Jackson County and the Lost Confederate Gold

by Dale Cox

Parramore - One of the most interesting of Jackson County's legends involves a portion of the famed lost Confederate treasury. When Jefferson Davis and other Southern officials fled Richmond, Virginia at the end of the War Between the States, they took with them the Confederate treasury. According to legend, at least part of that massive haul of gold and silver wound up in Jackson County.

Composed of kegs and boxes filled with silver and gold, the Confederate treasury was valued at somewhere around $500,000 when it was removed from Richmond. In modern terms, it would have been worth millions.

Some of the money disappeared and was likely buried during the time that Davis and the Confederate Cabinet paused in Danville, Virginia. More of the money was used to pay soldiers in the Carolinas and when the fleeing officials reached Washington, Georgia. From there, however, the remaining gold and silver was dispersed in multiple directions. To this day, the final whereabouts of most of the money is a subject of controversy.

It is known that the remaining Confederate officials spread out to minimize the risk that they would be captured by Union cavalry that was desperately searching for them. All were heading for Florida, but they all went by different routes. The goal was to reach the coast where arrangements could be made to flee to Cuba or Texas.

Jefferson Davis was captured near Irwinville, Georgia, as he tried to make his way to Florida, but some officials made it through. Most of the treasure, however, did not. Around $35,000 was seized by the Union army near Gainesville in June of 1865, but otherwise the Confederate gold and silver vanished into history.

THe men involved in hiding it kept some for their own use and spirited some away to support fleeing Confederate officials, but otherwise they never talked about what happened to the money. In various places in Florida and Georgia, however, bits and pieces of the treasure have been found. One of those places, curiously, is Jackson County.

Local tradition has long held that some of the treasure was buried in the corner of a field near the Parramore community in eastern Jackson COunty. The site was then near Bellview Landing, the primary crossing of the Chattahoochee RIver between Chattahoochee and Neal's Landing in 1865 and a likely crossing point into Florida for Confederate authorities or soldiers fleeing Union troops.

During the 1980s, two $20 gold pieces were found at the site, coins that otherwise had no logical reason for being there as the location is not near any old home places. The coins were of the proper date and were consistent with the gold known to have been part of the lost Confederate treasurer.

Could there be more? Or were the two coins left behind when the hidden stash was dug up and removed? Only time and more searching will answer that question.

Note: If you would like to learn more about Jackson County history, please consider my books: The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years;The Battle of Marianna, Florida and Two Egg, Florida: A Collection of Ghost Stories, Legends and Unusual Facts. They are available at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna or online at www.amazon.com.

Annual Homecoming Remembers Old Parramore

The 48th annual Oak Grove Homecoming was held on October 4, 2009, in the historic Jackson County "ghost town" of Old Parramore.

The event celebrates the memory of the community and the people who lived there and has continued with crowds large and small for nearly fifty years. Other than for an occasional wedding or funeral, Oak Grove Baptist Church is used only once each year, for the annual homecoming.

More than 100 people attended this year's event, which featured music by the Covenant Quartet, a popular Gospel group, a message from Rev. Lucius B. "Cap" Pooser and a discussion of the history of Parramore by me. Most popular, however, was the annual dinner on the grounds which gave those in attendance the opportunity to interact and remember old friends and make new ones.

Many descendants of Parramore residents use the annual reunion as an opportunity to learn more about the historic community and to explore their family genealogies.

Parramore was an important riverboat town that grew on the high ground back from the Chattahoochee River during the 1880s and 1890s. The area had been settled as early as the 1750s by members of the Perryman family, English traders who settled with and married into the local Creek Indians. They operated large farms and cattle ranches at Parramore through both the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Other settlers came following the transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States in 1821 and by the time of the War Between the States numerous farms and homes stood through the area.

Local men and boys served in numerous regiments during the War Between the States and also fought at the Battle of Marianna as members of local home guard units. At least one significant skirmish took place in the vicinity when a band of organized deserters and Unionists attacked and disarmed a company of Confederate cavalry.

The town itself was a product of growing commerce on the Chattahoochee River during the 1870s and 1880s. Timber and turpentine operations in the vast longleaf pine forests of the area led to the development of an industrial complex that spurred the growth of the community. By 1900, Parramore had a post office, cotton gin, sawmill, gristmill, blacksmith shop, a number of stores and several landings on the Chattahoochee where limber and barrels of rosin could be loaded aboard paddlewheel steamboats for transport either down to Apalachicola or up to Columbus, Georgia.

