Perry is a city and the county seat of Taylor County, in the Big Bend region of northern Florida, roughly midway between Tallahassee and the Gulf coast. The community traces its roots to a settlement first known as Rosehead; it was renamed in 1875 for Governor Madison Starke Perry and incorporated in 1903. From its earliest days, Perry's fortunes have been tied to the forest. Timber, turpentine, and naval stores built the town, and the establishment of the Buckeye Cellulose plant in 1954 — today operated as a Georgia-Pacific facility — anchored the modern forest-products industry that remains a significant employer. That heritage earned Perry its nickname, the "Tree Capital of the South," and it is celebrated in visible ways. Forest Capital Museum State Park preserves the region's forestry history with a museum and a restored mid-1800s Cracker homestead, and each October the city hosts the Florida Forest Festival, a long-running community event built around the timber trade. Downtown Perry retains an old-Florida character, with historic buildings, local shops, and restaurants around the Taylor County Courthouse. Beyond forestry, the Big Bend setting shapes life in Perry. The Econfina River and surrounding state parks offer paddling, hiking, and fishing, and the springs and Gulf coast of the region are within an easy drive. Public education is provided by the countywide Taylor County School District. Perry suits households drawn to a working small-town setting with a real economic anchor, an outdoors-oriented Big Bend lifestyle, and a pace far removed from Florida's coastal metros. It is the hub of Taylor County — a genuine county seat where government, industry, schools, and the forest festival all revolve around the same downtown.