Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Perry Perry, FL

Perry is a city in Florida's Big Bend region and the county seat of Taylor County - in fact, it is the only incorporated city in the entire county.

Perry was incorporated in 1903 and was named for Madison Starke Perry, the fourth governor of Florida and a Confederate colonel during the Civil War.

Perry was first settled around 1860, just a few years after Taylor County was created on December 23, 1856, and named for Zachary Taylor, the twelfth president of the United States.

Perry had 6,898 residents at the 2020 census, down slightly from 7,017 in 2010, and it sits about 50 miles southeast of Tallahassee along the Gulf coast's Big Bend.

Perry has around 2,800 households, and about 60% of its homes are owner-occupied, with a median household income of about $40,900.

Perry grew up around the timber and turpentine trade, shipping yellow pine out through Gulf coast landings, and Taylor County has been known as the 'Tree Capital of the South' since a 1965 designation by Governor W. Haydon Burns.

Perry hosts the annual Florida Forest Festival, a celebration of the forestry industry that has anchored Taylor County's economy for generations.

Perry made national history in December 1922 as the site of the Perry Massacre, when white mobs lynched several Black residents and burned the town's Black school, church and Masonic lodge after the murder of a white schoolteacher.

Perry is served by the Perry-Foley Airport, a public-use airport that reflects its role as the commercial hub of a vast, rural county covering more than 1,000 square miles of land.