The fading of the naval stores industry after World War I also sparked the doom of the town. The riverboats slowly stopped running and by 1950, the old town was gone. One by one the remaining structures disappeared until only a few remain today. Parramore is once again a quiet community in the piney woods of Jackson County.

Be sure to watch for my commemorative book, Old Parramore: The History of a Florida Ghost Town, which will be released later this fall. I'll keep you up to date on release plans. All proceeds from the book will benefit the care of Oak Grove Church and Cemetery, the annual Oak Grove Homecoming, and the Central School Reunion in Old Parramore.

In Memory of Clinton T. Cox, 1925-2009

Clinton T. Cox passed away in his sleep on September 27, 2009.

He was the best friend, the best example, the best adviser and the best father any man ever had or ever will.

He was a member of the "greatest generation" and a veteran of the United States Navy. Although he was a veteran of World War II, Korea and the Cuban Missile Crisis, his greatest battle was against cancer. In the end he was victorious, as we all know that Heaven sings tonight with the voice of a new saint.

May I someday be able to live up to the example that he set.

The Battle of Marianna took place 145 Years Ago Today

Now that the smoke of the reenactments has faded away, it is a good time to remember what really happened on the streets of Marianna 145 years ago today.

The real Battle of Marianna started at around 10 o'clock in the morning on September 27, 1864, when Union troops riding south from Campbellton reached Hopkins' Branch, a small swampy stream about three miles northwest of town. Heavy rains had fallen for the previous two weeks and the swamp was full of water as they approached, creating a natural barrier that Confederate forces hoped might help in holding back the oncoming Federals.

As the head of the Union column approached, three companies of Confederates led in person by Colonel Alexander Montgomery opened fire on them from the opposite side of the swamp. Following a brisk firefight, however, the Southern troops were forced back and started to withdraw to Marianna, fighting as they went.

The Union column followed and by 11:30 a.m. had reached a point just west of town about where the McDonald's on West Lafayette Street stands today. The area was then open fields and woods. It was here that Brigadier General Alexander Asboth, the commander of the Union force, was shown that a small logging road diverged from the main road and followed the route of today's Kelson Avenue around the northern edge of town. Sending part of his men down that road, he moved directly up the Campbellton Road (today's Lafayette Street) with the main body of his command.

Not knowing that the Federals would try to flank the town, the Confederates had prepared their defenses at Ely Corner, the intersection of today's Lafayette and Russ Streets. This was then the western edge of Marianna and Colonel Montgomery placed his four companies of mounted men in a line of battle across the intersection. Most of these men were home guards or militia ("citizen soldiers") and they did not wear Confederate uniforms but instead came to fight wearing their regular work clothes and carrying shotguns, old muskets or any other weapons they had to bring.

Up Lafayette Street behind them, the men of Captain Jesse Norwood's Marianna Home Guard, another "citizen soldier" unit made up of local men and boys, pushed wagons across the street to form a barricade of sorts at about the point where Pizza Hut is located today. Contrary to legend, they did not stand behind this wall, but instead placed it in the street simply to slow down a Union cavalry charge. Like most of the other Confederates who fought at Marianna, Norwood's men did not wear uniforms and carried pretty much any gun they could get their hands on. Some were school boys who had come to fight led by their teacher, Charles Tucker. Others were doctors, lawyers, ministers and even the sheriff and circuit judge. The took up positions hidden behind trees, fences, shrubs and in buildings along each side of Lafayette Street, planning to ambush the Union soldiers if they made it past the mounted men lined up at Ely Corner.

By most accounts it was high noon when the first Union soldiers rounded the bend at Ely Corner. Today's four-lane street was then a narrow dirt road that passed through a heavy grove of trees just before reaching the intersection. As they came around the curve, they were stunned by Montgomery and his mounted Confederates who fired on them from short range. The Union troops tried to charge, but faltered and retreated in confusion, much to the chagrin of General Asboth who shouted "For Shame! For Shame!" at them as they fell back.

Asboth then spurred his horse forward and ordered more of his men to charge, leading them himself. Charging around the curve, they hit the Confederate line before Montgomery and his men could reload their muzzle-loading weapons. Unable to fire back, the Southern horsemen began to withdraw up Lafayette Street toward the center of town with the Northern soldiers hot on their heels.

