Iron Butt Association 2015 Daytona Party – Full Court 1000

The 2015 IBA Daytona Party,” Full Court,” took us to court houses in Florida and Georgia and the basketball area at the University of Florida. The instruction sheet for the ride gave us a brief description of the court. My friends, Rey, Matt, Bob, and I made the trip together. It was very challenging as there were twelve stops and it was well after 3 a.m. when we got back to the hotel.

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This is Lowndes County’s seventh courthouse, built in 1905 for $60,000.

This is the original county courthouse, although somewhat modified. It was built in 1907 by the Falls City Construction County for a cost of $45,000. A clock tower which original ly topped the courthouse was removed in a 1954 renovation.

Georgia’s small town county seats have some classic courthouses. Turner County is known as “The Peanut Capital of the World; Ashburn is home of “The Fire Ant Festival.”

The Terrell County Courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1892 for a cost of $36,832.

Donalsonville, the county seat for Seminole County, incorp orated on December 8, 1897. Constructed in 1922, the county courthouse in Donalsonville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 1905 Courthouse Bell. The 1905 courthouse was torn down, but a benefactor saved the bell and loaned it to the county for display outside the new courthouse.

Walton County is home to t he highest point in Florida, Britton Hill, at 345 feet above sea level. If you rode the Florida Mountain 1000 a few years ago, you have been there!

The coordinates will take you to the south side of the square where there is a gas station with a little room to park . This is an ideal location from which to take a picture of the courthouse and the Hanging Tree…the large oak in front of you. Local legend has it that this is the tree where hangings were conducted on Thursday afternoons, and all businesses closed at Noon on Thursday so that employees and the public could attend the hangings. True or not, many businesses still close on Thursday afternoons in Monticello.

We could not have a Full Court ride without a basketball arena. The O’Connell Center is the home of the Florida G ator basketball team, back to back NCAA champions in 2006 and 2007. The arena is named for Stephen C O’Connell, who was a justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1955 to 1967 , and served as the sixth president of the University of Florida from 1967 to 1973.

The historic Citrus County courthouse, built in 1912, is now the county Heritage Museum. In 1961, scenes from the mo vie “Follow That Dream,” starring Elvis Presley, were filmed in the courtroom.

The Old Polk County Courthouse is now the Polk County Historical Museum. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Volusia County court house is on the National Register of Historic places.

As usual, there was an awards ceremony and a banquet in the evening.