contributed to its listing. I grew up in a community outside of Orlando called Orlo Vista that had been a town from the late 1800s until the depression, when it ceased to exist as a legal entity. Folks didn't move, but the town ceased to exist. I agree that doesn't make it a ghost town, but it may be how it shows up on this kind of list. Jack ----- Original Message ----- From: James L. Edenfield <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 2:53 PM Subject: [FLJACKSO] Ghost Towns > According to the Webter's New World Dictionary, a "Ghost town" is the > remains of a deserted town, permanently, esp. for economic reasons. The > ghost towns posted for Jackson Co. and Calhoun Co. never were "towns" but > mainly communities and they are not deserted. The term is applicable to > some towns in the West that still exist today and are total deserted. > Whoever > came up with the list and published them in a book knew nothing about > Jackson or > Calhoun Co., Fl. For example, Altha is listed for Calhoun County. Anyone > living within the area knows that Altha is presently a good size town and is > not > deserted... Most of the "towns" listed were/are all communities that were > so named > because of Navy stores, post offices, or turpentine stills that existed > years ago. > The old Navy stores, post offices, or turpentine stills are all gone but the > name of > the communities are still used today. > If you live outside of Jackson Co. and expect to be able to come here and > find > "deserted" towns with buildings, stores, etc still intact you will be > disappointed... > To classify these old communities/villlages as "ghost towns" is more > romanticism than > anything else. This is not meant to be critical but to keep the proper > viewpoint > about "ghost towns" in Jackson Co., FL. > I can show you "Inwood, FL" in 30 seconds or less ... I live here... -)). > It is > smaller than Two Egg... > > James > > James L. Edenfield > Website: http://edenfield.org > Email: [email protected] > > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >

> James, is Altha still a "town" - I know that it is there and that a fair > number of people live there, but is it incorporated as a civic/political > entity? If not, that may have contributed to its listing. I grew up in a > community outside of Orlando called Orlo Vista that had been a town from the > late 1800s until the depression, when it ceased to exist as a legal entity. > Folks didn't move, but the town ceased to exist. Altha still has a Mayor... I talked to him abt. 6 months ago because his wife is in charge of the Chipola Cemetery which located in the center of town.. There is a post office, school, city limits, city hall, etc so in any sense of the word it is a town. The actual town would prob. cover about a square mile... My point in this discussion is keep the term in proper prospective and not to think that there are identifiable towns in Jackson Co. that would qualify as "ghost towns" per se. I was in no way implicitly nor explicitly criticizing the listing of the so called "ghost town" except to point out that the author of the book didn't know what he/she was talking about when he/she listed Altha.. Selman in Calhoun Co. has been on the maps for years but I defy anyone to tell me the exact location but it is on the maps... There are others in Jackson Co. that don't appear on maps such as Sunny Hill, Star, Magnolia, etc which are used as place names because of an old school, turpentine still, etc. James James L. Edenfield Website: http://edenfield.org Email: [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: "JackVButler" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 5:33 PM Subject: Re: [FLJACKSO] Ghost Towns > James, is Altha still a "town" - I know that it is there and that a fair > number of people live there, but is it incorporated as a civic/political > entity? If not, that may have contributed to its listing. I grew up in a > community outside of Orlando called Orlo Vista that had been a town from the > late 1800s until the depression, when it ceased to exist as a legal entity. > Folks didn't move, but the town ceased to exist. > > I agree that doesn't make it a ghost town, but it may be how it shows up on > this kind of list. > > Jack > ----- Original Message ----- > From: James L. Edenfield <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 2:53 PM > Subject: [FLJACKSO] Ghost Towns > > > > According to the Webter's New World Dictionary, a "Ghost town" is the > > remains of a deserted town, permanently, esp. for economic reasons. The > > ghost towns posted for Jackson Co. and Calhoun Co. never were "towns" but > > mainly communities and they are not deserted. The term is applicable to > > some towns in the West that still exist today and are total deserted. > > Whoever > > came up with the list and published them in a book knew nothing about > > Jackson or > > Calhoun Co., Fl. For example, Altha is listed for Calhoun County. > Anyone > > living within the area knows that Altha is presently a good size town and > is > > not > > deserted... Most of the "towns" listed were/are all communities that > were > > so named > > because of Navy stores, post offices, or turpentine stills that existed > > years ago. > > The old Navy stores, post offices, or turpentine stills are all gone but > the > > name of > > the communities are still used today. > > If you live outside of Jackson Co. and expect to be able to come here and > > find > > "deserted" towns with buildings, stores, etc still intact you will be > > disappointed... > > To classify these old communities/villlages as "ghost towns" is more > > romanticism than > > anything else. This is not meant to be critical but to keep the proper > > viewpoint > > about "ghost towns" in Jackson Co., FL. > > I can show you "Inwood, FL" in 30 seconds or less ... I live here... -)). > > It is > > smaller than Two Egg... > > > > James > > > > James L. Edenfield > > Website: http://edenfield.org > > Email: [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > ============================== > > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, > go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >