Spring time in Florida is not a matter of peeping violets or bursting buds merely. It is a riot of color, in nature—glistening green leaves, pink, blue, purple, yellow blossoms that fairly stagger the visitor from the north.

Black Fact: Before Florida became a U.S. state, it was a refuge for freedom-seeking Black people,  including formerly enslaved Africans who built the first free Black settlement in what’s now the United States. Founded in 1738 near St. Augustine, Fort Mose (pronounced Moh-say) was a safe haven where Black residents lived free under Spanish rule, defended the territory, and shaped Florida’s early identity.