Yellow Fever and Dr. Gorrie's Invention

Did you know that Apalachicola was once one of the biggest port cities in the United States?(1)  In the 19th century, it thrived as a port for shipping cotton, until the railroads came to Florida and passed it by in favor of other panhandle towns. Landowners then turned to lumber. This lasted until the surrounding forests were clear cut and the mills went out of business. Fortunately, Apalachicola then had the Gulf of Mexico and seafood to fall back on. It is a town that was forced to reinvent itself several times over. But the biggest threat to Apalachicola for many years wasn’t the changing economy, it was yellow fever.


Yellow fever epidemics plagued Floridians from the earliest days. A severe epidemic in the nearby city of St. Joseph’s in 1841 reduced it to a ghost town.(2) The problem was that no one knew exactly what caused the sickness. Physicians believed it was hot, moist air. Biologists believed that it might be tiny animals, but they couldn’t prove it. There were 135 major yellow fever epidemics in American port cities between 1668 and 1893.(3)  Infection with yellow fever was characterized by high fevers, black colored emesis, and jaundice that gave the disease its common name. We now know that the cause is indeed a living thing: the yellow fever flavivirus, an RNA virus carried by the aedes aegypti mosquito.(4)  In the 19th century, the mortality rate from the disease ranged from 20% - 70% . Every year, panic and terror arose in towns that were affected by the annual yellow fever season of August 1st – November 1st.

Dr. John Gorrie moved to Apalachicola in 1833, establishing himself as a skilled physician who was active in many community organizations. Raised in South Carolina and schooled in New York, Dr. Gorrie believed what most physicians at the time believed: there was something in the damp, swamp air that caused the horrible yellow fevers that killed so many people. Although Gorrie had no idea of the actual cause of the illness, he sought a way to reduce suffering and end the fevers. Gorrie invented a machine that made air ice cold by first compressing and then releasing it. The chilled and condensed air was sent through pipes into a sick room, creating a cool and dry environment even in the hot Florida summer. Gorrie and his assistants then discovered that by compressing air over an extended period of time, ice was created. Suffering patients were made more comfortable, and Gorrie realized that there was an enormous commercial application for his device.

Gorrie sought and obtained a patent in 1851. However, northern ice manufacturers were quick to note the threat to their industry. Before Gorrie’s invention, there was a huge trade in ice carved from frozen lakes and shipped to southern states. Ice manufacturers foresaw the end of their profitable industry, and some set out to smear Gorrie. Their tactics were successful, with one New York newspaper calling Gorrie a “crank down in Florida….who claims he can make ice as good as God Almighty.”(4)

Gorrie was unable to find backers for the production of his invention. He died impoverished in Apalachicola in 1855. A friend of Gorrie’s, Dr. Alvan Chapman, continued to speak out on Gorrie’s behalf after his death, and Gorrie was finally recognized in 1911 as the inventor of the predecessor of air conditioning, and one of the greatest inventors of the 19th century. The John Gorrie Museum State Park in Apalachicola contains a replica of his first ice machine. It is a worthwhile trip for those interested in yet another example of how infectious diseases have changed history throughout the state, country, and world.

Postscript: Yellow fever is still endemic in parts of South America and Africa, with a mortality rate of over 10%. There are about 200, 000 cases and 30,000 deaths annually.(5) These are preventable deaths: a vaccine for yellow fever was developed in 1936.



1. Smiley, N. Yesterday’s Florida. 1974, Miami, FL; E. A. Seeman Publishing, Inc.

2. Burnett, G. Florida’s Past Vol. 2. 1988, Sarasota, FL; Pineapple Press.

3. Williams, G. The Plague Killers. 1969, New York, NY; Charles Scribner’s Sons.

4. Burnett, G. Florida’s Past. 1986, Englewood, FL; Pineapple Press.

5. Busowski, M., and Cunha, B. Yellow Fever. Medscape, September 15, 2011. Accessed March 10, 2012. Available at: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/232244-overview

Pictured:: The Gorrie Museum in Appalachicola, FL.  Me with a reproduction of Gorrie's ice machine.