South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Southeastern United States and the easternmost of the Deep South. It is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the southeast by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southwest by Georgia across the Savannah River. South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U. S. Constitution on May 23, 1788. South Carolina became the first state to vote in favor of secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. After the American Civil War, it was readmitted into the United States on June 25, 1868. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and 23rd most populous U. S. state. Its GDP as of 2013 was $183.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 3.13%. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties; the capital is Columbia with a 2017 population of 133,114. The Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin metropolitan area is the largest in the state, with a 2017 population estimate of 895,923. South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, who first formed the English colony, with Carolus being Latin for "Charles".
South Carolina is known for its 187 miles of coastline, beautiful lush gardens, historic sites and Southern plantations, colonial and European cultures, its growing economic development. The state can be divided into three geographic areas. From east to west: the Atlantic coastal plain, the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge Mountains. Locally, the coastal plain is referred to the other two regions as Upstate; the Atlantic Coastal Plain makes up two-thirds of the state. Its eastern border is a chain of tidal and barrier islands; the border between the low country and the up country is defined by the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, which marks the limit of navigable rivers. The state's coastline contains many salt marshes and estuaries, as well as natural ports such as Georgetown and Charleston. An unusual feature of the coastal plain is a large number of Carolina bays, the origins of which are uncertain; the bays tend to be oval. The terrain is flat and the soil is composed of recent sediments such as sand and clay.
Areas with better drainage make excellent farmland. The natural areas of the coastal plain are part of the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ecoregion. Just west of the coastal plain is the Sandhills region; the Sandhills are remnants of coastal dunes from a time when the land was sunken or the oceans were higher. The Upstate region contains the roots of an eroded mountain chain, it is hilly, with thin, stony clay soils, contains few areas suitable for farming. Much of the Piedmont was once farmed. Due to the changing economics of farming, much of the land is now reforested in Loblolly pine for the lumber industry; these forests are part of the Southeastern mixed forests ecoregion. At the southeastern edge of the Piedmont is the fall line, where rivers drop to the coastal plain; the fall line was an important early source of water power. Mills built to harness this resource encouraged the growth of several cities, including the capital, Columbia; the larger rivers are navigable up to the fall line. The northwestern part of the Piedmont is known as the Foothills.
The Cherokee Parkway is a scenic driving route through this area. This is. Highest in elevation is the Blue Ridge Region, containing an escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which continue into North Carolina and Georgia, as part of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina's highest point at 3,560 feet, is in this area. In this area is Caesars Head State Park; the environment here is that of the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests ecoregion. The Chattooga River, on the border between South Carolina and Georgia, is a favorite whitewater rafting destination. South Carolina has several major lakes covering over 683 square miles. All major lakes in South Carolina are man-made; the following are the lakes listed by size. Lake Marion 110,000 acres Lake Strom Thurmond 71,100 acres Lake Moultrie 60,000 acres Lake Hartwell 56,000 acres Lake Murray 50,000 acres Russell Lake 26,650 acres Lake Keowee 18,372 acres Lake Wylie 13,400 acres Lake Wateree 13,250 acres Lake Greenwood 11,400 acres Lake Jocassee 7,500 acres Lake Bowen Earthquakes in South Carolina demonstrate the greatest frequency along the central coastline of the state, in the Charleston area.
South Carolina averages 10–15 earthquakes a year below magnitude 3. The Charleston Earthquake of 1886 was the largest quake to hit the Southeastern United States; this 7.2 magnitude earthquake destroyed much of the city. Faults in this region are difficult to study at the surface due to thick sedimentation on top of them. Many of the ancient faults are within plates rather than along plate boundaries. South Carolina has a humid subtropical climate, although high-elevation areas in the Upstate area have fewer subtropical characteristics than areas on the Atlantic coastline. In the summer, South Carolina is hot and humid, with daytime temperatures averaging between 86–93 °F in most of the state and overnight lows averaging 70–75 °F on the coast and from 66–73 °F inland. Winter temperatures are much less uniform in South Carolina. Coastal areas of the state have mild winters, with high temperatures approaching an average of 60 °F and overnight lows around 40 °F. Inland, the average January overnight low is around 32 °F i
Extratropical cyclone
Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to heavy gales, thunderstorms and tornadoes; these types of cyclones are defined as large scale low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes of the Earth. In contrast with tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along broad lines, called weather fronts, about the center of the cyclone; the term "cyclone" applies to numerous types of low pressure areas, one of, the extratropical cyclone. The descriptor extratropical signifies that this type of cyclone occurs outside the tropics and in the middle latitudes of Earth between 30° and 60° latitude, they are termed mid-latitude cyclones if they form within those latitudes, or post-tropical cyclones if a tropical cyclone has intruded into the mid latitudes.
