>>Funding for Florida Road Trip was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

>>On this edition of Florida Road Trip, we head to the northwest part of the state.

Join us as we uncover the interesting and unusual stories about the city of Tallahassee.

Road Trip is back on the road.

[MUSIC] Hello, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Florida Road Trip.

I'm Allison Godlove.

Today we make a stop in Florida's capital city, Tallahassee, a city that was founded largely out of convenience.

>>Tallahassee was a planned and intentional city.

It was planned to be a capital, all because of the trouble getting from place to place in early frontier Florida.

The United States took over Florida in 1821 and had their first territorial legislative council in Pensacola the next year.

In 1822, they decided that they would go to Saint Augustine the year after, but because there was no land route to it, they decided that they needed a place that they could meet in the middle.

So they sent a surveyor and he went to approximately the middle between Pensacola and Saint Augustine, and that was this place.

Tallahassee is what American settlers thought they heard from the Seminole Indians about what the Seminoles called this place, old town or old fields.

So I'm not confident that the American settlers heard whatever it was the Indians told them this place was called.

But old fields, old town is what has come to us.

From 1824, Tallahassee was where the legislature and the government has been headquartered and centered from that day until this.

>>By the end of the Civil War, Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi not to be captured by union forces.

Through the years, Tallahassee has been home to four state capitol buildings.

The first was a log cabin and then a simple, undersized wooden structure.

Finally, in the late 1830s, plans began to construct a true state capitol building.

>>Ultimately, in the 1830s, they requested an appropriation of about $20,000 from the federal government to get started on building a more permanent capitol.

They were awarded those funds and there were a number of construction problems, and so ultimately they received a second appropriation of $20,000 that enabled them to finish that capitol for the 1845 statehood.

Multiple times over the years, as the capitol develops in Tallahassee, as additions are put on in 1902, the twenties and forties, they're always kind of grappling with the idea that they might move the capitol somewhere else.

>>Tallahassee was the economic engine and the political influence center in the 1800s, but that disappeared in the 1900s as Tallahassee became less and less influential.

And in the 1960s, a legislator introduced a bill to move the capital to Orlando, which was not an unreasonable thing.

Kind of at the centerpiece of it is Senator Lee Weissenborn.

He puts forward this proposal to move to Central Florida or South Florida, which is something we frankly still kind of talk about decade by decade today.

When that happens, they ultimately decide, kind of the northern legislators known as the Pork Chop Gang really kind of wield their influence and encourage the legislature to keep the capital in Tallahassee.

So then they make the decision, are they going to build on this building, update it or build a new building?

They build the new building.

They hire Edward Durell Stone very well known at the time.

They do not cheap out.

Essentially, they hire someone who is super famous and has done really outstanding buildings like Radio City Music Hall in New York City or the Kennedy Center in D.C.

So he comes up with this design to do a skyscraper and puts it forward to, you know, the Capital Improvement Commission and then the design negotiations start.

>>They indicate to us not only its better functionally, aesthetically, but also we can build it more inexpensively.

And I really think that that we will have a a beautiful capitol.

I think it'll be one that will be a credit to the state.

And I hope the legislature passes the money for us to be able to build it.

>>Edward Durell Stone did not want you to have to look at the old historic capital building in front of his new capital structure, so they propose to tear down the historic capitol.

And Floridians ultimately do not like that decision.

And so they start protesting it at every level of the state process.

>>Let's save that grand old southern lady on the Hill, we've served her spirit well and well we will.

>>Ultimately, the decision to save the historic capitol was really a night that was called the Save the Old Capitol night in 1978.

And essentially they opened the doors of this building and imagined what could be.

They filled it with flowers from women's clubs and garden clubs around the state.

And there was tours of the state vaults, you know, by the by the Treasurer.

And so all of these things really made people think about the fact that this building not only had witnessed so much of Florida's history, but could serve a purpose in the future.

And because of that, they ultimately decided to save the building.

There's very few places, I think, in the country where you had this opportunity to see a super modern structure and a more traditional classical structure tied together so well.

So you learn about history and then you see history and it's just all within this one space.

It's really a really amazing opportunity, I think, for for Floridians and visitors from around the world.

>.Only about two miles west of the state capitol, you can take a step back into some of Florida's earliest history.

Mission San Luis dates back to the 1600s when the Spanish and Apalachee Indians found common ground.

