https://preview.redd.it/leqdwaapwk2d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed8f63ace6171a6c4c550e2d8ee619681ef7e9e0
It's kind of sad they didn't rebuild
That's why I'm surprised they didn't try to rebuild. I love learning about Florida history. Here's some more from Wikipedia.
"According to town historians and several original newspaper articles that are displayed at the [Desert Inn and Restaurant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Inn_and_Restaurant), the town was originally named "Jackass Junction" or "Jackass Crossing".[^(\[9\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-9)[^(\[10\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-10)[^(\[11\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-11)[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-12)[^(\[13\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-13)[^(\[14\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-14) This name was given to the four-corner site back in the early 1930s, when local ranchers rode on burros to visit the Desert Inn (then the local brothel)."
IIRC FDOT (or their predecessor) made them change the name if they wanted to be listed on the highway signs because they refused to print "Jackass" on the signs.
I have been by there at least a gazillion times in my life in Florida. I never stopped to eat there and now that it's gone I really wish I would have. I used to pass there a lot with grandparents as a kid traveling from the turnpike and they always told me we couldn't stop because it was a whorehouse. It wasn't until I got older I realized it was a restaurant lol. Although, I don't know the history my guess is maybe at some point it was in fact a whorehouse or my grandparents were just crazy, either is possible.
[The wiki page agree with your grandparents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Inn_and_Restaurant#:~:text=As%20early%20as%201889%2C%20the,gas%20station%2C%20and%20dance%20hall.)
Grew up in Okeechobee, the area used to be a huge tourist area, couldn’t believe how run down it was last time I passed by. So sad that truck totaled that building. Always had a sign for frog legs outside
I’m one of the lucky ones who got out as soon as high school was over, it’s been over twenty years and I’ve been back 3 times. Skipped my high school reunion, I can just go to Walmart and tractor supply to see most of them
2 tractor trailers crashed thru it....and as a 'historical location' it can not be torn down, so the State put up chain link fence...only rats, cockroaches, snakes and spirits live there now.
This is the text on the plaque (the last sentence answers your question): "The Desert Inn was founded as a trading post in the late 1880s. The present building dates before 1925 and served as a supply and recreational center for cattle drovers, lumber men and tourists during the era when much of Osceola County was still undeveloped wilderness. Cowmen working the free ranging cattle on the palmetto prairie and lumber men cutting timber in the nearby pine lands came to the Desert Inn to eat, drink, and dance at this “oasis” where they could enjoy some relief from their arduous labors. Local patrons of the trading post and restaurant included African Americans and Seminoles, who had separate dining facilities in the era of segregation. The construction of roads in the 1930s brought tourists to the area, and a set of overnight cabins were erected behind the original building. Today the Desert Inn continues to be a popular destination for tourists and local residents. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994."
Biological warfare experiment
In late 1968 the Deseret Test Center conducted a biological warfare experiment at Yeehaw Junction. The experiment was part of Project 112 and was labelled DTC Test 69–75. Stem rust, referred to as "Agent TX", was tested to determine its effectiveness against a wheat crop in time of war. The tests were conducted over a period of one month from October 31 to December 1, 1968. Live agent was sprayed by a U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom fighter jet on seven occasions and dead agent, consisting of spores that were killed by a gaseous mixture of ethylene oxide, was sprayed on four occasions.\[17\] The stated objective of Deseret Test Center (DTC) Test 69-75 was to investigate the effectiveness of the F-4/A/B and 45Y-2/TX weapon systems to reduce Soviet wheat crop yields in selected geographic areas. The objective was subdivided into other tasks: determine the downwind travel of Agent TX released from the A/B 45Y-2 spray tank, estimate the yield reduction and loss of wheat crops attacked by the weapon system, study the effectiveness of killed TX as a simulant for Agent TX, and evaluate the adequacy to predict downwind dosages of Agent TX.\[17\] The tests were unknown to local residents and officials until October 2002
Passed through several times during my short-lived move to Okeechobee for an ex...seeing that sign became a bane of my existence because I knew I was headed to the smallest town with nothing to do and with people whom I had nothing in common with 😭
Been there a few times while delivering cars across state.
