Portal:Florida/Selected article/30
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Florida State Hospital at Chattahoochee was established in 1876 and until 1947 it was Florida's only state mental institution. The hospital was originally the site of the Apalachicola Arsenal built in the 1830s and named after the nearby Apalachicola River. The hospital's current Administration Building is the original Officers' Quarters of the Arsenal and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It served as a supply depot during the Seminole Wars. The first engagement of the Civil War in Florida took place here on January 6, 1861 when a militia unit from Quincy overcame the Union soldiers at the Arsenal.
In 1868, Florida Governor Harrison Reed made the arsenal property at Chattahoochee into Florida's first penitentiary. It was also used to muster Confederate troops. Florida's first recorded inmate was Calvin Williams, incarcerated at Chattahoochee in November 1868 for the crime of larceny and sentenced to one year. By 1869 there were 42 inmates and 14 guards.In 1871, the prison was put under civilian jurisdiction. Malachi Martin was appointed as warden, gaining a reputation for cruelty and corruption. He used prison labor for his personal benefit to build houses and tend his personal vineyards, amassing a huge fortune. The book, The American Siberia, was written in 1891, portraying the Chattahoochee prison as a place of relentless barbarity. The prisoners were relocated in 1876 to a prison at Raiford and the prison became a state hospital.
