History
Florida was originally settled as part of the Equivalent Lands (specifically the "Berkshire Equivalent"). Most of what is now Florida was originally a grant to the town of Bernardston, Massachusetts, made sometime around 1771. The first settler, Dr. Daniel Nelson, arrived around 1783. The town was incorporated in 1805 and named "Florida," reportedly because Spanish Florida was a topic of much discussion in those years.
The town was mostly agrarian, with maple syrup, wool, and potatoes its main products for many years. However, in the mid-nineteenth century, the town was a boom town for the workers involved in the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel, a railroad tunnel which begins on the town's southeast corner and extends through the mountain.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his American Notebooks, names the town as Latrobe, not Florida, and describes portions of the Hoosac Range as "the Green Mountain" in his writings.
The official town line marker as seen from Route 2 Massachusetts, the Mohawk Trail, runs northward across the town north of center, passing over Whitcomb Summit, the highest mark in the town at the center of town. At Whitcomb Summit there is a monument to the Elk Club, which maintains the trails and worked on the Hoosac Tunnel. Whitcomb Summit is known for providing dramatic views of the Deerfield River valley and the Taconic Range further west.
Geography
The forest is the heart of Florida. 92.91% of its area is forested — among the highest percentages of total forest coverage of any Massachusetts municipality. The town has a total area of 24.6 square miles (63.8 km²), of which 24.4 square miles (63.2 km²), or 99%, is land.
Florida is bordered on the north by Stamford, Vermont; on the east by Monroe; on the southeast by Charlemont; on the south by Savoy; on the southwest by Adams; and on the west and northwest by North Adams. The Mohawk Trail runs through the town, and its villages, Drury, are located along this route.
Florida is located near the highest points of the Hoosac Range, which runs through the western part of the town. There are several rivers and brooks, most of which lead to the Deerfield River.
Government
Florida is governed by an open town meeting form of government, led by a board of selectmen and a town administrator. The town provides its own services including the Florida Free Library. The town is represented in the Massachusetts House of Representatives by the First Berkshire County district, and in the Massachusetts Senate by the Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin district. On the national level, Florida is in the United States House of Representatives' 1st Congressional District, and is currently represented in the United States Senate by senior Senator Elizabeth Warren and junior Senator Ed Markey.
Education
The local school, the Gabriel Abbott Memorial School, which serves students from pre-K to 8th grade, is located in the town of Florida. The town sends its high school students to either Drury High School or Charles H. McCann Technical High School, both of which are in North Adams. The town provides bus transportation for students to the high schools.
Multiple Zip Codes in the Town of Florida
The Town of Florida covers multiple zip codes across its villages and areas:
- Drury, MA 01343
- Florida, MA 01247
- Rowe, MA 01367