Nestled on the western side of the winding Royal Palm River Hammock Creek between Mud Bay and Palm Bay lies the abandoned settlement of Grocery Place.
The settlement is now a part of Collier-Seminole State Park and is utilized as a primitive campsite accessed by a 5-mile paddle.
Tommie Camilla Stephens Barfield
Several Southwest Florida pioneer families began here with small farmsteads. One of these were the notable Stephens family, of which the daughter would become known as the “Queen of Marco.”
In 1901, at the age of 13, Tommie Camilla Stephens with her parents and siblings arrived in Caxambus, a small community on Marco Island, after an arduous trek from Cordele, Georgia. Tommie had no inkling of her future influence on the community.