Nalaka, sometimes written Nalaca, was a

Highlands County, Florida Highlands County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital ...

settlement that sprang up as a

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

industry town in the early 20th century, founded around 1918 and ceasing to exist by 1929. Nalaka was one of the settlements set up along the Kissimmee River Railway connecting logging and timber industry towns to a branch line of the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

system. By the 1920s, the town was controlled by Consolidated Naval Stores (now part of the Consolidated Tomoka Land Company); the only store in the town was the company's commissary. The population of the town was approximately 250 at its peak, large enough to secure it an official

US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

office. In 1929, the town was disassembled by Consolidated Naval Stores and relocated near

Lake Placid, Florida Lake Placid is a town in Highlands County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Sebring, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,360, up from 2,223 at the 2010 census. The town has two nickname ...

. This was typical for turpentine operations once the trees needed for raw materials were used up. Archaeologists have found remnants of the clay cups used to catch the turpentine tapped from the area's trees near the site of the former town.

References

Former populated places in Highlands County, Florida Populated places established in 1918 Populated places disestablished in 1929 1918 establishments in Florida 1929 disestablishments in the United States {{HighlandsCountyFL-geo-stub