History

Torreya State Park is one of the original Florida state parks developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the Great Depression. The park was named for the rare Florida tree Torreya taxifolia, which was named for American botanist John Torrey.

The site was selected to be a park primarily because it possessed significant historical associations, including the location of six Confederate gun pits along Battery or Neal’s Bluff and an antebellum cotton warehouse at Rock Bluff Landing. Those historical resources prompted CCC planners to create plans that included dismantling and relocating the historic Jason Gregory House from its original location at Ocheesee Landing across the Apalachicola River.

The house’s location on the high bluffs overlooking the river now provides one of Florida’s most scenic views.