02/02/2026
❄️🍊 The Great Freeze of 1894–95
During the winter of 1894, Baker County experienced something unheard of in Florida where winter usually meant cool mornings and mist rising from the St. Mary’s river. In the town of Glen St. Mary ice formed in wash basins, rivers and creeks froze solid, chickens froze in their coops, and the area’s citrus groves were destroyed.
Florida’s citrus industry had been booming for decades. Oranges from North Florida were shipped by rail and steamer across the nation. The groves represented more than crops —they were livelihoods and hope. Then the cold came in late December 1894, and again, even harder, in February 1895. Trees that had survived the first freeze were shattered by the second. Entire groves turned black, their bark split and oozing sap. Many citrus growers abandoned North Florida entirely, migrating south toward warmer regions. The citrus belt that once stretched across North Florida shifted permanently southward, reshaping Florida’s economy for generations.
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