Roots

It's likely that most people in Florida today weren't born here. If you were, how long has your family been here? And if you weren't, where did you come here from and what brought you?

My own family goes back at least to the Rebellion, where my great-great-grandfather fought at the battle of Ocean Pond, the only event in the state that resembled a major battle during that war.

jd, I'm from the Dominican Republic and I spent half of my life in New York City and the other half mostly in Apopka/Altamonte. Now, I'm in Bithlo.

My parents married in KY and then moved to FL, where I was born. I lived there until college. Now I'm a SC resident.

My father's side of the family has been in Florida for some time. My Grandfather's family came from Georgia and my Grandmother's came pre-civil war. It was that family that Alderman State Park (by Plant City) was named after.

My grandparents on one side came to S. Fl in the 1920's from North Carolina & Massachusetts. That part of the family has played a significant role in South Florida's Jewish community. On the other side, my mother came to S. Fl from NY as a child in ~1950's. All my great grandparents were born in Europe. I'm now in TX.

Someone just pointed me to this site of pictures from Old Miami.

Old Miami Link

This is a picture of one of my grandfather's stores (I had never seen it before today) :
photo link

We came to Florida in 1982 -- Doug got an acting job at the Asolo (then the only state theatre of Florida) and I soon got a teaching position at Manatee CC. Our son was 4, and it was time to move out of NYC. Our daughter was born in Sarasota. The city has changed from a sleepy little arty town that rolled up the sidewalks at 6 pm and on the weekends, to a bustling, fashionable, high-rise, Whole Foods emporium -- I have real mixed feelings about it all -- but then, I'm getting old -- Jane

i was born and raised in the adirondack mountains of new york state, but at five years old i tasted Florida every year. after the service, i moved here lock, stock, and barrel (1966) and have never looked back since. i do not like what it has become, and i find myself moving further north every decade. started in melbourne, and now live in deltona, near daytona beach. looking hard at melrose or some quiet little town in north florida near gainesville or lake city (va hospital).

Both my parents were born in Pensacola. My dad was in the USAF so I was not born here, but I was raised with Florida always present in my life. I visited my grandparents often. My parents divorced in 1979. I have been here since. I consider myself a native. I travel the world but this is home.

On paper, I'm more native than the Seminoles. My ancestors were in St. Augustine sometime in the early 1600's. My grandfather's grandmother was a Native American. She may have been from one of the extinct tribes. I have another female ancestor that may have come from one of the extinct tribes, as well. Two great grandmoters came from out of state, one from Maine and one all the way from Georgia.