The county seat of DeSoto County, Arcadia is one of the oldest towns in the South Florida interior. Situated along the banks of the Peace River, it was originally home to a scattering of Native Americans in the sixteenth century, with white settlers arriving in the mid 1800s.

The frontier community of farmers and cattlemen was first called Waldron's Landing, named for steamship operator Jim Waldron who worked along the river. Around the time of the Civil War, it was dubbed Tater Hill Bluff when Harris Raulerson began cultivating potatoes here. Finally, in 1883 the Reverend James Hendry renamed the settlement "Arcadia" in honor of a friend's daughter.

The arrival of the Florida Southern Railroad in 1887 coincided with the discovery of phosphate, creating a small mining industry to complement the turpentine, naval stores--or shipbuilding supplies--and citrus industries.

The next two decades were difficult ones for the small town, as the Great Freeze of 1894-95 wiped out the citrus crop. The community rebounded from this natural disaster only to be devastated by a massive fire on Thanksgiving Day 1905. The fire, which destroyed all but three buildings downtown, forced residents to embark on a new Arcadia.

During World War I, the U.S. government opened the Carlstrom Field Army Air Base in DeSoto County, training pilots for service overseas. The Second World War re-opened Carlstrom Field on a much larger scale than before. The base closed after the war, but agriculture and cattle more than made up for the loss in military spending, and these industries continue to fuel the local economy to this day.

Modern Arcadia features a well-preserved downtown with numerous historic buildings ranging in style from late-Victorian and Classical Revival to traditional Floridian, best exemplified in the DeSoto County Courthouse, built in 1912.

Each year the town hosts the Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo. In the midst of the Great Depression, local cowboys established the rodeo, and it remains a major feature of the town's social life.

From its early history as a frontier settlement to its development as a small but prosperous agricultural community, Arcadia is a town with a fascinating past that is well preserved and on display for visitors and residents alike.

This podcast made possible through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council. Script written by Kyle Burke. Narrated by Sandra Averhart.