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1900s Downtown Marianna Florida

The oldest photo shows downtown Marianna as it was about the turn of the Century. Jefferson Davis Smith's General Store was the first building on the right at the corner of Jefferson and Lafayette Street, (now Buddy's Appliance Store) looking west. He sold furniture and other things, but his main…
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A Stroll Down Lafayette Street

The roaring of lions, the sounds of elephants, the smell of peanuts and sawdust in Marianna? A guard tower overseeing a Prisoner of War compound during World War II? A Triple-A baseball team playing in the Winn Dixie parking lot? The face of ‘Main Street’ Marianna has been ever-changing. From…
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About the Monuments on the Court House Lawn

This week I would like to highlight the signage and monuments which are all across the front of the Courthouse Square. I feel we often see them there, but do not take the time to really look at them and remember the significance of the events, and particularly, the people…
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Civil War Historical Volumes Donated For Public Research Use

Pat Crisp, president of the Chipola Historical Trust, is pleased to announce two very valuable additions to their historical collection, which is permanently available to the public in the basement of the Jackson County Courthouse. Jesse and Trina Throssel Smallwood, Chipola Trust members, donated a set of books titled, The…
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Downtown Marianna 1910

This photograph was taken about 1910 in downtown Marianna from a high point of the bank building, looking east. We can establish the approximate date it was taken by the few very new automobiles. A photo we have which was taken about five years earlier, has no cars in the…
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Downtown Marianna North Side of the Central Block

Marianna has changed a great deal over the years, but some areas have changed very little. Today we would like to key in on the north side of the central block of downtown. We have shown old photographs of Jefferson Davis Smith’s Buggy and Wagon shop, the boys standing in…
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Exciting Smithsonian Display in Blountstown

The Smithsonian traveling display featuring "The settling of America" has arrived in Blountstown at the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement. Local displays will be added to the traveling display of free-standing collages showing all areas of American life as the country was settled by our people. The local displays will feature stories…
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History is Alive and Well Beneath the Courthouse....

The Basement Archives of the 1963 Courthouse is home to almost 2000 volumes of Jackson County history and records. Often researchers/genealogists come into the basement Archives of our Jackson County Courthouse. They tell of visits to other Courthouses where the old and treasured books are found in basements or attics,…
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