The Confederates knew about the barricade of wagons and made their way around it, but the Union soldiers were forced to halt in the street to find a way through or around the line of wagons. When they did, Captain Norwood and the men and the boys of the Marianna Home Guard opened fire from their hidden positions along both sides of the street. According to eyewitnesses, "every officer and man at the head of their column" was shot down. General Asboth was wounded in both the face and arm and toppled from his horse. Captain M.M. Young, one of his staff members, was killed on the spot. Majors Nathan Cutler and Eben Hutchinson were severely wounded, as were numerous others.

As deadly as the ambush was, however, it was not enough. Some of the Union troops continued to purse the retreating Southern cavalry while others turned on the local men and boys who had ambushed them. Colonel Montgomery and his horsemen reached Courthouse Square where they ran head on into Asboth's flanking party. Hand to hand fighting took place all around the square and the colonel was knocked from his horse and captured there. Most of his men, however, reached the bridge over the Chipola River (then located on Jackson Street as Lafayette Street had not been extended down the hill at that time), where they held back their attackers until they could cross over and tear up the wooden floor of the bridge.

Back along what is now West Lafayette Street, a fierce battle erupted between the other Union soldiers and the men and boys of the Marianna Home Guard. Those south of the street were driven down the hill to Stage Creek and either killed, wounded, captured or dispersed. Those north of the street fell back onto the grounds of St. Luke's Episcopal Church where a fierce fight was waged for about 30 minutes until the Confederates ran out of ammunition and were forced to surrender. Some were wounded after they had surrendered before Union officers could bring their men under control.

A few Confederates inside St. Luke's Church and two nearby homes refused to surrender and were either burned out or burned to death. In the end, 10 Confederates and 8 Federals were either killed or mortally wounded. Several dozen more were injured and scores were taken prisoner. Participants on both sides described the fight at Marianna as one of the most intense of the war for its size.

In less than one hour, more than 25% of the male population of Marianna had been killed, wounded or captured. On the Union side, the 2nd Maine Cavalry suffered its greatest losses of the war.

If you would like to learn more about the Battle of Marianna, please consider my book: The Battle of Marianna, Florida. It is available online at www.amazon.com or in Downtown Marianna at Chipola River Book and Tea. You can also read more at www.battleofmarianna.com.

145th Anniversary of the Battle of Campbellton

Today, September 26th, marks the 145th anniversary of the 1864 skirmish remembered in Jackson County as the "Battle of Campbellton."

The encounter took place as Union troops crossed Holmes Creek about halfway between Graceville and Chipley (neither of which then existed) on their way to the Battle of Marianna. As they entered Jackson County, the Federal soldiers began to do as much damage as possible to the farms and plantations they encountered.

At the Nelson Watford farm in today's Galilee Community area, for example, they drove off the livestock, took or destroyed the forage, collected all the foodstuffs they could find and even dug up the syrup and lard barrels from the ground and poured them out. Such actions were part of the North's concept of "total war," designed to bring the Confederacy to its knees by destroying anything that might be used to support the Southern armies while also creating so much hardship on the homefront that Confederate soldiers would give up the fight to go home and take care of their families.

As the raiders slowly moved forward, news of their presence spread like lightning through the northwestern corner of Jackson County and the men of Captain Alexander Godwin's Campbellton Cavalry, a "home guard" unit of citizen soldiers, began to assemble on the town square in Campbellton. When Governor John Milton had issued his executive order forming the state's home guard companies during the summer of 1864, he had specified that they were to move immediately to oppose any enemy incursion or raid, while at the same time sending a courier to the nearest Confederate headquarters to summon reinforcements.

This is what the Campbellton men did on the morning of September 26th. As their courier started down the road to Marianna, the men rode out under Captain Godwin to locate the Federal troops and find out what was happening.

Exactly what happened near Campbellton that day is not known. Brigadier General Alexander Asboth, the commander of the Union force, simply reported that "rebel troops" hovered around his column and engaged in "frequent skirmishes" with his vanguard. Surviving records also indicate that two men serving under Captain Godwin were captured that day. Otherwise, no written accounts of the fighting have been found.

Local tradition, however, holds that Godwin and his men fought the oncoming Federals even though they were outnumbered by more than 12 to 1. As Asboth's account indicates, they probably found in the partisan style of their ancestors who had served under such men as the "Swamp Fox" Francis Marion during the American Revolution. Riding up to within range of the enemy, they would fire and then fall back to reload and wait for another opportunity.

