OLD ST. JO" AND A NIGHT ON A FLORIDA BEACH.

Panama City, Fla.: Panama City Publishing Co., [circa 1936, the copyright date on the rear wrap]. [2], 20 pages, plus frontispiece. Illustrated from photographs and facsimiles printed with the text. Original printed wraps, stapled as issued. 22 x 15 cm. Good. Wraps mostly faded from green to tan; short tear to front wrap with neat internal mend. A few tiny traces of foxing, leaves slightly bumped at spine ends and corners. FIRST OF THIS EXPANDED EDITION. "Old St. Jo," a historical essay about the extinct town of Saint Joseph, Florida, was first published separately in 1922. (Hence the statement on the title page and front wrap: "St. Andrews, Florida, 1922.”) The author's natural history sketch, "A Night on the Florida Beach" (pp. 14-20) is added here for the first time, evidently being its first appearance in a book. The pamphlet also bears a frontispiece portrait of the author and facsimiles from an 1840 issue of the “St. Joseph Times“ that were not included in the prior edition. Saint Joseph was founded in 1835 and quickly became the most populous city in the Territory of Florida. In 1841, a yellow fever epidemic decimated the city, and it was abandoned by the survivors. In 1843, a powerful hurricane literally wiped Saint Joseph off the map, destroying every building in the ghost town. There was no resettlement until the 20th century when Port St. Joe was founded near the original site of Saint Joseph. The author, George Mortimer West (1845-1926), was the founder of Panama City, Florida, which was incorporated in 1909. He established the Gulf Coast Development Company, which sold the original lots that became the city center; served on the first town council; founded the first newspaper, the “Panama City Pilot“; and helped encourage the building of the Bay Line railroad to service the town. Scarce.