Another excellent entry for Florida's Special Places from Audubon supporter Lucy Tobias. This time she's reporting from John Gorrie Museum State Park - a dedication to the man that brought air conditioning to Florida and the world. Honestly, where would we be without this man's invention? Enjoy this great nominee:
The Fever Man changed our lives. Seriously, I'm not kidding. You and I wouldn't be living in Florida without him.
In the early 1800s Dr. John Gorrie lived in Apalachicola. Some of his patients had yellow fever. He wanted to cool their rooms and ended up inventing mechanical refrigeration.
"He got the temperature down and created ice, about an 8x10 inch block of ice that took eight hours to make," said Willie McNair, Park Ranger at John Gorrie State Museum as he showed visitors a scaled-down model of the machine.
The rest, as they say, is history.
"Florida would not be Florida without air conditioning, so Gorrie's innovation is huge," said Tom Daily, President of the Apalachicola Historic Society. "Dr. Gorrie was internationally renowned. The original of his machine is in the Smithsonian. Air conditioning enabled the south to be urbanized."
John Gorrie State Museum is a small but sweet one-story brick building bursting at the seams with the town's history of booms and busts. It gets 4,000 visitors a year. Admission is $2. Nearby is Orman House Historic State Park. Orman had 3,744 visitors last year.
Both parks were on DEP's list of 53 parks to be closed. Gov. Rick Scott says they will stay open. The issue now is how to increase attendance for these nitche venues.
"We love our state parks. We send people there all the time," said Anita Grove, Executive Director, Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce.
Local supporters see the past, including both state parks, as solid gold for the future.
"First people come here for the oysters, then they come for the history," said Bill Spohrer, co-owner with his wife Lynn Wilson of the Coombs Inn that is located one block from the John Gorrie State Museum.
"When Apalachicola was an international port in the 1830-1850s consulates were here," said Daily. "Sailors came from all over the world. There were 40 bars and a wine shop plus opium dens and brothels."
And that is only a small piece of their history. Come learn more at John Gorrie State Museum. Stay cool and say thank you to Dr. Gorrie. He changed our lives. Bring a friend, or two, so park numbers will go up, up, up.