Weather forecasters and the general public describe them as "depressions" or "lows". Terms like frontal cyclone, frontal depression, frontal low, extratropical low, non-tropical low and hybrid low are used as well. Extratropical cyclones are classified as baroclinic, because they form along zones of temperature and dewpoint gradient known as frontal zones, they can become barotropic late in their life cycle, when the distribution of heat around the cyclone becomes uniform with its radius. Extratropical cyclones form anywhere within the extratropical regions of the Earth, either through cyclogenesis or extratropical transition. A study of extratropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere shows that between the 30th and 70th parallels, there are an average of 37 cyclones in existence during any 6-hour period. A separate study in the Northern Hemisphere suggests that 234 significant extratropical cyclones form each winter. Extratropical cyclones form along linear bands of temperature/dewpoint gradient with significant vertical wind shear, are thus classified as baroclinic cyclones.
Cyclogenesis, or low pressure formation, occurs along frontal zones near a favorable quadrant of a maximum in the upper level jetstream known as a jet streak. The favorable quadrants are at the right rear and left front quadrants, where divergence ensues; the divergence causes air to rush out from the top of the air column. As mass in the column is reduced, atmospheric pressure at surface level is reduced; the lowered pressure strengthens the cyclone. The lowered pressure acts creating convergence in the low-level wind field. Low-level convergence and upper-level divergence imply upward motion within the column, making cyclones tend to be cloudy; as the cyclone strengthens, the cold front sweeps towards the equator and moves around the back of the cyclone. Meanwhile, its associated warm front progresses more as the cooler air ahead of the system is denser, therefore more difficult to dislodge; the cyclones occlude as the poleward portion of the cold front overtakes a section of the warm front, forcing a tongue, or trowal, of warm air aloft.
The cyclone will become barotropically cold and begin to weaken. Atmospheric pressure can fall rapidly when there are strong upper level forces on the system; when pressures fall more than 1 millibar per hour, the process is called explosive cyclogenesis, the cyclone can be described as a bomb. These bombs drop in pressure to below 980 millibars under favorable conditions such as near a natural temperature gradient like the Gulf Stream, or at a preferred quadrant of an upper level jet streak, where upper level divergence is best; the stronger the upper level divergence over the cyclone, the deeper the cyclone can become. Hurricane-force extratropical cyclones are most to form in the northern Atlantic and northern Pacific oceans in the months of December and January. On 14 and 15 December 1986, an extratropical cyclone near Iceland deepened to below 920 hectopascals, a pressure equivalent to a category 5 hurricane. In the Arctic, the average pressure for cyclones is 980 millibars during the winter, 1,000 millibars during the summer.
Tropical cyclones transform into extratropical cyclones at the end of their tropical existence between 30° and 40° latitude, where there is sufficient forcing from upper-level troughs or shortwaves riding the Westerlies for the process of extratropical transition to begin. During this process, a cyclone in extratropical transition, will invariably form or connect with nearby fronts and/or troughs consistent with a baroclinic system. Due to this, the size of the system will appear to increase, while the core weakens. However, after transition is complete, the storm may re-strengthen due to baroclinic energy, depending on the environmental conditions surrounding the system; the cyclone will distort in shape, becoming less symmetric with time. During extratropical transition, the cyclone begins to tilt back into the colder airmass with height, the cyclone's primary energy source converts from the release of latent heat from condensation to baroclinic processes; the low pressure system loses its warm core and becomes a cold-core system.
