"a quaint little village, amphibious-like, consisting of a few dwelling houses, stores, etc., mostly built on stilts or piles, as if ready to launch when wind or tide prevailed." A railroad often cited as Florida's first connected the port of St. Marks with the territorial capital, Tallahassee, some 20 miles inland. The line, the Tallahassee Railroad, was constructed about 1836, and until the Civil War it served in the export of Middle Florida's cotton through St. Marks. The capacity of the St. Marks port was limited, and it was surpassed in the 19th century by the larger port of Apalachicola, served by the Thomasville, Tallahassee and Gulf Railroad via Carrabelle, Florida. The now-abandoned rail line serves as Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail, a paved bicycle and equestrian trail terminating at the St. Marks waterfront. This section of the coast was damaged by the big storm surge of Hurricane Dennis in 2005. As on other occasions in its history, St. Marks was flooded badly with saltwater. See also Apalachee Bay San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park St. Marks Light St. Marks River St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad State Trail Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park Wakulla River References External links Cities in Wakulla County, Florida Tallahassee metropolitan area Cities in Florida Trading posts in the United States