Where did that Florida Panhandle come from? Follow the money!
Transcript from Bizarre US State Borders Explained
Florida’s panhandle used to be much longer.
This didn’t last for long though, since this part of Western Florida would be annexed into the Mississippi Territory, and then shortly after, it would be broken up into Mississippi and Alabama.
This left Alabama with this tiny coastline, and Florida a much shorter panhandle. But even this almost became a part of Alabama.
You see, the residents of the Floridian panhandle felt more connected to Alabama rather than to the rest of the state. This was due to the “swamps and dense forests” which made it difficult to go east.
And so from 1811-1901, the Florida Panhandle tried to become a part of Alabama 11 times!
Probably the closest attempt to succeeding was in 1869, when all the West Florida counties were polled on whether or not they wanted to be annexed by Alabama. A majority 64% of the population wanted annexation but despite this, Alabama didn’t annex it.
This was because they actually had to purchase it from Florida first for $1M, but it just didn’t seem worth it to them.
All annexation attempts largely came to an end after the completion of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad in 1883; finally ending its isolation from the rest of the state.
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