The peak time of subtropical cyclogenesis in the North Atlantic is in the months of Septem
Manatee County, Florida
Manatee County is a county in the U. S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 US Census, the population was 322,833. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area, its county seat and largest city is Bradenton. The county was named for the Florida manatee, Florida's official marine mammal. Features of Manatee County include access to the southern part of the Tampa Bay estuary, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the Manatee River. Manatee County ranks 15th among Florida counties in population; the area now known as Manatee County had been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years. The southern mouth of the Manatee River was the landing site of the De Soto Expedition and is the location of the U. S. National Park Service's De Soto National Memorial; the area was opened to settlement in 1842. The first two settlers were Joseph Braden and Hector Braden who moved into an area near the Manatee River, The two had lost their land for their plantations in Northern Florida during the Panic of 1837.
They were said to have heard about. The brothers moved into a log cabin 5 miles north of the mouth of the Manatee River. Four years Hector had drowned while trying to cross the Manatee River on his horse during a hurricane. Despite this tragic event, Joseph decided that he would still build his sugar plantation, the Braden sugar mill at the mouth of the Manatee River and the Braden River, he built a dock where Main Street was at and fortified the area near his house building a stockade. A few years in 1851, he would build the Braden Castle, made out of tabby and served as his residence, it would become a popular tourist attraction in the early 1900s with Tin Can Tourists. He would only stay there for the next six years before moving to Tallahassee. Manatee County had the Gamble Plantation, a sugar plantation, one of the South's finest; when Manatee County was created in 1855, it included all of what are now Charlotte County, DeSoto County, Glades County, Hardee County, Highlands County, Sarasota County and part of Lee County According to the U.
S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 893 square miles, of which 743 square miles is land and 150 square miles is water. Hillsborough County – north Polk County – northeast Hardee County – east DeSoto County – southeast Sarasota County – south De Soto National Memorial Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge Lake Manatee State Park Terra Ceia Preserve State Park Myakka River State Park Madira Bickel Mound State Archaeological Site Manatee River Wares Creek Braden River Gamble Creek Ward Lake Lake Parrish Lake Manatee In 2017, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that the county's population was 385,571; the racial makeup of the county was 86.2% White, 9.2% Black or African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.8% from two or more races. 16.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of the census of 2000, there were 264,002 people, 112,460 households, 73,773 families residing in the county; the population density was 356/sq mi. There were 138,128 housing units at an average density of 186/sq mi.
The racial makeup of the county was 86.36% White, 8.19% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.90% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.84% from other races, 1.39% from two or more races. 9.30% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In 2000 there were 112,460 households out of which 23.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couples living together, 9.40% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.40% were non-families. 28.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.00% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.78. In the county, the population was spread out with 20.70% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 24.60% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, 24.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,673, the median income for a family was $46,576.
Males had a median income of $31,607 versus $25,007 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,388. About 7.10% of families and 10.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.30% of those under age 18 and 6.20% of those age 65 or over. Bealls of Florida was founded 1915 in unincorporated Manatee County. Tropicana was founded here in the 1950s, they were bought by PepsiCo but continue to produce products there today. The Manatee County Public Library System offers a collection of adult, young adult, children's materials, as well as a genealogy section and the Eaton Florida History Reading Room. Public computers for all to use are available at all library locations; the library's online resources include licensing to Inc.. Hoopla, Freegal Music; the library hosts an online digital collection featuring historic images and documents from Manatee County during the late nineteenth century to early 1980's. Additionally, Ask a Librarian, the on-line Florida librarian reference service is available through the Manatee County Public Library System.
The library system offers E-Books, E-Audio and movies through five databases located on their website. The libraries offer extensive programming that includes author luncheons, children's story-times, summer reading programs, job fairs, book discussion groups. Special events held annually include Mana-con, a comic
Cedar Key, Florida
Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, United States. The population was 702 at the 2010 census; the Cedar Keys are a cluster of islands near the mainland. Most of the developed area of the city has been on Way Key since the end of the 19th century; the Cedar Keys are named for Juniperus virginiana, once abundant in the area. While evidence suggests human occupation as far back as 500 BC, the first maps of the area date to 1542, when it was labeled "Las Islas Sabines" by a Spanish cartographer. An archaeological dig at Shell Mound, 9 miles north of Cedar Key, found artifacts dating back to 500 BC in the top 10 feet of the 28-foot-tall mound; the only ancient burial found in Cedar Key was a 2,000-year-old skeleton found in 1999. Arrow heads and spear points dating from the Paleo period were collected by Cedar Key historian St. Clair Whitman and are displayed at the Cedar Key Museum State Park. Followers of William Augustus Bowles, self-declared "Director General of the State of Muskogee", built a watchtower in the vicinity of Cedar Key in 1801.
