Steinhatchee Snapshots

We crossed the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, from Carrabelle to Steinhatchee in 10 hours. The sun was shining and the seas were calm.

Steinhatchee's long history of human habitation includes prehistoric man dating from 12,000 BC, pirates from 15th through 18th centuries, loggers in the 1800s, sponge divers in the 1940s and 50s and commercial fishermen, shrimpers, and crabbers today.

Located at the mouth of the Steinhatchee River, Deadman Bay was on Spanish maps by the early 1500s. Spanish Conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez came through the area in 1529 followed by Hernando de Soto ten years later at the "falls."

In 1818 General Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) also crossed at the Falls on his way to dispatch the Seminoles who were raiding "white" settlements.

In 1838 General Zachary Taylor (1784 -1850) was sent to put down the Seminoles during the Second Seminole War. Fort Frank Brook was established up the Steinhatchee River in the same year and abandoned in 1840.

In 1879 James Howard Stephens (1825-1906), a local pioneer, offered land for a post office changing the name from Deadman Bay to Stephensville.

In 1931 the community was renamed Steinhatchee after the river. The name Steinhatchee was derived from the Native American "esteen hatchee" meaning river (hatchee) of man (esteen).

 

Steinhatchee and Taylor County's most significant contribution to the Confederacy's Civil War efforts was the procurement of salt from seawater. The remains of these "salt works" are still evident along the mud flats and salt marshes.

 

One of the first settlers to the Deadman Bay area was James Howard Stephens. Stephens's new objective was to establish a timber procurement operation to feed sawmills in Cedar Key and their steamboat transport of logs and lumber to ports in the northeastern states. The cypress and cedar logs were configured into large rafts for transport down the coast to Cedar Key.

Commercial fishing gradually increased. It is unclear when the first sponge fishermen came to the area but further south at Cedar Key and Tarpon Springs the industry was thriving. By the 1930's sponge fishermen were well established in Steinhatchee.

 

From Steinhatchee's beginnings, the core industry and activity was related to fishing. Survival in this coastal area was heavily dependent on salt mullet, a staple for survival. Commercial fishing is still the mainstay for most residents. Many species of fish, particularly mullet and trout, blue and stone crab, scallops and sponges are harvested for markets around the country.