Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: On the Homosassa River stands the ruins of the antebellum sugar plantation of Senator David Levy Yulee, pioneer Florida railroad builder. Yulee was president of the Florida Railroad Company, which was completed in 1861, and linked the Atlantic with the Gulf between Fernandina and Cedar Key. Cottonwood was raided and pillaged in 1863 and again in 1864 by Federal forced based at Cedar Key. As a result the plantation never recovered its productivity.