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| One of two displays installed at Riverfront Park |
Over the last several weeks’, nine eye-catching wooden interpretive signs, about waist high and brown in color have been installed throughout Apalachicola alongside waterfront properties owned by the city.
The project is an initiative of city administrator Betty Webb that was inspired by a vision of Johnny Meyers, who served as the city planner during the 1980’s. Meyers envisioned a boardwalk that would connect the city’s working waterfront with interpretive signs erected along the way. Webb resurrected the idea of at least the installation of the signs about five years ago, and after receiving the go ahead from the city commission, she applied for and received funding through a grant from Visit Florida and the Franklin County Tourist Development Council.
The city then partnered with the Apalachicola Main Street Committee, where member Jim Bachrach volunteered to help erect the signs, along with the design and construction of the hand-laid brick pavers at the base of each display.
The displays and graphics were designed and constructed by Cindy and Chris Clark of Bay Media Services, with research help from local historian Mark Curenton, the Apalachicola Maritime Museum, Apalachicola Municipal Library and the Florida State photo archives.
The nine interpretive displays are located at city owned properties along and near the waterfront and each recount a different historical, economic and cultural influence that has helped shape Apalachicola. Topics include early steamship traffic, timber industry, seafood, cotton and sponge industries, the Civil War, environmental importance, railroad and general history.
Each of the displays features historic images of the town and interesting narrative about the topic, each display also features a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphones to link back to the City of Apalachicola website where additional information about each interpretative display topic is available.
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