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The Online Catalog allows searching and browsing of information about the Florida State Archives’ holdings of over 48,000 cubic feet of state and local government records and historical manuscripts. The catalog provides descriptions of over 3,400 collections and lists the contents of containers and folders in many of those collections. For assistance with accessing and using State Archives collections, call our Reference Staff at 850.245.6719 or email us at archives@dos.myflorida.com.


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Record Group Number: 000589
Series/Collection Number: .S 225
Creator: United States. General Land Office.  --Florida District.
Title, Dates: Swampland selection records, 1851-1906.
Amount: 5.00 cubic ft.
16.00 v.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement: Arranged by record type.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:     The United States General Land Office was established in 1812. Its duties were to survey and manage the public lands of the federal government.  In 1824, the post of Surveyor General of the United States for the Territory of Florida was established to survey the public lands in Florida using a township and range system with the base and meridian lines beginning at Tallahassee.
    The selling of the surveyed public lands in 1825.  The Florida District General Land Offices were responsible for the handling of claims made for virgin and unsettled federal public lands in Florida.
    In 1850, federal legislation for swampland selection (Ch. 84, 9 U.S. Statutes 519) was passed that granted to the State of Florida all of the unsold swamp and overflowed lands in the state.  The state received patents to more than 20,000,000 acres of swampland to be sold to private individuals or appropriated by grant to railroad and canal companies or for internal improvements.
    The federal land offices in Florida were closed in 1907 and its records transferred to the State Land Office and the  Commissioner of Agriculture (1907, Ch. 5611, Laws).
Summary:     The series contains swampland selection records from 1851 to 1906 of the Florida District of the United States General Land Offices.  It documents the activities of the federal land offices in Newnansville, St. Augustine, Tallahassee, and Tampa; the Surveyor General of Florida; the Commissioner of Agriculture; and the State Land Office in the survey, selection, and sale of the unsold swampland granted to the State of Florida in 1850 by Congress.
    The records include affidavits, swampland selection lists, rejected swampland selection lists, and topographical lists.  These records are organized by the township and range of the land tract. The series also contains 16 volumes of Swampland Notebooks which include the final drafts of the selections made.
Finding Aids: Folder listing available. A detailed finding aid is available at the Archives.
Additional Physical Form:
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields: Florida. Office of the Surveyor General.
United States. Saint Augustine Land Office.
United States. Newnansville Land Office.
United States. Tallahassee Land Office.
United States. Tampa Land Office.
Florida. State Land Office.
Commissioner of Agriculture.
Public land sales Florida
Swamplands.
Land surveys. aat
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