Ghost Town of Old Parramore in Jackson County, Florida

Crumbling tobacco barn in Old Parramore

Old Parramore is an almost forgotten ghost town in eastern Jackson County, Florida.

Established in the years after the War Between the States (or Civil War), it was a major riverboat port that came into existence as the local economy shifted from cotton production to naval stores and timber. Paddlewheel boats like the John W. Callahan and W.C. Bradley provided transport for these commodities.

The John W. Callahan often stopped at Old Parramore

Five different riverboat landings served the growing community, providing places where paddlewheel steamboats could edge up to the bank of the Chattahoochee River to load or unload passengers and cargo. The most important of these was Peri Landing (pronounced "pea-rye"). It was located on a bend of the river just north of today's Parramore Landing Park.

A warehouse landing, Peri had storage facilities where farmers and businessmen could leave bales of cotton, timber and other cargo for the riverboats to transport either upriver to Columbus, Georgia, or downriver to Apalachicola, Florida. It holds a unique although forgotten place in local history as the eastern end of a major county road built in 1914 to connect western Jackson County with the Chattahoochee River. The steel Bellamy Bridge over the Chipola River that so many people love and remember was built as part of an upgrade associated with the building of the new road to Peri Landing.

Annual Oak Grove Homecoming at Old Parramore

Back on the high ground away from the river, the town of Parramore grew. It was centered around today's intersection of Oak Grove and Parramore Roads and at its height included at least five stores, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, sawmill, gristmill, post office and more. Large naval stores operations grew around the town, with turpentine stills operating in almost every direction. Local senior citizens recall how they could look to the horizons and see the stacks of the stills streaming black smoke into the air.

Site of Old Parramore business district today.

Railroads and modern highways eventually put the paddlewheel riverboats out of business and Old Parramore vanished with them. One by one the stores, turpentine stills and other businesses faded away. All that is left today are a couple of historic houses, a one-room school, cemeteries and the ruins of Central School.

Making hush puppies at the annual Central School Reunion

Two annual events bring the vanished town back to life each October. The annual Oak Grove Homecoming has been taking place for more than 50 years and features music, historical discussions, a brief sermon and dinner on the grounds. Each year, dozens of current and former Parramore residents and their families attend, along with those who come to learn more about the historic community.

The other event is the Central School Reunion. Former students and their families gather each year at the ruins of the historic school to remember the days of their youth.

If you would like to learn more about this significant Jackson County ghost town, please consider my book:

Old Parramore: The History of a Florida Ghost Town [Book]

Old Parramore: The History of a Florida Ghost Town [Kindle]

Large Crowd enjoys annual Oak Grove Homecoming at Old Parramore

People gather at Old Parramore

A large crowd turned out in the beautiful fall weather on Sunday, October 3rd, for the 49th Annual Oak Grove Homecoming at Old Parramore.

Parramore was a riverboat port that thrived on the Chattahoochee River in eastern Jackson County from around 1885 until the paddlewheel riverboats stopped running in 1927. At its height, the town had 5 stores, a cotton gin, gristmill, blacksmith shop, sawmill, post office and four turpentine stills as well as a series of landings along the river.

The photos below are from the 2010 event at historic Oak Grove Baptist Church, which opens its doors only once each year (for the annual homecoming). Next year will mark the 50th year for the homecoming, which brings together people from all over the country with ties to the historic community.

Basford Brothers Quartet

Dinner on the Grounds

The Picnic Pavilion

Oak Grove Church, a memorial to the people of Old Parramore.

Oak Grove Homecoming at Old Parramore set for Sunday

The annual Oak Grove Homecoming will be held this Sunday (October 3rd) at Old Parramore in eastern Jackson County.

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.

Annual Homecoming Remembers Old Parramore

The 48th annual Oak Grove Homecoming was held on October 4, 2009, in the historic Jackson County "ghost town" of Old Parramore.

The event celebrates the memory of the community and the people who lived there and has continued with crowds large and small for nearly fifty years. Other than for an occasional wedding or funeral, Oak Grove Baptist Church is used only once each year, for the annual homecoming.

More than 100 people attended this year's event, which featured music by the Covenant Quartet, a popular Gospel group, a message from Rev. Lucius B. "Cap" Pooser and a discussion of the history of Parramore by me. Most popular, however, was the annual dinner on the grounds which gave those in attendance the opportunity to interact and remember old friends and make new ones.

Many descendants of Parramore residents use the annual reunion as an opportunity to learn more about the historic community and to explore their family genealogies.

Parramore was an important riverboat town that grew on the high ground back from the Chattahoochee River during the 1880s and 1890s. The area had been settled as early as the 1750s by members of the Perryman family, English traders who settled with and married into the local Creek Indians. They operated large farms and cattle ranches at Parramore through both the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Other settlers came following the transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States in 1821 and by the time of the War Between the States numerous farms and homes stood through the area.

Local men and boys served in numerous regiments during the War Between the States and also fought at the Battle of Marianna as members of local home guard units. At least one significant skirmish took place in the vicinity when a band of organized deserters and Unionists attacked and disarmed a company of Confederate cavalry.

The town itself was a product of growing commerce on the Chattahoochee River during the 1870s and 1880s. Timber and turpentine operations in the vast longleaf pine forests of the area led to the development of an industrial complex that spurred the growth of the community. By 1900, Parramore had a post office, cotton gin, sawmill, gristmill, blacksmith shop, a number of stores and several landings on the Chattahoochee where limber and barrels of rosin could be loaded aboard paddlewheel steamboats for transport either down to Apalachicola or up to Columbus, Georgia.

The fading of the naval stores industry after World War I also sparked the doom of the town. The riverboats slowly stopped running and by 1950, the old town was gone. One by one the remaining structures disappeared until only a few remain today. Parramore is once again a quiet community in the piney woods of Jackson County.

Be sure to watch for my commemorative book, Old Parramore: The History of a Florida Ghost Town, which will be released later this fall. I'll keep you up to date on release plans. All proceeds from the book will benefit the care of Oak Grove Church and Cemetery, the annual Oak Grove Homecoming, and the Central School Reunion in Old Parramore.