Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side 1: This is the home site of Joe and Madam Joe Atzeroth, first permanent settlers of Terra Ceia Island. With their daughter Eliza, a physician friend, and dog Bonaparte, they arrive via Tampa April 12, 1843. Living first in a tent, then a palmetto thatched hut, they finally built a two-room log cabin. They grew tobacco and vegetables and sold them to the garrison at Ft. Brooke (Tampa). In 1880 Madam Joe received a $10 award for growing the first pound of coffee in this country. Side 2: Terra Ceia Island was a dense jungle when the Atzeroths arrived to homestead 160 acres. Panthers and other wild animals abounded. Their log house was built of split cedar planks and moss and clay filled the cracks. The doors and glazed windows were imported from New Orleans. The family survived the many harsh rigors of frontier life. Mr. Joe participated in the 3rd Seminole War and Civil War. After his death in 1871, Madam Joe moved to Fogartyville.