The fighting slowed but did not stop the Federals and by nightfall on the 26th they had reached Campbellton and were camped throughout the community. The town square and nearby Campbellton Baptist Church are mentioned by tradition as sites where Union soldiers bedded down for the night. The Battle of Marianna would take place the next day and I will have more on that in the next post.

If you would like to learn more about the raid and the Battle of Marianna, please consider my book: The Battle of Marianna, Florida. It is available through www.amazon.com or locally at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna (on the same block as the Gazebo Restaurant). You can also visit www.battleofmarianna.com for more information.

New Website on the Battle of Marianna

A newly redesigned website on the history of the Battle of Marianna, Florida has been launched at www.battleofmarianna.com.

The site features photographs of the battlefield, details on the raid on Marianna, the skirmishes at Eucheeanna, Campbellton and Vernon and the battle itself, as well as casualty lists, orders of battle and more.

Fought on September 27, 1864, the Battle of Marianna was the culmination of the deepest raid into Confederate Florida by Union forces during the entire War Between the States. Leaving Pensacola Bay on September 18, 1864, a column of 700 Union soldiers led by Brigadier General Alexander Asboth pushed through today's Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Washington and Holmes Counties before arriving near Campbellton on the afternoon of September 26, 1864. They were met there by Captain Alexander Godwin and the local men and boys of his Campbellton Cavalry. Skirmishing and falling back ahead of the Federals, Godwin sent word to Marianna to alert headquarters there of the impending danger.

Colonel Alexander Montgomery, the Confederate commander in Marianna, left town that same afternoon with two companies of mounted men and linked up with the Campbellton men. The next morning, as Asboth pushed for Marianna, Montgomery and his outnumbered men fought them at Hopkins Branch, a small creek about three miles northwest of town. The fighting continued as the colonel and his men skirmished sharply with the oncoming Federals until they reached an area just west of Marianna.

The Confederates then withdrew and formed again at Ely Corner (today's intersection of Lafayette and Russ Streets) where they were joined by Captain Henry Robinson and his Greenwood Club Cavalry. The mounted men formed a line of battle across the intersection while to their rear, about halfway between the corner and St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the men and volunteers of Captain Jesse Norwood's Marianna Home Guard put a line of wagons and other debris across Lafayette Street to slow a Union cavalry charge and then took up positions along each side of the street hidden behind trees, fences, shrubs and buildings.

The Confederate plan was for the cavalry at the corner to resist as long as possible and then fall back up the street, drawing the Union troops into the ambush prepared by the men of the Marianna Home Guard. It was about the best plan that could be developed for the outnumbered and poorly equipped Southern forces and had Asboth not sent a flanking party around the northern side of Marianna to attack the Confederates from the rear, it might well have worked.

To learn more about what happened in Marianna that day, please visit www.battleofmarianna.com.

New Website on Scott's Massacre of 1817

I've launched a new website on Scott's Massacre of 1817, a Seminole War battle fought in the Apalachicola River between today's Sneads and Chattahoochee.

The battle took place when several hundred Creek and Seminole warriors attacked a U.S. Army boat as it made its way around the sharp bend between the railroad and U.S. 90 bridges. The strong current forced the boat to navigate close to the Gadsden County shore, where the warriors were waiting. They were infuriated by an unprovoked attack by soldiers on the Lower Creek village of Fowltown in today's Decatur County, Georgia, and took their revenge on the unfortunate passengers in the vessel.

The boats commander, Lieutenant Richard W. Scott of the 7th U.S. Infantry, fell in the first volley, along with most of his 20 able-bodied men. The Indians then waded into the river and stormed the boat. By the time the fighting was over, only six men and one woman were still alive.

The six soldiers, four of whom were wounded, escaped by leaping overboard and swimming underwater to the Jackson County shore. The woman, Elizabeth Stewart, was taken prisoner and held in slavery by her captors until she was freed the following spring by soldiers under Andrew Jackson.

The rest of the passengers, including an estimated 34 soldiers, 6 women and 4 children, were killed and mutilated. The deadly attack prompted authorities in Washington, D.C., to order Major General Andrew Jackson to the frontier with authority to invade Spanish Florida. His campaign would eventually bring him through present-day Jackson County where many of his soldiers were so impressed with the quality of the land that they soon returned to settle the wilderness.

