Chris Balogh

The economy hasn't picked up here since NASA left.

Christmas, Florida, sits between Orlando and Cape Canaveral. The yuletide name of the community comes from the Second Seminole War. On December 25th, 1837, more than 2,000 US soldiers built a supply fort for the war. They never saw a day of battle. The...

Before it became Showtown, Gibsonton was a small town of fishermen and employees of the local lumber. In 1930, it only had 614 residents. By 1945, the town grew to nearly 1,100 residents. The first settlers—legends like Al “the Giant” Tomiani (who...