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Parramore was a town that thrived from around 1885 to 1927 as a riverboat port where cargoes of lumber, turpentine, cotton, catfish and even gopher tortoises were shipped out on paddlewheel steamboats for transport up or down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers. At its height, the community - which was never incorporated but was a town just the same - had five stores, a cotton gin, sawmill, gristmill, blacksmith shop, four turpentine stills, post office and more. Today it has been reclaimed by the pine woods.
Each year on the first Sunday in October, however, Old Parramore comes back to life. Oak Grove Baptist Church, which opens its doors only once a year, plays host to the annual Oak Grove Reunion. The gathering brings people and families with ties to the Parramore area back for conversation, a church service, dinner on the grounds and music.
This year's event will take place on Sunday and things will get started around 10 a.m. I've donated 20 signed copies of my new book, Old Parramore: The History of a Florida Ghost Town, to Oak Grove Church and they will be available for donations to the church, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to support the annual homecoming and care of the historic church and grounds.
If you can't make it to the homecoming, the book is also available through Amazon.com by following the link at left.