To visit the new Scott's Massacre site, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/scottsmassacre1.

The Forgotten Indians of Jackson County, Florida

by Dale Cox

It is an often overlooked fact that even after the tragedy of the Trail of Tears, several small groups of Native Americans continued to live in Jackson County. Some had hidden in the woods as the U.S. Army and state militia rounded up most of the Indians in the area, while others either married into or had white families as guardians.

The photo seen here, for example, is of Ola Avery Cox, a Jackson County resident descended from William Brown (Efau Emathla), a noted chief of the Yuchi Creeks.

When Chief Pascofa and his band of Creeks were loaded aboard the steamboat William Gaston and shipped west in January of 1843, newspapers across the region proclaimed that the last Indian had been removed from Northwest Florida. The claim was a bit premature and in less than one year the U.S. Army was once again combing the woods and swamps south of Jackson County for bands of refugee Creeks. Some corn fields were burned and a few people captured, but for the most part the Native Americans once again slipped into the swamps and disappeared.

The situation soon quieted and the presence of hidden bands of Indians in the area was forgotten by the people of Jackson County. That all changed on an October morning in 1851 when three warriors boldly appeared on the main street of Marianna. “Three Indians made their appearance in town on Tuesday last,” reported the Marianna Whig newspaper, “and for the time being created quite a stir.”

“Though apparently friendly,” it was reported, “their belligerent aspects and terrible accoutrements of long knives, tomahawks and battle axes, seem to breathe forth anything but a spirit of peace and amity.”

What happened to these bold warriors was not recorded, although a mysterious note at the end of the newspaper article that the Indians apparently had been “seeking the spirit land” by appearing in Marianna suggests they could have been killed.

The three brave warriors were not alone. One family of Native Americans lived among the slaves on the plantation of Adam McNealy, a member of the Jackson County Commission, during the years leading up to the Civil War. Their family traditions preserve memories not only of the years on the McNealy plantation, but also of how their ancestors hid in the caves at today’s Florida Caverns State Park when Andrew Jackson’s army passed through in 1818.

Other small families, most of Creek ancestry, also continued to live in Jackson County, for the most part in isolated piney woods locations away from the prime areas taken by white settlers. Their exact numbers are impossible to determine as most attempted to assimilate with their white neighbors as other settlers moved into their neighborhoods. A number of families around the Parramore area of eastern Jackson County and along the Calhoun County border area south of Marianna can trace their family trees back to verifiable Native Americans.

It is also worth noting that the 1860 census of Jackson County lists 36 people as “mulatto.” Although the term was generally used in the years after the Civil War to identify individuals of mixed white and black ancestry, during the years before the war it usually referred to those of mixed white and Indian ancestry.

Although many Jackson County residents with Native American ancestry have no knowledge of their Indian heritage, others still preserve legends, traditions and relics of their Indian ancestors. Even though more than 160 years have passed since the end of the Trail of Tears, the descendents of those who escaped the great tragedy of Indian Removal can still be found in Jackson County.

Note: To learn more about the history of the area, please consider my books: The History of Jackson County Florida: The Early Years, The Battle of Marianna, Florida, Two Egg, Florida and The Early History of Gadsden County. They are available online at www.amazon.com or locally at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna.

West Gadsden Historical Society Open House set for July 4th!

If you are interested in finding a fun historical event to attend this Independence Day, please consider the West Gadsden Historical Society's Annual Open House just across the river in Greensboro. The event will take place tomorrow, July 4th, and will feature a wide variety of activities. To reach Greensboro, just head east on I-10, exit at the State Road 12 exit and turn right. The highway will lead you right to Greensboro.

Here is the announcement from the society outlining planned activities:

On July 4, the West Gadsden Historical Society will host its 5th Annual Open House at its headquarters, the historic James A. Dezell House, located at the corner of E. 8th Street & Bristol Hwy. (State Rd. 12). Activities will be at 8:00 a.m. and continue until 3:00 p.m. Throughout the day the Society members will have a bake sale as well as hot boiled peanuts and soft drinks. In addition, note cards featuring various local scenes, t-shirts, the Society’s cookbook, as well as local history books by Dale Cox and Kay Davis Lay will be for sale. Dale’s book is The Early History of Gadsden County and Kay’s book, Something Gold, is a compilation of numerous interviews regarding the shade tobacco era in Gadsden County .

