Narcoossee, Florida (ghost town)

Former stop on the defunct Kissimmee Valley Line of the Florida East Coast Railroad.

Narcoossee was begun in the late 1800's as a settlement by E. Nelson Fell, on a huge tract of land on the shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga. The town name comes from the Creek Indian word for Bear. English settlers began to arrive in 1883, drawn by newspaper advertisements extolling the virtues of the area and its citrus groves, promising an annual income of $10,000 once the groves matured. In 1888 the St. Cloud & Sugar Belt Railway (later renamed the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad) came thru the town area, expanding the citrus shipping possibilities and improving the local economy. Construction of the Saint Luke And Saint Peter Church began in 1892, it's completion delayed until 1898 by a bank failure. In 1910, Fell acquired title to 144 square miles in Indian River County, founded the town of Fellsmere, and took many of the Narcoossee settlers with him. The community disbanded, leaving only a handful of residents. In 1930 the church was dismantled and moved to St. Cloud.