St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - St. Marks, Florida

One of the most beautiful and historic settings on Florida's Gulf Coast seems far removed from the white sand beaches for which the region is known.

The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge occupies tens of thousands of acres of coastal marshes and beautiful natural areas on the Big Bend coast south of Tallahassee. Known for its remarkable environmental setting that is rich in wildlife and for the annual Monarch butterfly migration that leaves from the refuge each fall, the refuge is also rich in historic and archaeological sites.

The best known of these is the St. Marks Lighthouse, a beautiful white tower that has stood on the point near the mouth of the St. Marks River for over 150 years. It played an important role during the Civil War and was the principal landing point of Union forces during the Natural Bridge expedition.

Other sites in the refuge include the former location of the town of Port Leon. Now located down a long hiking trail, the town was destroyed by a devastating 19th century hurricane and never rebuilt. Not a single building remains.

To learn more about the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stmarksnwr1.

Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Trail - Tallahassee, Florida

This popular "rails to trails" park was once the historic Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad. The second railroad ever built in Florida, the line connected the state capital of Tallahassee with the port of St. Marks on the Gulf of Mexico.

The railroad covered a distance of just over 20 miles, but was vital to the economic growth of Tallahassee because the city was one of the only territorial or state capitals of its day not located on a navigable waterway. The trains moved passengers and commerce to and from the lower St. Marks River, where small schooners provided connections to other ports on the Gulf Coast and Atlantic seaboard.

When the railroad first began operating, the locomotives had not yet arrived so teams of mules were used to pull the cars. Before long, however, steam-powered locomotives pulled the trains back and forth.

The railroad played a critical role in the Civil War when it was used to move Confederate troops ahead of the Battle of Natural Bridge. It continued to operate until 1983, but is now a state park that features a paved trail connecting Tallahassee and St. Marks.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/tallahasseerr.