Polk County FlArchives News.....The Coldest Day on Record January 2, 1895
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Teresa McGowin tmcgowin@earthlink.net September 30, 2007, 9:09 pm

Bartow Courier-Informant January 2, 1895
THE FREEZE LAST SATURDAY WORSE THAN THAT OF 1886
NEARLY ALL THE ORANGE CROP FROZEN

The Trees In This Section Not Seriously Damaged – Although the Thermometer 
Went Down to 19 Degrees - The Vegetable Crop Will be Replanted and Will Come 
in Yet

The coldest day on record. Saturday, December 29th, will be long remembered by 
residents of Polk County and South Florida as having been the coldest day ever 
known in this section.  On Friday afternoon it began to grow colder and 
towards night it was evident that the Dakota blizzard’s tail would sweep over 
us before morning.

The mercury began to drop steadily until it is said to have reached 18 degrees 
just before day on Saturday morning.  At 8 o’clock it stood at 22 and during 
the day it ranged from that point up to 38 and during the night it went down 
again to 22 to 24.

On January 12th, 1886, which is the coldest day of which we have any record in 
Florida, the thermometer at Bartow got down to 21, according to our best 
information, although some say it went to 21.  The weather observer at 
Jacksonville says that in 1886 the lowest point there was 15 while this year 
it touched the 14 mark.  Jacksonville is much higher up that this, however, it 
must be remembered.  In Tampa the official register for 1886 was 19 degrees 
while on Saturday last it was 18.9 or practically the same.

There is one thing certain, however, and that is that it was cold enough on 
Saturday morning to freeze most of the oranges in the state and a recent 
careful estimate placed the number on the trees at 2,500,000 boxes.

The damage to orange groves in the upper portion of the state will also be 
very heavy as in some places both old and young trees may be killed.  Here, 
according to what we have seen and the best information to be obtained, we do 
not see any material damage to the larger trees.  The recent tender growth is 
out back, or course, and all the trees will probably drop their leaves, but 
this will in no way effect the next year’s crop.  We are not writing this for 
effect simply, but because we have ever reason to believe ti is true and the 
most experienced growers agree with us in this.

The nursery trees and young grove trees may in some instances have to be cut 
back and rebudded, but many of these even will lose nothing but the leaf and 
small twigs.

The vegetable crop is almost a complete loss for the time being.  The tomatoes 
and other vegetables were much earlier this year than last and now that they 
are killed they will have to come in about the time they used to.

The growers are all hard at work getting ready to replant and as the ground is 
all in good fix it will not take many days to set things right again.  Of 
course some work has been lost and we shall have to wait a little longer for 
returns but they will come in just the same and they will be good when they 
come too.  Polk county can yet get vegetables into the markets long ahead of 
any other part of the country and her people will do it.

The same story of the cold comes from all sections of the state.  Way down on 
the east coast orange trees, vegetables and pineapples suffered the same fate 
as they did higher up.  In the northern part of the state around Quincy and 
Tallahassee snow fell and the Pullman sleepers were covered with snow when 
they went into Tampa, thus furnishing a sight for the small cracker boy which 
he had never before seen.

The transportation lines will be heavy losers too along with others as the 
bulk of the orange crop was yet to be shipped. 

Some of the oldest settlers in the state have heard their fathers talk about a 
freeze in 1835 which they think must have been as hard as this but from the 
best information to be had this is the worst since Florida was uncovered, and 
this being true there will probably be no more the kind during the next 6,000 
years, so there is plenty of time to get in a few more crops.


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