Monticello, Florida

Episode 10 / 22 March 2017 / 63 min / full

A British Tourist Murdered

"This week we are in Montecello, Florida ... It's in Jefferson County, which is on the border of Georgia." about 0:02:59

The case: Murder of Gary Collie (September 14, 1993). Read the case file.

The figures, as told in 2017

Population

2,411

Median age

44.2

Median household income

$40,000

Median home value

$90,000

Two-bedroom rent

$680 average

Cost of living

84 out of 100

Religious

62%

Property crime

right about the U.S. average

Violent crime

▲ more than twice the average rate

Killing of a tourist in Florida in the past year

the ninth

Florida tourism industry

$30 billion a year

Florida tourism

20% decline between 1993 and 1995

History, in brief

• As of 1850 there were only 320 people living in Monticello; by 1860 there were a thousand, after the railroad arrived. about 0:05:04
• Jefferson County was formed in 1827 and is named after Thomas Jefferson. about 0:06:42
• Monticello is named after Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello, though Floridians pronounce it Montecello. about 0:06:52
• In the 1850s and 1860s the railroad let the town ship cotton, and the land was cleared for cotton fields. about 0:07:59
• In 1882 William Ceradew brought the first shipment of watermelon seeds to the region. about 0:08:38
• By the 1920s Jefferson County produced 80% of the world's watermelons. about 0:08:47
• The courthouse was built in 1908 with one-foot-thick concrete interior walls and is still in use. about 0:09:36
• The courthouse was modernised for heating and cooling in 1968, but the judge's bench and jury box are original. about 0:09:50
• Monticello is called the most haunted small town in America, especially the Jefferson County correctional facility. about 0:10:01
• The Monticello Historic District has 42 nineteenth-century buildings within 27 blocks. about 0:20:16
• The annual Monticello Watermelon Festival is held outside the Monticello Opera House on June 27th. about 0:20:34

Open the episode file