Chattahoochee, FL news and local guide

American settlers first called the community Mount Vernon in the 1820s, for George Washington's home, but because mail was confused with Mount Vernon, Alabama, it was renamed Chattahoochee, from Creek words meaning "marked rocks." It was incorporated as the Town of Chattahoochee on January 22, 1834, and became a city in 1921. The U.S. Army built the Apalachicola Arsenal, first called the Mount Vernon Arsenal, between 1832 and 1839 as an arms depot during the Second Seminole War. Confederate troops took it in 1861, the Freedmen's Bureau used it until 1868, and it then became the state's first penitentiary. In 1876 the old arsenal became Florida's first mental hospital, now Florida State Hospital, and paddlewheel steamboats called at the river landing, where several wrecks can still be seen. Sources The Historical Marker Database: Chattahoochee Landing Mound Group (Chattahoochee Main Street and the City of Chattahoochee) The Historical Marker Database: Apalachicola Arsenal (Florida State Hospital and the Florida Department of State) Wikipedia: Chattahoochee, Florida