prefabricated buildings in the United States. The framework was shipped by schooner from New York City and assembled in Apalachicola with wooden pegs. In 1837, a newspaper at Apalachicola boasted that the town's business street along the waterfront "had of continuous brick stores, three stories high, deep, and all equipped with granite pillars." Botanist Alvan Wentworth Chapman settled in Apalachicola in 1847. In 1860, he published his major work, Flora of the Southern United States. An elementary school was later named in his honor. On April 3, 1862, during the American Civil War, the gunboat and the steamer (relieving the ) captured Apalachicola. Union forces that occupied west Florida during much of the war moved here. In 1849, Apalachicola physician Dr. John Gorrie discovered the cold-air process of refrigeration and patented an ice machine in 1850. He had experimented to find ways to lower the body temperature of fever patients. His patent laid the groundwork for development of modern refrigeration and air conditioning, making Florida and the South more livable year-round. The city has a monument to him, and a replica of his ice machine is on display in the John Gorrie Museum. The John Gorrie Memorial Bridge, carrying the main road out of Apalachicola, U.S. 98, is named for him. Before railroads reached the region in the later 19th century, Apalachicola was the third-busiest port on the Gulf of Mexico (behind New Orleans and Mobile). Scheduled boats transported passengers and goods up and down the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint rivers to Albany and Columbus, Georgia. A paddle steamer, the Crescent City, made a daily round trip to Carrabelle, carrying the mail as well as passengers and freight. The AN Railway, formerly the Apalachicola Northern Railroad, serves the city. Originally built in 1935 and rebuilt in 1988, the John Gorrie Memorial Bridge carries U.S. 98 across Apalachicola Bay to Eastpoint. Geography Apalachicola is located in the northwestern part of the state on Apalachicola Bay and at the mouth of the Apalachicola River. U.S. 98 is the main highway through town, leading east across the bay to Eastpoint and northwest to Panama City. Tallahassee, the state capital, is to the northeast via U.S. 98 and U.S. 319. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 26.67%, is water. Climate The climate of Apalachicola is humid subtropical (Köppen