Community Trail Markers

Community Trail Markers

Trail markers have allowed us to expand on the stories of the fort, school and early settlers who left their mark on this area.


Fort Braden Trail
Ft. Braden History Walk

The Fort Braden History Walk is located within the 13.76 acres of County-owned property at the corner of Highway 20 and Joe Thomas Road. The new woodchip trail is a 0.5-mile trail that connects the Jane G. Sauls Fort Braden Library and Fort Braden Community Center.

In October 1999, the County purchased 9.5 acres adjacent to the Fort Braden Community Center. In October 2012 the community center was renamed the Jane G. Sauls Fort Braden Library in honor of the life and legacy of Commissioner Sauls, a lifelong servant and active advocate for the Fort Braden area.

The walking trail adds an additional amenity to the already active area and was developed with input from local community members. Along this trail, you may come across native plants that grow in the area such as Sparkleberry, Spiderwort, Palmetto and wild Muscadine Grapes. Native plants are part of what create a thriving and healthy ecosystem by providing food, habitat, and more for animals, insects and other plants.

sparkleberry Sparkleberry Vaccinium arboretum is a close relative of the cultivated blueberry and is also related to rhododendrons and azaleas. This woody shrub/tree has showy bark and makes for a good addition to the landscape. The flowers and fruit provide benefit to wildlife.

spiderwort Spiderwort Tradescantia ohiensis is often considered a weed, but this native wildflower has very bright purple flowers that bloom in the morning and often shrivel up during the heat of the day. Its flowers produce a blueish liquid that can be used as an improvised dye.

sawpalmetto Saw palmetto Serenoa repens can be found through much of the state in association with the pine-wiregrass ecosystem. The leaf stem (petiole) is armed with sharp serrations and is where the saw part of the name comes from. It’s flowers and fruit are beneficial to wildlife and humans have discovered an extract from the plant that can treat prostate cancer.

muscadine Muscadine grape Vitis spp. is one six species of native grapes found in Florida, with the muscadine being the most popular due to their large, edible fruits. All grapes are dioecious, meaning there are separate male and female plants. In nature, most tend to be male plants that do not produce fruit. These native grapes have a long lifespan and can be as old as some of the trees they climb on.

Map of where Ft Braden once stood
1883 Tax Cadastral Map of Leon County FL

Established on December 3, 1839 as a military outpost during the Second Seminole War, Fort Braden’s military past is an important part of the community’s past. The official military fort of Fort Braden was located on Highway 20 about where Vause’s Landing Road stands today. Notably, native peoples called the area home for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The Apalachee Indians lived in and around what is now Tallahassee, and interested readers should visit Mission San Luis to learn about the rich Apalachee society.

In 1821, Florida was established as a new territorial government on behalf of the United States, bringing many people to the area--settlers, enslaved peoples, and formerly enslaved people.

One of these adventurous newcomers to the new territory was Dr. Joseph Braden, a Virginia native, who moved to the area in 1821 and established a cotton plantation worked by enslaved people brought from Virginia. Dr. Braden soon became a prominent resident and Fort Braden was named for his wife, Virginia Ward Braden, a Tallahassee socialite and the daughter of prominent Leon County resident and Southwood and Waverly Plantation owner George T. Ward. Early buildings included the Fort Braden School House (now the Fort Braden Community Center), a blacksmith shop, a Baptist church, a Methodist church, a grist and gin mill, and a cotton gin.

Information sourced by Fort Braden Community and 20 Faces and Places: A History of the People of Highway 20 and the Ochlockonee River Area, Edited and Compiled by Susan Rudd Galloway with excerpts from The 20 Times Newspaper

Old Ft Braden Dam
Dam - Jackson Bluff, Leon County

The Ochlockonee River has always played an important role in the Fort Braden and larger Big Bend region. The name Ochlockonee more than likely derives from the Hitchiti/Mikasuki Oki (water) and Lagana (yellow). On older maps, the Ochlockonee River is simply called the yellow river.

In 1927, the West Florida Power Corporation was licensed to construct the 60-foot Jackson Bluff Dam, which would dam the Ochlockonee River so the fast-moving river could produce hydroelectric power. Present day, the dam no longer produces electricity and is managed by the State of Florida. The water that is held back created 14.5-mile-long, 12,000-acre Lake Talquin. Lake Talquin is named for the cities its near—Tallahassee and Quincy.

In 1970, Florida Power Corporation donated 20,000 acres of land that became Lake Talquin State Park. The property not only included the high bluffs on the south side of the lake that visitors enjoy today, but also the property in which the dam is located and most of the property managed by the Florida Forest Service as Lake Talquin State Forest.

Lake Talquin and the Ochlockonee River support a rich and diverse wildlife such as beavers, bats, alligators, to name a few, as well as a lush variety of trees and other plants. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Lake Talquin is nationally recognized for its black crappie fishery.

Information sourced from Florida State Parks and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Fort Braden School
Fort Braden Community Center

Fort Braden has a rich history of education with the Fort Braden School House (now the Fort Braden Community Center) being mentioned as early as 1847. One of the earliest schoolteachers, Mrs. Lizzie Black Stoutamire, shared with the Daily Democrat in 1948 some of her memories of a vastly different time. There were no school buses, heated classrooms, or even paper! Students back then used slates and blackboards to do their schoolwork.

A student, Jessie Collins, who attended Fort Braden school was the granddaughter of prominent plantation owner, Hugh Black. She started school in 1901 and recalls that one teacher taught all grades. Many of the schoolhouses at that time were one room and could be full of children of all different ages and education levels. At that time, schools only taught students through the 9th grade, because farming was so prominent. Students would go to school in between planting seasons and school would dismiss during harvesting season, meaning many students would attend school during some of the hottest summer months.

Information sourced by Fort Braden Community and 20 Faces and Places: A History of the People of Highway 20 and the Ochlockonee River Area, Edited and Compiled by Susan Rudd Galloway with excerpts from The 20 Times Newspaper

Ft braden Library
Jane G. Sauls Fort Braden Library

Although still a rural community, modern technology, such as automobiles, cellphones and computers, have physically and virtually closed the distance between Fort Braden and other communities within Leon County. Recognizing the significance of education to the community, Leon County was awarded a grant from the Florida Department of State to renovate the old Fort Braden School in 1996. The building now operates as the popular community center, and can be seen to the west of this trail.

The building was built in 1927 and was used as a consolidated schoolhouse to replace numerous other small schoolhouses in the area such as New Hope School, which was located at the western corner of Vause’s Landing Road and Highway 20. In 2004, the building was designated as a Florida Heritage site. You are invited to learn more by reading the nearby historic marker. If you are further interested in Fort Braden history, the Jane G. Sauls Fort Braden Library and Fort Braden Community Center have reference books and archival material.

1883 Tax Cadastral Map of Leon County View Full Size Map
1883 Tax Cadastral Map of Leon County View Full Size Map