The tower was destroyed by a Spanish force in 1802. In the period leading up to the First Seminole War, the British subjects Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister used the Cedar Keys to deliver supplies to the Seminoles; the Cedar Keys may have been a refuge for escaped slaves in the early 1820s, an entry point for the illegal slave trade that decade. During the Second Seminole War, the United States Army established Fort No. 4 on the mainland adjacent to the Cedar Keys. In 1840, General Zachary Taylor requested the Cedar Keys be reserved for military use for the duration of the war, that Seahorse Key be permanently reserved for a lighthouse. In 1840, General Walker Keith Armistead, who had succeeded Zachary Taylor as commander of United States troops in the war, ordered construction of a hospital on what had become known as Depot Key. Depot Key was the headquarters for the Army in Florida, but Fishburne states headquarters was not in a fixed place, but wherever the commander was. Cantonment Morgan was established on nearby Seahorse Key by 1841 and used as a troop deployment station and as a holding station for Seminoles, captured or who had surrendered until they could be sent to the West.
A hurricane with a 27-foot storm surge struck the Cedar Keys on October 4, 1842, destroying Cantonment Morgan and causing much damage on Depot Key. Some Seminole leaders had been meeting with Army officers at Depot Key to negotiate their surrender or a retreat to a reservation in the Everglades. After the hurricane, the Seminoles refused to return to the area. Colonel William J. Worth had declared the war to be over in August 1842, Depot Key was abandoned by the Army after the hurricane. In 1842, the United States Congress had enacted the Armed Occupation Act, a precursor of the Homestead Act, to increase white settlement in Florida as a way to force the Seminoles to leave the territory. With the abandonment of the Army base on Depot Key, the Cedar Keys became available for settlement under the act. Under the terms of the act, several people received permits for settlement on Depot Key, Way Key, Scale Key. Augustus Steele, US Customs House Officer for Hillsborough County and postmaster for Tampa Bay, received the permit for Depot Key, which he renamed Atsena Otie Key.
In 1843, he bought the buildings on the island, built some cottages for wealthy guests. In 1844, he became the Collector of Customs for the port of Cedar Key, as well as for Tampa. A post office named "Cedar Key" was established on Atsena Otie Key in 1845; the Florida legislature chartered the "City of Atseena Otie" in 1859. Cedar Key became shipping lumber and naval stores harvested on the mainland. By 1860, two mills on Atsena Otie Key were producing "cedar" slats for shipment to northern pencil factories; as a result of the growth, the US Congress appropriated funds for a lighthouse on Seahorse Key in 1850. The Cedar Key Light was completed in 1854; the lighthouse lantern is 28 feet above the ground, but the lighthouse sits on a 47-foot-high hill, putting the light 75 feet above sea level. The light was visible for 16 miles. Wood-frame residences were added to each side of the lighthouse several years later. In 1860, Cedar Key became the western terminus of the Florida Railroad, connecting it to Fernandina on the east coast of Florida.