Various exhibits will include several local crafts persons who will have their wares on display and for sale. Buddy Pitts will show his collection of photographs from days of long ago in and around Greensboro . Kenneth Edwards will have a display featuring the McLane Family Massacre which took place April 23, 1840 only a few miles southwest of Greensboro . Kenneth, great-great-great grandson of the sole survivor John Kenzie McLane, will be showing historic family documents, photographs, relics, and other items of interest. Many descendants of John K. McLane live in Gadsden and the surrounding counties.

The annual quilt show will feature quilts made by the Peace Makers Quilters of the First Baptist Church in Greensboro . The group has generously donated a beautiful handmade full/queen size quilt which will be given to a lucky person. Tickets are $3.00 each and may be purchased at the following locations: Twin City News and Dr. Melzer’s office in Chattahoochee; Ivy Shop, A Touch of Tiffany, Mane Attraction, Padgett’s Jewelers, Flossie’s Cut & Curl, and Premier Bank in Quincy . The drawing will be held at 8:00 p.m. at the Greensboro Fireworks Celebration. You do not have to be present to win.

Coastal Seafood Restaurant in Panacea will be returning to sell delicious seafood lunches. Come join us on July 4 at our Open House and enjoy some down home time together with your friends and neighbors. Your support will be greatly appreciated.

Searching for Econchattimico's Town

By Dale Cox

Lake Seminole – One of the most significant historic sites in Jackson County lay somewhere north of Sneads along the bank of the Chattahoochee River. Tocktoethla (“River Junction”) was the last Florida home of Econchattimico, the “Red Ground King” who once battled Andrew Jackson’s army for control of Florida and became one of the few Indian chiefs ever to win a major battle in the Federal court. The exact site of his final home has never been identified.

Econchattimico left his original home at Ekanchatte, a Lower Creek town that stood on the site of today’s Neal’s Landing for more than 50 years, after it was destroyed by Colonel William McIntosh and a large force of U.S. Creek Auxiliaries in 1818. After hiding for a time in the swamps of the upper Chipola River, where he kept large herds of livestock, the chief moved back to the Chattahoochee River and settled a new town about halfway between Neal’s Landing and Sneads. He lived there until 1838 when U.S. troops led by Zachary Taylor used muskets and bayonets to force the elderly chief and his people west to the Indian Nations in what is now Oklahoma.

Upon the departure of the chief and his followers, the cabins and fields of Tocktoethla were occupied by white settlers who dubbed their new community “Indian Town.” Located near the important riverboat landing of Port Jackson, “Indian Town” remained an identifiable settlement through the time of the War Between the States, but eventually faded from local memory.

Archaeologists searched for traces of Econchattimico’s settlements during the 1940s and again in 1979-1980. They found enough shattered pieces of Creek pottery to identify general areas of Indian presence, but never found the site of the chief’s primary town.

A comparison of Colonel James Gadsden’s original survey plat and notes of the chief’s reservation with George Houston’s 1843 survey plat and notes shows that “Indian Town” or Tocktoethla was originally located in about the center of the northern half of Section 28 of Township 5 North, Range 7 West in Jackson County. Both surveys show the actual settlement site.

The site was roughly three-quarters of a mile due east of today’s Arnold Landing at the Apalachee Wildlife Management Area north of Sneads. It was completely flooded by the completion of Lake Seminole during the 1950s and no trace of the original town location remains above water.

Some areas of the original reservation assigned to Econchattimico at the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1823 do remain above water. In fact, a section of today’s River Road (Highway 271) passes through the old reservation from just south of its intersection with Butler Road north for about two miles. Some of the original fields farmed by Econchattimico and his people are still in use today.

Note: If you would like to learn more about Econchattimico and the other Native Americans of Jackson County, please consider purchasing my book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. It is available in Marianna at Chipola River Book and Tea (downtown on the same block as the Gazebo Restaurant) or online at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/dalecox.

The "Red Ground" Trail was an important local pathway

By Dale Cox

Campbellton – Along the north side of State Highway 2 east of Campbellton, traces of an old road can be seen winding through the woods and leading down into the swamps of Forks of the Creek. Although few drivers on the modern highway realize it, the old road bed they pass each day is what remains of the “Red Ground” Trail, one of the oldest and most important pathways in Florida.

