In the early 1920's an Indiana businessman named A.F. Knotts came to Florida and settled along the coast west of Inglis. He called the area "Yankeetown", and promoted the area as a fishing resort. Legend has it that the name Yankeetown was first coined by a mail carrier who used the term to contrast it with nearby Inglis - which was referred to by locals as "crackertown".

Even though Yankeetown was originally known as a resort for wealthy northern sport fishermen, the local residents found during the great depression that they could make a decent living by commercial fishing, shrimping, and crabbing. That tradition remains today, and the town continues to be a quaint fishing village.

As far as small towns go, Yankeetown has a large amount of area - over twenty one square miles in all. But being a coastal area, much of that area is uninhabitable salt marsh, so only a little over seven square miles is dry land. And 413 acres is occupied by Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve - a city-owned park that is open to the public. The Preserve has a nature center, several miles of hiking trails, and a lookout tower.

No description of Yankeetown would be complete without mentioning its most famous visitor - Elvis Presley. The filming of the 1962 Elvis film "Follow That Dream" took place on site in Yankeetown, Inglis, and Inverness. The main set for the movie was a piece of undeveloped land where State Road 40 crosses Bird Creek. To commemorate the event, local residents renamed the portion of SR40 from US19 to the Gulf as "Follow That Dream Parkway".

Each year in November, Yankeetown holds a weekend-long seafood festival that is sponsored by the local Lions Club. The event includes entertainment, arts and crafts vendors, games, and of course lots of local seafood. A kayak fishing contest dubbed the "Nature Coast Challenge" is also held each April.Activities & Facilities

RestaurantPlaygroundPicnic shelterDogs allowedShort hiking trailsPaved bike trailsSwimmingOpen gulf kayakingRiver or lake kayakingMotor boatingTent campingRV sitesFishing

• Yankeetown official website
• Withlacoochee Gulf Area Chamber of Commerce
• Withlacoochee Gulf Preserve website