Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At it 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 fort had a very short lifespan, being used from April 2 to April 18, 1836. In it, the 1st Georgia Battalion of Volunteers was able to hold off an attack of several hundred Indians. It was also occupied by a column under the direction of Brevet Col. William Davenport between December 15, 1838, and January 9, 1839. Until 1842, it was used as a reconnaissance, observation and dispatch post by various army detachments directed by the War Department.
This site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 13, 1972.
The county rented a wooden building across Main St., near the later site of Citrus Hardware. Another courthouse, located on this side of the street, was Victorian in style and was built during the mid-1890s on land donated by Henry Martin.
This building was supposed to be designed by architect J.R. MacEachron, modeled after the Polk County Courthouse in Bartow. When he was late producing the blueprints and specifications, the county commission hired W.R. Biggers to finish the job. The old courthouse was moved a little to the north to make room.
The present structure was built in 1911 by Read-Parker Construction Co. of light-colored flash brick, hardwood and terrazzo. Fireplaces were installed instead of steam heat. The clock cost $800 when purchased in October of 1911. The former courthouse was torn down in July of 1913.
In 1948, a monument was erected on the courthouse grounds to honor the seven Citrus County men who were killed in World War II.
Across the street was Citrus County Bank, organized in March of 1907 as a branch of the City Savings Bank of Tampa, and had its office here. It was renamed the Bank of Commerce in 1912. It burned down in 1916, moved to a building on Main St., and was reorganized with its own charter. In 1929, it closed and was placed into the hands of receiver Dr. W.B. Moon of Crystal River, who was also the receiver for the Citizens Bank of Inverness.
This city was originally called Tompkinsville, after A.D. "Uncle Alf" Tompkins, who moved here in 1868. He sold the town to a firm in Jacksonville, and the name was changed to Inverness.
The present city hall opened in July of 1962.
Located here in the 1910s was the Evergreen Hotel, owned by Earl G. Dampier and L.D. Butler. Later, they renamed it the New Evergreen Hotel.
This was constructed in the 1890s on Line St. by Frank M. Dampier as the first general store in Inverness. In 1883, Dampier opened a branch store in Holder, about 12 miles away. During the 1920s, a second story was added and it was converted to the Orange Hotel (also known as the Hotel Inverness). It was sawed down the middle and moved to its present site.
It was enlarged to three stories by raising the existing two and inserting a new first floor. During the 1950s, it became known as the Colonial Hotel. In 1979, British investor Reg Breally bought it for $100,000 and invested another $2.3 million to transform it into a deluxe English-style country inn. It was renamed the Crown Hotel.
The hotel, reopened in 1982, is known for its traditional English Christmas celebration. Its double-decker 1908 red London bus is believed to have been the one in Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The 39 Steps".
This one-story house was built between 1900 and 1910 with a Victorian Revival style. It features a long porch and an octagonal corner turret.
The sheriff of Citrus County was suspended in 1906, and E.P. "Port" Graham was appointed to serve the remaining two years of his term. He purchased nearly all of this block, including the former residence of Henry Brooks.
This site was originally intended to be used for the public library, replaciing an octagonal structure built during the 1880s. However, in 1922 this one-story wood frame clubhouse was built instead. The Inverness Woman's Club was founded in 1917.
The Woman's Club in 1918 planted oak trees on the grounds of the high school, naming each one for an Inverness boy in the armed services. In 1919, more than 100 oaks were planted along Main St.
The building later became the home of a real estate firm.
This two-story wood frame house was built before 1910. It features a porch on the first floor, a porte cochere and Palladian window in the front gabled end.
This octagonal wood frame home was built in about 1900 with a highly pitched roof and a small dormer window in the front. It was the residence of Robert O. Hicks, who moved here from Tennessee in 1886.
Francis Marion Dampier, Sr., the brother-in-law of founder A.D. Tompkins, received from Tompkins a lot for a store, making him the first merchant in town. Dampier surveyed and laid out the town and planted the oak trees lining Main St.
He founded one of the first sawmills in Florida at the foot of Line St. on Lake Morrison. He built a house at this corner in 1880, the first in this area to be constructed of sawed lumber. At the time, his store was across the street from his house.
Andrew K. Ruff bought this property from the U.S. government in 1885, then conveyed it to the county for a school site. In 1925, the county decided that it had no further use for it, and a house was built here. Justus Butterfield bought it in 1936, and it was lived in by his daughter, Katherine Stewart, from 1938 until just before its demolition in 1971.
This two-story house was built in 1904 with a Victorian Revival style. It features a porch along the front and wrapping around the side. It was restored in 1985.
This station was built in 1900 and was used by the Seaboard Air Line and Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. It is constructed of wood with vertical board siding and a small bay window.
This congregation was founded in 1896. Its present sanctuary was constructed in 1985.
On this site was the first brick building in Inverness, and perhaps in all of Citrus County. G.H. Scofield completed the two-story structure in December of 1908. At first, he used it for his general store, and later leased it to Mr. and Mrs. Nobles for the City Bakery. It was also used by Will Bellamy for a grocery store. The building was torn down during the 1920s.
On November 20, 1929, there remained one remaining bank in Citrus County, the Bank of Homosassa Springs. On that date, it moved to Inverness and opened in the building vacated by the Citrus County Bank. It was renamed the Homosassa-Inverness Bank, and later the Bank of Inverness. It is the only bank in the county to have never closed during the Bust, the Depression, or at any other time.
W.B. Talley designed this brick commercial building, erected in 1910. It had two stores on the first floor, five offices on the second, and the Masonic lodge room on the third. The lodge room also served as the community center and the location of plays and other events. There was a drop curtain painted by D.A. Smith with a picture of the bridge leading to Gospel Island.
Details are Neo-Classical in style, including a round arch entrance, a cast stone cornice, and rectangular wood window frames with keystones. It is the headquarters of Citrus Lodge #18, F.& A.M., which moved in during January of 1911. The cost of the structure was $17,285, then the most expensive building in the county. It was used for lodge meetings until 1965.
In 1911, this was the site of Jim the Greek's Fruit Emporium.
This was built by Francis Marion Dampier Jr. as the Dampier Department Store, which was operated in it from 1945 until 1967. For a time, the Western Union office was located inside. Later occupants include Western Auto, a carpet store, Goodwill, Carolina Direct Furniture and the Towne & Country All Wood Furniture Store.
W.T. Baxley had a Coca-Cola bottling business which he moved in 1914 from Hernando to a small building behind his home at 110 N. Pine St. He replaced the first building with one made of corrugated iron in 1921. After he died, his family continued his bottling business and in 1932 moved its location from their home to this location.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
Back Home: A History of Citrus County, Florida, by Hampton Dunn (Citrus County Historical Society, Inc. 1989)
Black Florida, by Kevin M. McCarthy (Hippocrene Books 1995)
Country Inns of the Old South, by Robert W. Tolf (101 Productions 1983)
Country Roads of Florida, by Bill McMillon (Country Roads Press 1994)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Guide to the Small and Historic Lodgings of Florida, by Herbert L. Hiller (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1991)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.