John Parshley & Family - Live Oak, FL
N 30° 17.741 W 082° 59.096
17R E 309108 N 3353218
John Parshley & Family's Great Floridian blue plaque is located on the historic Suwannee County Courthouse in Live Oak, Florida, USA.
Waymark Code: WMBMZE
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 06/04/2011
Views: 7
John Parshley was a civic leader and the founder of the town of Live Oak.
"Live Oak experienced humble beginnings from the start. Before Live Oak was a city it was a rest stop for travelers on a road that led from White Springs, near the Georgia state line, to Dead Man’s Bay on the Gulf of Mexico, terminating at what is now the small town of Steinhatchee.
There was a massive live oak tree at the rest stop under which wagons and carriages could stop in the shade and a nearby pond at which to water horses and draft animals. When the Pensacola and Georgia Railroad, the first through the area, was under construction, the section crew would rest and have their noon meal under that tree, which was adjacent to the railway.
Live Oak first became identified as an entity in 1861 when The Pensacola and Georgia Railroad began constructing a spur northward from that point on the line to DuPont Junction, Georgia. Two years later a rail station was established at the site.
In 1865, John Parshley, a native of Urbana, Ohio, built a sawmill and planing mill near the rail junction and laid out the town, naming the streets after members of his family, Ohio names, and those of railroad executives. Within a short time, Live Oak was an established milltown with several small stores, houses, a blacksmith shop, a school, boarding house and post office.
Live Oak officially became the seat of Suwannee County in 1868, even though the town was not yet incorporated. John Parshley, the town's founder died in the same year, as did the live oak which had given the settlement its name."
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