Cowford

(Source of image: Florida State Archives)

This illustration depicts Cowford and dates from the 1800s.

A BOVINE CROSSING -- Who'd move to a "Mosquito County"?  Florida pioneers sometimes adopted very practical names for places, even if the monikers weren't enticing.  One example was Mosquito County, an extremely large county during the early 1800s.  (Settlers later changed its name to "Orange County," which sounds more pleasant.)

Another unappealing example comes from Jacksonville.  During the early 1800s, the place was simply called "Cowford" (or "Cow Ford").  The St. Johns River narrowed at a point next to the present-day County Courthouse.  The riverbanks also sloped down in this area, allowing for an easier passage.  Florida cowboys chose the spot to cross their cattle on the way to market.   At low tide, drivers walked their beasts to center stream and then forced them to swim them the rest of the way.  In other words, this was the place where cows forded, or "Cowford." 

Years before, the Timucuan Indians had bestowed a similar name on the location.  They called it Wacca Pilatka, the "place where the cattle cross."  On the other hand, the Spanish referred to the site as the "Pass of San Nicholas," that is, the "Pass of St. Nicholas." A neighborhood just east of South Jacksonville still goes by that moniker.

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