Above: Mosquito County, Florida, circa 1827.
In 1821, there were two counties that formed the Florida Territory: Escambia to the west and St. Johns to the east.
In late December of 1824, Mosquito County, Florida was created out of St. Johns County which at the time stretched from present day Jacksonville to Miami. The name came from the Spanish name for the entire coast "Los Mosquitos." The County seat was located at Enterprise which is now overrun by the suburban communities of Deltona and Debary.
And today the former Mosquito County is living up to its name. Swarms of the miserable insects are making life unbearable for those who dare to venture outside.
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Below: A female mosquito (Culiseta longiareolata). Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematoceid flies: The Culicidae. Over 3,500 species of mosquitoes have been described from various parts of the world. Some are vectors for a number of infectious diseases.
The swarms of mosquitoes are likely due to a number of circumstances: Recent heavy rains in parts of Florida, very warm temperatures, a vast number of empty and overgrown properties due to the Great Recession, and the lack of any mosquito control by the political entities that control this part of Florida due to strained and/or empty budget coffers (again thanks to the Great Recession).
Whatever the cause, the reality is that it is difficult to do anything outdoors in Florida today without wearing what I refer to as a full jungle suit. Covered head-to toe with denim, mesh, and gloves, all of which is uncomfortable in the persistent heat.
MORE ABOUT THE EVOLUTION
OF THE MOSQUITO COAST
In the 1827 map below, note that the center of Florida was largely Seminole Indian Territory. By the time the map was released, however, the 21st United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which forced the removal of all Native Americans east of the Mississippi River to Indian Territory in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
The Seminoles would not leave voluntarily. A military column sent to forcibly dislodge the Seminole, led by Major Frances Dade traveling from Ft. Brook (Tampa) to Ft. King (Ocala), was ambused by Seminole Indians on December 28, 1835 near present day Brooksville. Four days later, Seminole Chief Osceola attacked another group of white soldiers and thus began the Second Seminole Indian War which lasted from 1835-1842.
Below: Mosquito County, Florida circa 1830. Note the center of the state was mostly Seminole Indian Territory that would later be taken away from the Native Americans by force
By 1837 four of the five so-called "civilized" tribes had been forcibly removed from Florida (the Choctaw, the Creek, the Chickasaw, and the Cherokee). The Seminole refused to leave.
The 1840 census takers could not find a single white settler living anywhere in Mosquito County.
In 1842 the 27th Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act. The Act was passed as an incentive to populate Florida (I wonder if they told them about the mosquitoes). The Act allowed a person to settle onto land at least 2 miles from an established fort, erect a house and become part of the Florida Militia. After living on and defending the land for five years, the settler would receive title to up to 160 acres.
In January of 1845 the Territorial Council approved the name change of Mosquito county to Orange County in order to reflect the primary agricultural product of the county. . . and I suspect it sounded better when trying to entice new settlers. The 1850 census counted 466 residents of the new Orange County.
READ THE SHOCKING TREATY WITH THE SEMINOLE of 1832 (also known as Payne's Landing Treaty).
The Seminole are classified among the Muskogean peoples, a group of remnant tribes having joined in forming this division in Florida during the border wars between the Spanish and the English colonists on the Florida-Carolina frontier in the 18th century. The name Seminole, first applied to the tribe about 1778, is from the Creek word 'semino le', meaning 'runaway,' or emigrants who left the main body and settled elsewhere.
READ MORE OF THE SEMINOLE HISTORY AT SEMINOLE NATION
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