Florence was a frontier town incorporated on December 14, 1837, after the Creek Indians burned the nearby town of Roanoke in 1836. Originally named Liverpool after the English port city, it flourished for many years with a covered bridge linking it to Alabama, as well as a newspaper, bank, and hotel. It began to decline after the flood of 1846 washed away the bridge, and it was later bypassed by the railroad. The site is now occupied by a few scattered homes, farmland, and Florence Marina State Park, which takes its name from the former community.