History of the Woodland Drives Neighborhood and Greenspaces
Woodland Drives
Woodlands Drive is a picturesque and historic neighborhood in the heart of downtown Tallahassee and is characterized by its tree-lined streets and diverse range of homes and architectural styles. It was developed beginning in the 1920s & 30s and is comprised of roughly 450 homes. Woodland Drives was built on the site of Lakeland Plantation, owned by Edward Houstoun, whose 1,280 acres encompassed today's Myers Park and Woodland Drives neighborhood. As one of the city's earliest neighborhoods, Woodlands Drive contains several important sites including Old Fort Park (originally known as Fort Houstoun) and is part of the Myers Park Historic District.
Anhaica
The Myers Park area was once the site of the Apalachee village known as Anhaica, which was established around 1500 CE. For centuries, the Apalachee and their ancestors established communities in the Red Hills region of north Florida between the Aucilla and Ochlocknee Rivers, and their population has been estimated at 30,000-60,000 residents. The leadership within their communities was inherited through matrilineal descent. In 1539, members of Hernando de Soto’s army recorded 250 Apalachee dwellings at Anhaica, surrounded by fields of corn, beans and squash. Smaller satellite villages encircled the principal village with outlying farms near agricultural fields. Anhaica remained the principal Apalachee village after de Soto’s army left in 1540. In 1633, Franciscan priests established the Mission San Luis de Xinayca at Anhaica. In 1656, the Apalachee moved their main village from our area to San Luis de Talimali (Mission San Luis), three miles west.
Old Fort Park
A little over an acre, Old Fort Park is bordered by Maple, Seminole, Santa Rosa and Country Club drives. It’s where the neighborhood hosts its annual picnic and movie nights. The fort, originally named Fort Houston for plantation owner Edward Houston, was one of the defenses constructed to protect Tallahassee during the Civil War. The fort’s earthworks were erected when Federal troops landed at St. Marks and advanced towards Tallahassee in March, 1865. The fort was never attacked, thanks to the Confederate victory at Natural Bridge south of Tallahassee on March 6, 1865. The earthworks remain today.
Myers Park
Myers Park is Tallahassee’s oldest park and its 42 acres include tennis and basketball courts, Wade Wehunt pool and weight room, playground, forested nature trails, Little League field, and picnic area. The park is named for Frederick Towle Myers (1854-1927), a respected civil servant who served 36 years as the city attorney. Wade Wehunt pool is named in honor of Tallahassee’s first superintendent of pools and local real estate developer. Governor William Pope Duval’s 1820s home was in Myers Park near the tennis courts.
Evans Pond Park
This park is bordered by Circle and Merritt drives and is home to many migratory birds. Historians reference to a pond in Myers Park which was used as Tallahassee's first water reservoir and have surmised that this could be Evans Pond.
The park is named for Dr. Charles E. Evans, a leader in the civil rights movement, long-time Tallahassee NAACP branch president and business faculty member at Florida A&M University. He also lived nearby.
Cascades Park
Although technically not part of Woodland Drives, residents can't help but be interested in the creation of Cascades Park, the 22-acre greenspace redevelopment project between our neighborhood and downtown Tallahassee. Named for a long ago series of waterfalls, the wetlands were filled as part the erection of a nearby railroad. Cascades Park hosted minor league baseball during the early 1900s.
Capital City Country Club
Immediately to our neighborhood's west is Tallahassee's oldest golf course--a tree-lined 18-hole golf course as challenging as it is breathtaking. Originally called the Hill City Country Club in the 1920s, it was a principal Tallahassee social center in the day. Its wooden clubhouse sat just north of the present-day 13th hole (directly south of Santa Rosa Drive) and had a large ballroom and a dance floor. The building burned down in the 1950s and was replaced by the current clubhouse.
The club also offers a swimming pool, tennis courts, 19th Hole grille and pro shop, card room, and fine dining for its members. Ballrooms provide some of the most elegant spaces in Tallahassee for wedding receptions, dinner dances, banquets, and other prestigious events. For more information, click here to go to the club's website.