>>For hundreds of years, the Apalachee and other Native Americans lived in Florida.

They were farming and living on this land, creating villages, and they were known for their strength and their power as a community, as a tribe with their leadership.

And it really was an ideal place, an area of high hills that you could see over the land, an area of farming.

And when the Spanish came to Florida to expand their reign, their lands and their religious beliefs, they came and interacted with the Apalachee in the late 1600s and agreed to expand their mission system here through this area of Florida.

>>Mission San Luis became the capital of the western Spanish missions and the Apalachee nation from 1656 to 1704.

14,000 people called the Mission home and it was the only settlement beyond Saint Augustine, where several hundred Spanish lived among Florida's native peoples for three generations.

Today, as you walk around Mission San Luis, you get a true sense of what life was like for settlers back in 1700.

>>So when you come to this site, you see reconstructions of the village that was here before.

You can experience the Spanish house, the council house, the church, the blacksmith shop and the fort.

We have living history interpreters in period wardrobe that are working through the day to day activities.

The farming, blacksmithing, cooking.

And we give you an experience in which you can step back into time and be a part of our historic village and see and feel and experience exactly what was happening in early Florida.

So it's one thing to be able to walk into a museum, walk into a gallery and see things behind glass.

But it's another thing to live it and experience it and be a part of it.

It's very compelling for people to be able to come here and to be part of our village.

>>One of the city's most peaceful spots has a no vacancy sign.

Taking a stroll through Old City Cemetery is like taking a walk through Tallahassee history.

The Old City Cemetery is about ten acres in size and is the oldest public cemetery in Tallahassee.

>>Tallahassee's Old City Cemetery goes back to the 1820s when the town was founded and the earliest grave marker that still exists is dated 1829.

The Old City Cemetery since that time has kept pace with Tallahassee's growth.

What we have there is an outdoor Museum of Florida history.

>>The cemetery is the final resting place of governors and civic leaders from Florida's early history.

It was also a rarity back in those times that allowed both whites and slaves to be buried in the same cemetery.

Confederate soldiers have their own section of the cemetery, as do union soldiers.

Yes, the Old City Cemetery is full of history, but it's also just plain full.

The final plot was sold back in 1920.

>>There are fashion statements there from the 1830s, the new Victorian fashion for obelisks and Greek altars, and then later marble and granite tombstones.

Mr. Westcott has one of the earliest granite tombstones in the cemetery.

So there's Florida history.

There's fashion history.

Well, who could ask for more from a from an old city cemetery?

>>But the one grave that seems to draw the most attention is that of Elizabeth Bud Graham.

>>A gentleman who worked for the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper as a feature writer, didn't have anything to write about in 1976.

So he made up a story that this particular grave marker, which is the largest in the cemetery, faces west instead of east.

That was not the way that most people were buried in the 1800s.

They were buried facing east.

So he made up the story, whole cloth that she must have been a witch.

And since 1976, that rumor that made up rumor has been something that the newspapers have taken up because it's fun.

In fact, she was a good Presbyterian and her husband was an architect in Jacksonville.

But there is no actual witchcraft at all in any way whatsoever in connection with that woman or the cemetery.

>>Tallahassee isn't just the state capital.

It's a college town, home to two major universities, Florida State and Florida A&M.

>>So when we think about the history of Florida State University with our establishment in 1851 and becoming operational in 1857, we are the site of the longest continuing institution of higher education in the state of Florida.

In 1851, the Buckman Act establishes the seminary west of the Suwannee here in Tallahassee, Florida.

Seminary in the 19th century was really a place of higher learning, not necessarily a religious education, as we might use that term today.

The original college was co-ed, but in 1905, the school became Florida State College, which was only for female students.

It stayed that way until 1946.

>>In the 1940s, recognizing the influx of veterans and GIs after World War Two and a need for expansion higher education here in Florida in 1947, we become Florida State University and go back to being a co-educational institution.

In 1947, the student body numbered at about 4,056, and by 1949, just that first two years, that number increased 25%, leading us to today, where we have, I believe, almost 49,000 students at Florida State University.

>>Some three decades ago, Florida State University outdueled MIT as a host site for a most prestigious research facility that in some ways touches each and every one of us.

The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, or MagLab, as it's called, is funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida, a facility that is truly one of a kind.