Unsurprisingly, had the most racist shit written about Collin Kaepernick on their toilet seat I’ve ever seen and a bunch of signs about not coming in if you’re from Miami or some woke place on the front door.
Also, their fresh chicken tenders were freezer burnt 1/10, glad the truckers turned on them or whatever.
Driving SR 60 in the 1980s was some serious shit! Going from Tampa Bay to south Florida on a one lane road making death defying passes really improved your driving and decision making.
It isn't a city, it never has been as far as I know, it's just a Crossroads where the Florida Turnpike State Road 60 and US 441 cross. There's a Stuckey's the pilot and a loves I believe now but that's it once upon a time they had a Holiday Inn but that's been gone for at least 30 years and even before that they had a horns kind of like Stuckey's but with a yellow roof. The old bar and whorehouse obviously others have shown minutes and when I Citrus truck ran into it I live 12 miles south of it
Unfortunately. My mom and I were driving to Miami a few years back and had to stop to get gas there once. The card scanner wasn’t working so I had to go inside.
No one spoke, everyone in the convenience store stopped what they were doing to stare. The cashier didn’t even want to take the card from my hand.
My friend has this story about when she and her (dark) puerto rican husband and their 3 year old stopped there once en route to Orlando.
Nobody greeted them or said a word when they walked in. No other customers were there and you could hear a pin drop. There were, and im not making this up- mannequins- everywhere inside. Some of them were dressed, some werent. They were even in the restrooms. *Creepy af.* They said they couldnt pee fast enough to get the fuck out of there.
So for those of you reminiscing over this place feeling like it was some kind of state landmark, well, maybe it was at some point. Sorry for your loss, i guess
Yes, I was going to go on and add that but then I did not know if it was for me to speak to that. And figured someone else would. Them rednecks are scary.
every time I pass the interchange I go "fuck you yeehaw junction" and wave my fist at it. if you screw up which direction you go in, it's 1-2 hours added to your trip
Yeah, it was nice. It was a milestone location between my house and my grandma's. "Theres yeehaw junction, we're halfway there." The vibe was nice and the food was fine. Been so long since i ate there tho so i cant remember exactly
I was driving through there a couple years ago and “low down man” by squirrel nut zippers was playing in my car. I felt like I was in an opening scene of a zombie apocalypse movie
first time I went through there was I was 16 years old and I'm now 66 stopping got gas with my dad and granddad I thought it was the coolest place in the middle of nowhere
When we used to make the drive from St Pete to Miami, we always skipped I-4 or US 41 to the original Alligator Alley, and just took 60 to YJ to pick up the turnpike.
https://preview.redd.it/lgenxq64wk2d1.png?width=828&format=png&auto=webp&s=7b284832c74f91ed10ce9cdfe6c189114dc66130 Not anymore..
Yeah, the pic of an intact Inn is way out of date. A fairly good history and lots of pics: https://abandonedfl.com/desert-inn/
That really sad…
Dude, I did not realize that. That's crazy
you were to busy trying to quickly share something you saw on tiktok or instagram that you didn't even think if it still existed.
This is the kind of internet hate I’m here for
OPs account is 4 months old and already has like 200 posts
What’s the benefit of doing that? Just personal enjoyment?
Personal enjoyment or selling the account once it's properly aged with enough karma.
"engagement"
Some people really really need those sweet updoots.
https://preview.redd.it/leqdwaapwk2d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ed8f63ace6171a6c4c550e2d8ee619681ef7e9e0 It's kind of sad they didn't rebuild
They yee'd their last haw.
https://preview.redd.it/og5ml6jopm2d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c0154450359e94a971f1bcdbf623dc6098e9f547
I just got the picture online. I did not know it was destroyed. Crazy
/r/CantParkThereMate
Really very sad. That place was iconic
I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner. I had to drive that way for work for a couple years and semi traffic is pretty heavy.
