Along sections of a sand rut road that span field and woods, ranchers leap off of a truck to open and close gates. The crew is led to what was formerly the settlement of Wetappo by a navigator who names the turns along the area. There were just about 67 people living in the little settlement of Wetappo in 1910. The settlement was located on the East Bay shoreline, south of Sandy Creek, close to the Gulf County boundary. Over time, the settlement’s land changed hands before being sold to Deseret Cattle & Timber, a division of Deseret Ranches of Florida.
The ranch agreed to allow a reporter to look at whether any remnants of the town remained after the News Herald contacted them. A soon-to-be Gulf Coast State College archaeology graduate accompanied them to the ranch office to meet the property manager and their GIS analyst.
The locations of fields and buildings in the early 20th century were depicted on historic maps from the Historical Society of Bay County, which matched 1941 aerial photos. Deseret’s GIS analyst used a big GPS stick to guide the party through the woods while the News Herald placed the old maps onto contemporary imagery to identify spots of interest.
The team swatted away bugs and slogged through muggy conditions, not finding the structures from the old maps and aerial photos. Some old ceramic, copper tubing, an old metal boat ballast, and some metal composites were thought to be of interest by Kenna Beote, the student archaeologist. Some dilapidated wooden structures were present, and the area was littered with old planks and debris. Hunters had been hanging out in the area over the years, leaving stands and beer cans. It was unclear what came from their hideouts or what materials blew into the location during Hurricane Michael, as opposed to what could be evidence of the former town. Marlene Womack, the late local historian and veteran News Herald contributor, wrote about the town in her book “The Bay Country of Northwest Florida.”