On Jan. 10, 1861, Florida became the third state to declare itself sovereign from the U.S. Later, of course, the state joined the Confederate States of America.

Having lived in Florida for four and a half years, I was curious how papers covered this anniversary. On Newseum, I could only find two papers that played the story on A1, but I’m not surprised. Most papers used A1 for follow-ups on Saturday’s shooting of Gabrielle Giffords and the emerging details about Jared Lee Loughner. Additionally, there were papers who began (or continued) their series on Haiti, one year after the earthquake.

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Naples Daily News
Naples, Fla.

That guy in the photo is Fort Myers attorney Hank Hendry, whose great-great-grandfather, Capt. Francis Asbury Hendry, was a Confederate soldier. To read Ryan Mills’ story, go here.

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Florida Today
Melbourne, Fla.

Florida Today marked the anniversary to highlight the efforts of three freed slaves who became the first settlers of Melbourne. At first, I thought this was an odd angle to take, but after re-reading the story, it makes sense. Britt Kennerly writes:

Sparsely populated, residents of what’s now the Space Coast had little connection to the Civil War that raged three days shy of four years and claimed more than 600,000 lives.

But after the battles ended, freed slaves and soldiers who made their way to Brevard played crucial roles in mapping local history.

To read the rest of Britt Kennerly’s story, go here.

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The Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Fla.

My former paper, The Times-Union, played the story on B1. Reporter Kate Howard focused on the sensitive nature of the anniversary, talking to a variety of Floridians to get their perspective. To read her story and see Jon M. Fletcher‘s photos, go here.