Lafayette Land Grant
The Lafayette Land Grant was a gift by the government of the United States of just over 23,000 acres (93 km2) of real estate in central Leon County, Florida, United States.
Origins
During the American Revolution, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette loaned money to the government of the United States. To help Lafayette after the French Revolution, the United States gave the marquis $24,000 followed by land in what is now Louisiana in 1803. In 1824, another $200,000 and his choice of a township worth of land was given around the time of his visit to the United States in 1824-25.
Settlement
Lafayette chose land near his friend Richard Keith Call. Col. John McKee of Alabama was given the task of traveling to Florida and selecting Lafayette's piece of land. The warrant officially giving Lafayette the land was signed by President John Quincy Adams on July 4, 1825.[1] The land included what is now Lake Lafayette within that tract.[2] The Southwest corner of the Lafayette grant is marked by a monument in Tallahassee, Florida, which also serves as a survey marker for the Tallahassee Meridian. Two additional markers also lay along the boundary -- one on Gadsden Street in the city's LaFayette Park and a second one between Apalachee Parkway and LaFayette St, at the intersection of E. Indianhead Drive.
Lafayette never visited his land in Florida. However, by the 1830s, several Frenchmen who knew Lafayette, including Prince Achille Murat, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, had moved to the area.[3] They found north Florida's subtropical climate far too warm. Some of these settlers returned to France and others moved to the historically French city of New Orleans. By 1855, all the land included in the Lafayette Township (over 23,000 acres) had been sold to individual buyers. Today it is home to a number of neighborhoods, including Lafayette Oaks.
References
- ^ Historic Markers Program of America
- ^ TAPP: Lake Lafayette Archived 2010-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "AJS: Deep exhibition on Napoleon in Tallahassee". Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
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- French frigate Hermione
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- Battle of Gloucester
- Valley Forge
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- Battle of Rhode Island
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- Château de Chavaniac (birthplace and home)
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- Lafayette Land Grant
- Picpus Cemetery
memorials
- List of places named for the Marquis de Lafayette
- New York City statue (1876)
- LaFayette Fountain (1887)
- Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C.
- 1891 statue
- Lafayette Square Historic District
- Lafayette dollar (1899)
- Mount Lafayette
- Lafayette Memorial (1917)
- Lafayette College statue (1921)
- Los Angeles statue (1937)
- Lafayette Escadrille
- USS Lafayette
- 1825 Samuel Morse painting
- "Lafayette (We Hear You Calling)" (1918 song)
- La Fayette (1961 film)
- Valley Forge (1975 film)
- La Révolution française (1989 film)
- Jefferson in Paris (1995 film)
- Liberty! (1997 documentary miniseries)
- Liberty's Kids (2002 television series)
- Hamilton (2015 musical, 2020 film)
- Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (2015 book)
- Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution (2021 book)
- Franklin (2024 miniseries)
- Adrienne de La Fayette (wife)
- Georges Washington de La Fayette (son)
- Michel du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (father)
