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Hall City, Florida | |
|---|---|
Former community | |
 Scene at a farm at Hall City, 1915 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Glades |
| Founded by | G. Barton Hall |
Hall City is a former community established in what is now Glades County, Florida, during 1910 by Rev. George F. Hall, a retired Disciples of Christ minister living in Chicago, Illinois. Built and run locally by Rev. Hall's son, G. Barton Hall, from 1910 until approximately 1925, Hall City was to have been a "temperance town" (i.e., free of alcoholic beverages) and was to be the site of proposed "Hall University". However, the town failed and the bulk of the land was purchased by the Lykes Brothers, who still own the original site.
Besides Hall City, Hall tried another land project on the Sabine River in Louisiana.
Hall sold land through the mail and wrote his own advertisements. Most land was bought from people all over the country, including Alaska. Students who wanted to attend the new university wrote to a realtor out of Moore Haven, Daniel Lence, to buy land in the burgeoning community.[1]
By 1917, Hall City was a "flourishing community" of 100 hundred residents, featuring a hotel, store, and "several large bungalows." W.H. Foote, Tom Smith, John J. Hess, and Carl Beckmire were some of the earliest settlers. The post office was run by Hall's son, Barton Hall. The mail was delivered to the post office, by Oliver Bethey, from LaBelle. Hall also named the streets, such as "Chicago Avenue" and "Illinois Avenue."[1]
Traveling to Moore Haven from Arcadia was considered "a full day's hard trip," though having the Hall City hotel as a rest stop.[1]
S.C. "Sonny" Stalls helped his father move the sidewalks from Hall City to Moore Haven.[1]
In 1985, only "a fine flowing well," the city's water source, was left after the city was abandoned in 1920. The deeds to the lots were left to the heirs of its citizens, "scattered all over the United States." Heirs contacted real estate offices and the Glades County Courthouse to find out land values, only to discover they had "very little value."[1]