>>The MagLab is the largest and highest powered magnet lab in the world.

This is like the center of the universe for high magnetic field research.

And essentially we exist to design and build the most powerful magnets in the world and then share them with scientists who come from all over the globe to conduct research using the power of high magnetic fields.

We actually opened for science back in 1994, and we've been hosting about 1,500-2,000 scientists who come to conduct their own research every year.

I think people don't realize that Florida is home to the world's most powerful magnets and that we are home to this national asset for high field research.

And you know that we are a destination for researchers from literally around the world who travel here to to conduct their experiments.

>>Magnets are used in a wide variety of research, from technology to science to medicine and even the environment.

>>High magnetic fields turn out to be these exceptionally interdisciplinary research tools.

If you've been to a doctor's office or a hospital and you've had an MRI, you've actually been in the center of a powerful magnet yourself, and they tell us all sorts of really important things that help us create the technology of the future, build ways to treat diseases, energy solutions, and protect our planet.

We measure the strength of a magnet in a unit called Tesla.

It's not just the car, it's the strength of magnetic fields.

And it's actually named after Nikola Tesla, a famous pioneer in electricity and magnetism research.

So when we think about magnets, you know, a lot of us picture the things on our refrigerators and that fridge magnet at your house, it's probably .02 Tesla or something like that.

If you've ever seen a junkyard magnet that could pick up a whole car, that's about one Tesla.

And here at the MagLab in Tallahassee, at our headquarters facility at Florida State University, we have magnets that reach 45 Tesla, exceptionally powerful.

You know, people are bringing samples of materials to put in powerful magnets, and they're learning about the electronic behavior of those materials.

And so the discoveries that are being made in these magnets are literally building the technology of the future.

>>One of the legendary stadiums in college football, Doak Campbell Stadium, home to the Florida State Seminoles.

The stadium opened in 1950 and was named after the university's first president.

The 19 foot high “Unconquered ” sculpture stands tall outside of Doak Campbell as a permanent tribute to the Seminole people and their lasting legacy that continues to burn bright.

With a capacity of over 79,000, The stadium is the largest continuous brick structure in the United States.

Just outside of Doak Campbell Stadium is a unique spot called the FSU Sod Cemetery, a tradition that has been going on for six decades.

>>In 1962, Florida State had only been playing football for about 15 years and the team was going to go play the University of Georgia.

Georgia was highly favored over Florida State, but Dean Coyle Moore challenged them.

He said, when you win at Sanford Stadium, I want you to reach down and grab a little turf and bring it back to me as a memento, because I know you can beat them.

They did go to Georgia and they unexpectedly beat Georgia 18 to nothing.

Two of the captains reached down.

They grabbed a little grass and they brought it back to Dean and they presented it to him.

So he talked to Coach Bill Peterson and they decided they would bury the sod, put a little plaque over to remember the day when the Seminoles had gone on the road against the crowd, against the odds.

But they won.

They persevered.

>>Since that time, whenever FSU goes on the road as the underdog and pulls off the upset or every away game against the Florida Gators or any bowl or championship game, the team captain will bring back a small piece of sod.

>>And so the sod cemetery tradition has gone on since 1962, and since that time now 109 times, the Seminoles have won sod victories and brought it back.

And the larger plaques are for bowl wins or championship games.

The smaller ones are for regular season.

It's sort of a stationary place that has a lot of life to it because it memorializes a lot of Seminole victories and it's a lot of fun.

>>Tallahassee has had the good fortune to be the home to not one but two legendary football coaches.

First, of course, is Florida State's Bobby Bowden, who led the Seminoles from 1976 through 2009.

During those 34 years, Bowdens Seminoles finished in college football's top five rankings for 14 consecutive seasons, setting a record which doubled any other program.

His 377 career wins is a second most of any college coach.

>>I've heard neutral parties say they've never seen a guy who matched the university or meant as much to the university as a coach than did Bobby Bowden in Florida State.

I think it was a sincerity.

He wasn't a used car salesman.

He was just who he was.

And it didn't take long to realize that if you were a recruit, if you were a donor, if you were a student looking at a school, it didn't take long to figure out this guy was genuine.

>>I want - I want tough boys that will pay the price to win and to be thankful for that they've got the opportunity to play football and that will take the attitude of what can I do for the university and athletics instead of what can you give me?

