Fun Facts About Florida
- Florida has had six Constitutions since it became a state. The first Constitution was drafted in Saint Joseph, now known as Port St. Joe. Presently Florida is governed by the Constitution of 1968, as subsequently amended.
- The total land area of Florida is 54,252 square miles. The total water area is 4,308 square miles.
- Florida has been home to such famed writers as Ernest Hemingway, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Tennessee Williams.
- The first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle Columbia, was launched on its maiden voyage on April 12, 1981.
- Juan Ponce de Leon came ashore on the northeast coast of Florida sometime between April 2 and April 8, 1513. He called the area la Florida, in honor of Pascua florida (“feast of the flowers”), a popular celebration held in Spain around Easter.
- Saint Augustine is the oldest European settlement in North America.
- Snow fell in Dade County on January 20, 1977.
- Dr. John Gorrie of Apalachicola patented the process of making ice artificially in 1851.
- The St. John’s River is one of the few rivers that flows north instead of south, and at 273 miles in length, it’s Florida's longest river.
- In 1937, Amelia Earhart took off from Miami for an around-the-world flight and was never seen again.
- The first commercial airline service between two U.S. cities was established between St. Petersburg and Tampa in 1914.
- DeFuniak Springs is home to one of the two naturally round lakes in the world.
- Ft. Lauderdale is known as the Venice of America because it has 185 miles of local waterways.
- Florida’s highest natural point is 345 feet, located near Lakewood in Walton County.