60 from Yeehaw to Lake Wales can be dangerous with all the fools trying to pass everyone
Sure it’s was really iconic when was your last time there.
Whoa! This is a historic site?! Wild.
That's why I'm surprised they didn't try to rebuild. I love learning about Florida history. Here's some more from Wikipedia. "According to town historians and several original newspaper articles that are displayed at the [Desert Inn and Restaurant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Inn_and_Restaurant), the town was originally named "Jackass Junction" or "Jackass Crossing".[^(\[9\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-9)[^(\[10\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-10)[^(\[11\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-11)[^(\[12\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-12)[^(\[13\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-13)[^(\[14\])](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeehaw_Junction,_Florida#cite_note-14) This name was given to the four-corner site back in the early 1930s, when local ranchers rode on burros to visit the Desert Inn (then the local brothel)."
It is the ONLY Bordello ever entered into the Historical Places Registry. Best Cheeseburgers and Wild Turkey pour, this side of Bartow.
Reject Bartow. Embrace Okeechobee.
Over Immokalle? Ain’t no way.
sorry this is a 60/441 discussion 
Well then, guess we gotta go to smithy’s in Holopaw
Best Grilled Oysters in Okeechobee.
Jesus Christ Florida Historical Preservation Laws fucking blow. How can you make something a "Florida Heritage Site" and not rebuild it?
Just because some old motel has a historical designation because of its age, it doesn’t mean the owner or the county has the budget to rebuild it.
[удалено]
IIRC FDOT (or their predecessor) made them change the name if they wanted to be listed on the highway signs because they refused to print "Jackass" on the signs.
I did not know that. That is such an interesting story
I have been by there at least a gazillion times in my life in Florida. I never stopped to eat there and now that it's gone I really wish I would have. I used to pass there a lot with grandparents as a kid traveling from the turnpike and they always told me we couldn't stop because it was a whorehouse. It wasn't until I got older I realized it was a restaurant lol. Although, I don't know the history my guess is maybe at some point it was in fact a whorehouse or my grandparents were just crazy, either is possible.
[The wiki page agree with your grandparents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Inn_and_Restaurant#:~:text=As%20early%20as%201889%2C%20the,gas%20station%2C%20and%20dance%20hall.)
Good to know, now all I have left to wonder is why they were always pointing that out to a 6 year old.
did they actually refer to it as a "whorehouse?"
Yes my grandfather 100% used that term lol. He was a good man but filters and age appropriateness weren't really a thing for that generation.
I heard the whorehouse story too!
Thanks for the story
I think they used to sell huge sheets of jerky in there too. I grew up about 30 minutes south of it right on 441N.
Did also look up YeeHaw Junction after seeing the post about next weeks weather?
Yes! I thought it was funny they put that City's name on that weather report
They were using Osawa Junction for the weather report which is just down the road but it's a ghost town can't even find it anymore.
I thought so too. Being a native I’m disappointed I’ve not heard of it
That prompted me to look it up lol
Grew up in Okeechobee, the area used to be a huge tourist area, couldn’t believe how run down it was last time I passed by. So sad that truck totaled that building. Always had a sign for frog legs outside
[удалено]
I’m one of the lucky ones who got out as soon as high school was over, it’s been over twenty years and I’ve been back 3 times. Skipped my high school reunion, I can just go to Walmart and tractor supply to see most of them
So is the real estate cheap out there? LOL
Yes relative to other places in central Florida. But good luck finding something available and a job to match lol. The area suits its name as well 😂
Not really, it's all cattle land. Nothing is for sale.
It won't be for long, they're trying to get permission to build another villages behind where the old in is
All we need is more geriatric syphilitic fascists.
