25. Dead Lakes and "New" Iola

Lake Grove Road

Pilings of Trestle, St. Joseph and Iola Railroad, Dead Lakes

Here you will find 80 square miles of some of the best freshwater fishing in the nation. Once known as Chipola Lake, the lake was formed naturally when the waters of the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers converged, flooding the low lying area and killing scores of cypress trees.

Dead Lakes, 2006

The pilings of the St. Joseph and Iola Railroad trestle are still visible from the bridge on Lake Grove Road. The trestle, considered an engineering marvel of its day, was built by hundreds of slave laborers. Lake Grove Road was named for the groves of Satsuma oranges that once grew near the lake.

In the 1870s the “New” Iola was reactivated nearby. A post office was established and the land platted for subdivisions. The subdivisions were never developed, but a number of resort hotels and fishing lodges were built to cater to wealthy people from Georgia and Alabama who came to fish on Chipola Lake and to hunt for turkeys and deer along its banks.

Ox-drawn mail wagon at Iola, 1884

Listen to Apalachicola native George Core recall being a guest at the Thronoteeska Lodge during the 1930s: Real Network Windows Media Player

Today little remains of the “New” Iola. Much of the land is now behind locked gates in private hunting clubs.

Click on the photos below to view some photos and drawings from a 1908 booklet extolling the virtues of Chipola Lake.

A Man's Duty (click image to enlarge)

After a Day's Hunt (click image to enlarge)

Private launch (click image to enlarge)

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