Apoxsee, Florida facts for kids

Apoxsee is a ghost town in Osceola County, Florida, United States. A ghost town is a place where people used to live and work, but now it's mostly empty and abandoned.

The Story of Apoxsee

Apoxsee began as a small settlement built around a train depot. A train depot is like a station where trains stop to pick up or drop off goods and people. This depot was located along the important Florida East Coast Railroad.

The town got its name, Apoxsee, in 1920. It was named by J.E. Ingram, who was a vice president for the Florida East Coast Railroad at that time. The name "Apoxsee" comes from the Seminole language, and it means "tomorrow."

Apoxsee was also known as a "turpentine town." This means that a big part of its economy came from producing turpentine. Turpentine is a liquid made from pine trees, often used in paints and varnishes. The town even had its own post office from 1928 to 1933.

However, like many other turpentine towns in Florida, the supply of pine trees for turpentine eventually ran out. When the turpentine business declined, the town lost its main source of income.

The railroad service to Apoxsee stopped in 1947. This was a clear sign that the town no longer had a future. Without the train and the turpentine industry, people moved away, and Apoxsee became an abandoned ghost town.