David Levy Yulee, US senator and president of the Florida Railroad, had acquired most of Way Key to house the railroad's terminal facilities. A town was platted on Way Key in 1859, Parsons and Hale's General Store, now the Island Hotel, was built there in the same year. On March 1, 1861, the first train arrived in Cedar Key, just weeks. With the advent of the American Civil War in 1861, Confederate agents extinguished the light at Seahorse Key and removed its supply of sperm oil; the USS Hatteras raided Cedar Key in January 1862, burning several ships loaded with cotton and turpentine and destroying the railroad's rolling stock and buildings on Way Key. Most of the Confederate troops guarding Cedar Key had been sent to Fernandina in anticipation of a Federal attack there. Cedar Key was an important source of salt for the Confederacy during the early part of the war. In October 1862 a Union raid destroyed sixty kettles on Salt Key capable of producing 150 bushels of salt a day; the Union occupied the Cedar Keys in early 1864, stayi
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center is the division of the United States' National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th parallel north in the northeast Pacific Ocean and the 31st parallel north in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The agency, co-located with the Miami branch of the National Weather Service, is situated on the campus of Florida International University in University Park, Florida; the NHC's Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch issues marine forecasts, in the form of graphics and high seas forecasts year round, with the Ocean Prediction Center having backup responsibility for this unit. The Technology and Science Branch provides technical support for the center, which includes new infusions of technology from abroad; the Chief, Aerial Reconnaissance Coordination, All Hurricanes unit tasks planes, for research and operational purposes, to tropical cyclones during the Atlantic hurricane season and significant weather events, including snow storms, during winter and spring.
Research to improve operational forecasts is done through the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project and Joint Hurricane Test Bed initiatives. During the Atlantic and northeast Pacific hurricane seasons, the Hurricane Specialists Unit issues routine tropical weather outlooks for the northeast Pacific and northern Atlantic oceans; when tropical storm or hurricane conditions are expected within 48 hours, the center issues watches and warnings via the news media and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Weather Radio. Although the NHC is an agency of the United States, the World Meteorological Organization has designated it as the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center for the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific, making it the clearinghouse for tropical cyclone forecasts and observations occurring in these areas. If the NHC loses power or becomes incapacitated, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center backs tropical cyclone advisories and tropical weather outlooks for the northeast Pacific Ocean while the Weather Prediction Center backs up tropical cyclone advisories and tropical weather outlooks for the North Atlantic Ocean.
The first hurricane warning service was set up in the 1870s from Cuba with the work of Father Benito Viñes. After his death, hurricane warning services were assumed by the United States Signal Corps and United States Weather Bureau over the next decade, first based in Jamaica in 1898 and Cuba in 1899 before shifting to Washington, D. C. in 1902. The central office in Washington, which evolved into the National Meteorological Center and Weather Prediction Center, assumed hurricane warning/advisory responsibility at that time; this responsibility passed to regional hurricane offices in 1935, the concept of the Atlantic hurricane season was established to keep a vigilant lookout for tropical cyclones during certain times of the year. Hurricane advisories issued; the Jacksonville hurricane warning office moved to Miami, Florida, in 1943. Tropical cyclone naming began for Atlantic tropical cyclones using the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet by 1947. In 1950, the Miami Hurricane Warning Office began to prepare the annual hurricane season summary articles.
In the 1953 Atlantic season, the United States Weather Bureau began naming storms which reach tropical storm intensity with human names. The National Hurricane Research Project, begun in the 1950s, used aircraft to study tropical cyclones and carry out experiments on mature hurricanes through its Project Stormfury. On July 1, 1956, a National Hurricane Information Center was established in Miami, which became a warehouse for all hurricane-related information from one United States Weather Bureau office; the Miami Hurricane Warning Office moved from Lindsey Hopkins Hotel to the Aviation Building 4 miles to the northwest on July 1, 1958. Forecasts within the hurricane advisories were issued one day into the future in 1954 before being extended to two days into the future in 1961, three days into the future in 1964, five days into the future in 2001; the Miami HWO moved to the campus of the University of Miami in 1964, was referred to as the NHC in 1965. The Miami HWO tropical cyclone reports were done and took on their modern format in 1964.
Beginning in 1973, the National Meteorological Center duties gained advisory responsibility for tracking and publicizing inland tropical depressions. The World Meteorological Organization assumed control of the Atlantic hurricane naming list in 1977. In 1978, the NHC's offices moved off the campus of the University of Miami across U. S. Highway 1 to the IRE Financial Building. Male names were added into the hurricane list beginning in the 1979 season; the hurricane warning offices remained active past 1983. In 1984, the NHC was separated from the Miami Weather Service Forecast Office, which meant the meteorologist in charge at Miami was no longer in a supervisory position over the hurricane center director. By 1988, the NHC gained responsibility for eastern Pacific tropical cyclones as the former Eastern Pacific Hurricane Center in San Francisco was decommissioned. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew blew the WSR-57 weather radar and the anemometer off the roof of NHC's/the Miami State Weather Forecast offices.