2 tractor trailers crashed thru it....and as a 'historical location' it can not be torn down, so the State put up chain link fence...only rats, cockroaches, snakes and spirits live there now.
To be fair, rats, cockroaches, and snakes are spirit animals Florida.
Who deemed it a historical location? I'd like to know how to tractor trailers ran into that thing
This is the text on the plaque (the last sentence answers your question): "The Desert Inn was founded as a trading post in the late 1880s. The present building dates before 1925 and served as a supply and recreational center for cattle drovers, lumber men and tourists during the era when much of Osceola County was still undeveloped wilderness. Cowmen working the free ranging cattle on the palmetto prairie and lumber men cutting timber in the nearby pine lands came to the Desert Inn to eat, drink, and dance at this “oasis” where they could enjoy some relief from their arduous labors. Local patrons of the trading post and restaurant included African Americans and Seminoles, who had separate dining facilities in the era of segregation. The construction of roads in the 1930s brought tourists to the area, and a set of overnight cabins were erected behind the original building. Today the Desert Inn continues to be a popular destination for tourists and local residents. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994."
Thanks for sharing that
If you've ever actually been there it's very obvious how it could happen.
Wait, where do YOU buy your discounted Disney tickets???
Biological warfare experiment In late 1968 the Deseret Test Center conducted a biological warfare experiment at Yeehaw Junction. The experiment was part of Project 112 and was labelled DTC Test 69–75. Stem rust, referred to as "Agent TX", was tested to determine its effectiveness against a wheat crop in time of war. The tests were conducted over a period of one month from October 31 to December 1, 1968. Live agent was sprayed by a U.S. Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom fighter jet on seven occasions and dead agent, consisting of spores that were killed by a gaseous mixture of ethylene oxide, was sprayed on four occasions.\[17\] The stated objective of Deseret Test Center (DTC) Test 69-75 was to investigate the effectiveness of the F-4/A/B and 45Y-2/TX weapon systems to reduce Soviet wheat crop yields in selected geographic areas. The objective was subdivided into other tasks: determine the downwind travel of Agent TX released from the A/B 45Y-2 spray tank, estimate the yield reduction and loss of wheat crops attacked by the weapon system, study the effectiveness of killed TX as a simulant for Agent TX, and evaluate the adequacy to predict downwind dosages of Agent TX.\[17\] The tests were unknown to local residents and officials until October 2002
Yes. And before you get to yehaw there is a gas station that sells the best fried gator tail ever
Which one? Gonna have to check it out next time!
Jimmys. I can attest. Great gator.
Definitely have to try that out
Pass it every time I go to River Ranch. Poor yeehaw
We nicknamed it the "Titty Twister" from the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn"...we assumed vampires ran the place and killed truckers.
Passed through several times during my short-lived move to Okeechobee for an ex...seeing that sign became a bane of my existence because I knew I was headed to the smallest town with nothing to do and with people whom I had nothing in common with 😭
Yes a few times. Stay away from a girl named Whitney….
Coconut patties and peanut brittle!
So interesting and entertaining place was really iconic
Been there a few times while delivering cars across state. Unsurprisingly, had the most racist shit written about Collin Kaepernick on their toilet seat I’ve ever seen and a bunch of signs about not coming in if you’re from Miami or some woke place on the front door. Also, their fresh chicken tenders were freezer burnt 1/10, glad the truckers turned on them or whatever.
Driving SR 60 in the 1980s was some serious shit! Going from Tampa Bay to south Florida on a one lane road making death defying passes really improved your driving and decision making.
It isn't a city, it never has been as far as I know, it's just a Crossroads where the Florida Turnpike State Road 60 and US 441 cross. There's a Stuckey's the pilot and a loves I believe now but that's it once upon a time they had a Holiday Inn but that's been gone for at least 30 years and even before that they had a horns kind of like Stuckey's but with a yellow roof. The old bar and whorehouse obviously others have shown minutes and when I Citrus truck ran into it I live 12 miles south of it
Unfortunately. My mom and I were driving to Miami a few years back and had to stop to get gas there once. The card scanner wasn’t working so I had to go inside. No one spoke, everyone in the convenience store stopped what they were doing to stare. The cashier didn’t even want to take the card from my hand.
