Bayport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 43 at the 2010 census. The village of Bayport, located at the mouth of the Weeki Wachee River, sprang up in the early 1850s as a supply and cotton port. It was originally spelled as Bay Port and briefly served as the county se…Bayport is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Hernando County, Florida, United States. The population was 43 at the 2010 census. The village of Bayport, located at the mouth of the Weeki Wachee River, sprang up in the early 1850s as a supply and cotton port. It was originally spelled as Bay Port and briefly served as the county seat until it was moved to Brooksville in 1856. During the Civil War, Union naval squadrons blockaded Florida's coasts to prevent goods and supplies from passing into and out of the state. By 1863 the East Gulf Blockade Squadron had effectively closed the larger ports along the Gulf Coast. Small rivers, such as the Weeki Wachee, became important trade routes. Shipping at Bayport attracted the attention of the Union Blockade Squadron which intercepted eleven blockade runners near there between 1862 and 1865. Various skirmishes took place at Bayport between Union troops and the Confederate Home Guard during the course of the war. This included at least one raid by Union troops who had marched all the way north from Fort Myers. The Confederate cannon battery site can still be seen on the wooded point just north of the Bayport fishing pier at the mouth of the Weeki Wachee River.
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