I mean, we wouldn't be what we are and Tallahassee wouldn't be what it was and is without Coach Bowden.

>>Bowden's final game came in the 2010 Gator Bowl, where FSU defeated West Virginia.

The team where in the early seventies Bowden had coached prior to coming to Florida State.

>>I've walked off the field with him when we won a national championship and when we've lost national championships, he's exactly the same guy and there's not too many people you can say that about.

There was no the lights are on.

I'm going to be Bobby Bowden.

He was that way when the lights were on and the lights were off and didn't put on airs for anything.

And we all learned a lot from that.

He had that ability to engage people on the same level.

And, you know, a lot came from his faith and he wanted to have relationships with people.

He was so genuine.

I mean, he was literally as good a person I've ever been around.

And it's an awful lot of fun to work for and admire somebody that really is that way.

>>A second coaching legend in Tallahassee was Florida A&Ms, Jake Gaither.

He served as the Rattlers head coach for 25 years from 1945 to 1969, compiling a record of 204 wins, 36 losses and four ties.

His 0.844 winning percentage is among the best of any college football coach.

>>That's what makes a game of football so much like the game of life.

Your best friend is going to let you down.

Sometimes you're going to lose your job.

You must learn how to face those adverses, get up off the floor and come back fighting.

>>One of Gaithers star players was Bullet Bob Hays, once considered the world's fastest man.

Hays went on to play for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys for 11 seasons.

Hays is the only man to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl ring.

>>Bob Hays was this one boy that if he had had no mother and father, we probably would have adopted him.

That's just how much I loved Bob Hays.

>>Jake Gaither passed away in 1994 at the age of 90.

He was so respected that a FAMU gymnasium, a community playground, a public golf course, a recreation center, a street and a neighborhood are all named in his honor.

>>Now, go out in life with the idea of being tough, excellent.

Whatever you do.

Your game here want worth a dime if it doesnt make better men of you.

You had everything that we could want in a great football team.

Blood, sweat and tears.

>>Going to college can be a new and exciting experience for students.

But at FSU, it can literally be like running away to join the circus.

For the past 75 years, the FSU Flying High Circus has been a long standing tradition at Florida State University.

It's one of only two colleges in the nation with a circus program and the only one with its own big top tent.

The Flying High Circus has been part of Florida State University since 1947.

When the university became coeducational, the athletic director at the time knew Jack Haskin, who had circus experience, and they brought him in specifically to create this circus program.

They thought it was a good way to bring in coeducational kind of activity for for men and women students.

There are some staying power, I guess you could say if it stayed around for for 75 years.

It certainly is unique and unusual for a university to have this type of program.

Each year, over 200 students try out to be part of the circus with about 100 or so students actually making the cast and crew.

We hope that the students take a lot away out of this program, not just the obviously the the skills and things they learn from a circus standpoint.

But what we do hope they take from this is is a camaraderie and the friendships they make and then the things that we value here, you know, hard work, cooperation, communication skills.

And you talk to our alumni and they still talk about their time here in this program, what it meant to them.

And I think it kind of speaks volumes to the impact that it has on their students.

One of those FSU alumni is former Orange County mayor and current Orange County School Board chair Teresa Jacobs.

>>First day they had me climbing up a rope, which in and of itself was difficult and sticking my foot in this loop and then hanging upside down by my foot and spinning around exhausted, completely exhausted, scared to death and said, “Can we come back tomorrow?

” And I never stopped coming.

>>Jacobs says her political career was all made possible by the life lessons learned while with the FSU circus.

>>I just kept coming back to what my coach had said: “Don't let fear stand in the way of something you want to do.

” And if I hadn't taken that away, I honestly do not think I would have taken that step and got in that race and my life would be entirely different.

I was never planning on running for office.

I felt like there was a need, but I wouldn't have had the courage.

So that was one of the huge takeaways is just have the courage to do the things you want to do.

There are so many wonderful relationships that came out of that, but the best thing that I came away from that experience with was a wonderful husband, four wonderful children, and a friends for life.

>>May all of your days be Circus Days.

>>That wraps up this edition of Florida Road Trip, I'm Allison Godlove.

Join us again next time as we continue to explore the rich culture that surrounds us each and every day.

Funding for Florida Road Trip was provided through a grant from Florida Humanities with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.