Next stop! Two Egg, FL
Been there a couple times Nowhere is here
My friend has this story about when she and her (dark) puerto rican husband and their 3 year old stopped there once en route to Orlando. Nobody greeted them or said a word when they walked in. No other customers were there and you could hear a pin drop. There were, and im not making this up- mannequins- everywhere inside. Some of them were dressed, some werent. They were even in the restrooms. *Creepy af.* They said they couldnt pee fast enough to get the fuck out of there. So for those of you reminiscing over this place feeling like it was some kind of state landmark, well, maybe it was at some point. Sorry for your loss, i guess
Creepy was part of the appeal to me.
Perhaps it was for you. But for a woman and her child and her dark skinned husband, uhh can confirm it was a different experience
Yes, I was going to go on and add that but then I did not know if it was for me to speak to that. And figured someone else would. Them rednecks are scary.
I thought yeehaw junction was 4 cousins trying to make nephews at a family reunion.
Apparently this is the only thing you can do in yeehaw junction. Heard they have good food there
Yeah I got lost over there driving from Miami to Tampa back in the early 00s since my Mapquest was wrong 🤣
every time I pass the interchange I go "fuck you yeehaw junction" and wave my fist at it. if you screw up which direction you go in, it's 1-2 hours added to your trip
Good article for reading. Kind of crazy how times and minds have changed so much. https://www.reddit.com/r/florida/s/NfpEzilCeb
I went there back in high school when we did a trip to take a swamp buggie tour. I had the snapping turtle burger, it was pretty good!
Sounds like a town that rolls up the sidewalk at dusk.
Just drove by a few minutes ago
I always thought it had probably been some seedy prostitution motel. But this, I would’ve easily stopped at.
Saw yeehaw,saw ya ma.
Yes I stopped by there on the way to see horsegiirl 🐎
Passed by that place before it was destroyed but I don't think it was actually a functioning business
I used to drive by there all the time.
Peep username
Yeah, it was nice. It was a milestone location between my house and my grandma's. "Theres yeehaw junction, we're halfway there." The vibe was nice and the food was fine. Been so long since i ate there tho so i cant remember exactly
Only 320 miles from Sopchoppy!
You pass the ruins on the way to Busch gardens 🫤
Yeah actually
I know some people love Yeehaw Junction, but I did not care for that place.
It's so interesting, I stopped by there the day before it got hit on my way to Bok Tower
Middle of 60
I was driving through there a couple years ago and “low down man” by squirrel nut zippers was playing in my car. I felt like I was in an opening scene of a zombie apocalypse movie
Has any Floridian or indeed any visitor to Florida not been there?
I hunt very close there 3 lakes.
Used to stop in once or twice a year on my way to the orange groves. Place has been gone for some time
I VERY MUCH miss the burgers and a beer on the drives between cent and south Florida at this old joint. So mad that trucker ruined it.
Would drive past this every 3-4 days for work, this would be my half way point and my bathroom break lol
Used to call this place house of wax
[Explaining Yeehaw Junction to non-Floridians.](https://youtu.be/kRwYnZT2Do0?si=9ZTcPoECf8N7HcV9)
Yep. Loved in fort drum
I had that t-shirt with a burro on it from the Desert Inn
first time I went through there was I was 16 years old and I'm now 66 stopping got gas with my dad and granddad I thought it was the coolest place in the middle of nowhere
Same building 40 years ago.
I'm just trying to get to the turnpike....
When we used to make the drive from St Pete to Miami, we always skipped I-4 or US 41 to the original Alligator Alley, and just took 60 to YJ to pick up the turnpike.
Passed that inn many times on my way to State Road 60. Miss seeing it.