The radar was replaced with a WSR-88D NEXRAD system in April 1993 installed near Metro Zoo, near where Hurricane Andrew made landfall. In 1995, the NHC moved into a new hurricane-resistant facility on the campus of Florida International University, capable of wi
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost portion of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about 15 miles south of Miami, extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, on to the uninhabited Dry Tortugas; the islands lie along the Florida Straits, dividing the Atlantic Ocean to the east from the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest, defining one edge of Florida Bay. At the nearest point, the southern part of Key West is just 90 miles from Cuba; the Florida Keys are between 25.5 degrees North latitude. More than 95 percent of the land area lies in Monroe County, but a small portion extends northeast into Miami-Dade County, such as Totten Key; the total land area is 137.3 square miles. As of the 2010 census the population was 73,090 with an average density of 532.34 per square mile, although much of the population is concentrated in a few areas of much higher density, such as the city of Key West, which has 32% of the entire population of the Keys.
The US Census population estimate for 2014 is 77,136. The city of Key West is the county seat of Monroe County; the county consists of a section on the mainland, entirely in Everglades National Park, the Keys islands from Key Largo to the Dry Tortugas. The Keys were inhabited by the Calusa and Tequesta tribes, were charted by Juan Ponce de León in 1513. De León named the islands Los Martires. "Key" is derived from the Spanish word cayo. For many years, Key West was the largest town in Florida, it grew prosperous on wrecking revenues; the isolated outpost was well located for trade with Cuba and the Bahamas and was on the main trade route from New Orleans. Improved navigation led to fewer shipwrecks, Key West went into a decline in the late nineteenth century; the Keys were long accessible only by water. This changed with the completion of Henry Flagler's Overseas Railway in the early 1910s. Flagler, a major developer of Florida's Atlantic coast, extended his Florida East Coast Railway down to Key West with an ambitious series of oversea railroad trestles.
Three hurricanes disrupted the project in 1906, 1909, 1910. The worst hurricane to strike the U. S. made landfall near Islamorada in the Upper Keys on Labor Day, September 2. Winds were estimated to have gusted to 200 mph, raising a storm surge more than 17.5 feet above sea level that washed over the islands. More than 400 people were killed, though some estimates place the number of deaths at more than 600; the Labor Day Hurricane was one of only three hurricanes to make landfall at Category 5 strength on the U. S. coast since reliable weather records began. The other storms were Hurricane Andrew. In 1935, new bridges were under construction to connect a highway through the entire Keys. Hundreds of World War I veterans working on the roadway as part of a government relief program were housed in non-reinforced buildings in three construction camps in the Upper Keys; when the evacuation train failed to reach the camps before the storm, more than 200 veterans perished. Their deaths caused anger and charges of mismanagement.
The storm ended the 23-year run of the Overseas Railway. One of the longest bridges when it was built, the Seven Mile Bridge connects Knight's Key to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys; the piling-supported concrete bridge is 35,862 6.79 miles long. The current bridge bypasses Pigeon Key, a small island that housed workers building Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway in the 1900s, that the original Seven Mile Bridge crossed. A 2.2-mile section of the old bridge remains for access to the island, although it was closed to vehicular traffic on March 4, 2008. The aging structure has been deemed unsafe by the Florida Department of Transportation. Costly repairs, estimated to be as much as $34 million, were expected to begin in July 2008. Monroe County was unable to secure a $17 million loan through the state infrastructure bank, delaying work for at least a year. On June 14, 2008, the old bridge section leading to Pigeon Key was closed to fishing as well. While still open to pedestrians—walking and jogging—if the bridge were closed altogether, only a ferry subsidized by FDOT and managed by the county would transport visitors to the island.
After the destruction of the Keys railway by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the railroad bridges, including the Seven Mile Bridge, were converted to automobile roadways. This roadway, U. S. Highway 1, became the Overseas Highway. Today this unique highway allows travel through the tropical islands of the Florida Keys and view exotic plants and animals found nowhere else on the US mainland and the largest coral reef chain in the United States. Following the Cuban Revolution, many Cubans fled the Castro dictatorship to South Florida. Key West traditionally had strong links with its neighbor ninety miles south by water, large numbers of Cubans settled there; the Keys still attract Cubans leaving their home country, stories of "rafters" coming ashore are not uncommon. In 1982, the United States Border Patrol established a roadblock and inspection points on US Highway 1, stopping all northbound traffic returning to the mainland at Florida City
Louisville, Georgia
Louisville is a city in Jefferson County, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, it is located southwest of Augusta on the Ogeechee River, its population was 2,493 at the 2010 census, down from 2,712 at the 2000 census. The name is pronounced "Lewis-ville" by locals. Louisville was incorporated on January 1786, as the prospective state capital. Savannah had served as the colonial capital, but was considered too far from the center of population in the growing state. Louisville was named for Louis XVI, still the King of France and had aided the Continentals during the successful American Revolutionary War. Development of the city began and its state government buildings were completed in 1795. An old Revolutionary War Soldiers Cemetery is located on the western side of town; the city of Louisville served as the state capital of Georgia from 1796 to 1806. It was a center of trade and political influence; the Jefferson County courthouse, built in 1904, stands on the site of Georgia's first permanent capitol building.
Louisville's historic, open-sided market house still stands in the center of downtown. The original market had sections for sales of farm produce, household goods, enslaved African Americans; the Old Market is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Roads and other transportation routes intersected at the market square, the hub of the region when the town was the state capital; the state capital was moved to Milledgeville and to Atlanta, in the Piedmont. As a small city and county seat, Louisville now has few major industries. A marker dedicated to the Yazoo land scandal of the 19th century is located in front of the Jefferson County Courthouse. Queensborough National Bank and Trust Company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Louisville, on U. S. Highway 1. Louisville is located south of the center of Jefferson County at 33°0′15″N 82°24′18″W. U. S. Route 1 passes through the east side of the city, leading northeast 46 miles to Augusta and south 30 miles to Swainsboro. U. S. Route 221 passes through the north side of downtown as Peachtree Street and leads southwest 10 miles to Bartow.
US-221 leaves Louisville to the north, running with US-1 15 miles to Wrens before continuing north toward Harlem. According to the United States Census Bureau, Louisville has a total area of 3.7 square miles, of which 3.6 square miles are land and 0.1 square miles, or 1.93%, are water. The western city boundary follows Rocky Comfort Creek, which flows into the Ogeechee River at the city limits' southwest corner; the Ogeechee flows to the Atlantic Ocean south of Savannah. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,712 people, 994 households, 664 families residing in the city; the population density was 755.5 people per square mile. There were 1,123 housing units at an average density of 312.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 65.93% African American, 33.63% White, 0.04% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.07% from other races, 0.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.37% of the population. There were 994 households out of which 33.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples living together, 27.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.1% were non-families.
31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.22. In the city, the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 77.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $19,883, the median income for a family was $32,578. Males had a median income of $31,500 versus $16,921 for females; the per capita income for the city was $15,028. About 23.1% of families and 28.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.8% of those under age 18 and 51.8% of those age 65 or over. The Jefferson County School District holds pre-school to grade twelve, consists of two elementary schools, two middle schools, a high school, an academy school.
The district has 199 full-time teachers and over 3,526 students. Louisville Academy Carver Elementary School Wrens Elementary School Louisville Middle School Jefferson County High School Thomas Jefferson Academy Central Savannah River Area List of municipalities in Georgia Local radio station: WPEH, Big Peach Radio National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Georgia Strong, Robert Hale. Halsey, Ashley, ed. A Yankee Private's Civil War. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company. Pp. 106–108. LCCN 61-10744. OCLC 1058411. GovernmentOfficial websiteGeneral information Geographic data related to Louisville, Georgia at OpenStreetMap Louisville, Georgia at the Digital Library of Georgia Louisville, Georgia at Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and Development Authority of Jefferson County Louisville, Georgia at New Georgia Encyclopedia Louisville Public Library at Jefferson County Library System The Sacking of Louisville at The Historical Marker Database