It is impossible to know the exact age of the trail, but it was used by Native Americans long before the first settlers appeared in Jackson County. The section paralleling State Highway 2 through northern Jackson County connected the Yuchi Indian village of Chiscatalofa (“Yuchi Town”) near today’s Neal’s Landing with another Yuchi town in what is now Walton County. Since both of these towns existed by 1674, the old trail was certainly in use by that date.

The earliest known description of the path was written in 1768 by Lieutenant Ph. Pittman, the Assistant Engineer of the British 15th Regiment. Assigned to the small British garrison at Fort St. Marks (today’s St. Marks, Florida), Pittman interviewed traders and others about trails and other features of the little known Florida interior. One of these was what would later become known as the “Red Ground” trail:

…From hence (i.e. the Choctawhatchee River) he must go to Chipouly going nearly east about twenty miles, the land is level being pine barren, and the road is very good quite to Ichiscafaloufa (Chiscatalofa) which is an Indian village situated on the west side of the N.W. branch of the river Apalachicola (i.e. the Chattahoochee) forty miles above the forks and twenty from Chapouly.

By the time of Pittman’s report, Chiscatalofa had been abandoned by its original inhabitants and was occupied by the Ekanachatte or “Red Ground” band of Lower Creeks. The old name soon faded away and by the time of the American Revolution, the town was known as Ekanachatte.
A British military force crossed the Red Ground Trail on its way from Pensacola to St. Augustine in 1778, reporting that it was part of a much longer path dubbed the “Pensacola-St. Augustine Road.” In fact, the old road trace near Campbellton is an important landmark of the American Revolution. It was used by British forces from 1778 until the end of the war to move troops and supplies back and forth between Pensacola and St. Augustine.

The Red Ground Trail remained an important pathway through the early settlement days of Jackson County. The first communities in the county were established on Spring Creek just north of Campbellton and on the old Ekanachatte site at Neal’s Landing. The trail provided an important means of communication between these two groups of early settlers.

Although it no longer holds significance as a route connecting Pensacola and St. Augustine, the general route of the trail is still in use today as State Highway 2.

Note: To learn more about local history, please consider my books on Jackson County. They include The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years, The Battle of Marianna, Florida, and Two Egg, Florida. The books are available locally at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna or online at http://www.amazon.com/.

A Mission to a Jackson County Indian Village in 1771

By Dale Cox

Although they would side with the British during the American Revolution, the Native Americans of Jackson County did not immediately like the English when they took control of Florida in 1763. This was clearly demonstrated in 1771 when a party of warriors from Tomatley, a town located near present-day Sneads, attacked an English settlement in what is now southern Mississippi.

Two people were killed and several slaves - a man, a woman and their children - were carried away as prisoners. The slaves were also Native Americans and were taken back to Tomatley by their captors. John Stuart, the British agent for Indian affairs, dispatched a letter to the principal chiefs of the Lower Creeks on January 20, 1772, asking for the return of the surviving prisoners:

A Party of the Tomautley People some time ago carried away a Family of Indians Slaves, who belong to a planter on Pascagaula River, the Man they Killed or Burnt, the Woman is still among them. (Y)ou have no right to keep this Woman and Children. They were poor defenceless Slaves, could not be your Enemies being brought from a Country far to the Westward of the Mississippi, where you never go to War. I wish to Know if you the Chiefs of the Nation suffer such proceedings. There is no honor in taking and Killing a poor Slave the property of your Friends. I hope you will send your Talk that the Woman and Children may be restored to their Master.

Stuart sent his assistant David Taitt to carry the message to the Lower Creek chiefs. Taitt traveled to the primary Creek towns but was unable to obtain a response to Stuart’s demand. Accordingly, he decided to visit Tomatley in person.

He purchased a canoe for this purpose, but this plan greatly alarmed the chiefs of the Lower Creek towns and they pleaded with him not to attempt the journey. In his words, they “desired me not to go down the River in a Canoe as they alledged there was some dangerous Whirlpools in the river which they said would sink the Canoe.”

The chiefs undoubtedly were concerned that the Tomatley warriors would kill Taitt and they continued to present reasons why he should not make his journey. Finally they agreed to send two head warriors to Tomatley, but insisted that Taitt not go in person, “alledging the danger of the River and badness of the people there.”

On May 4, 1772, Taitt gave the two emissaries a letter to James Burgess, the trader at Tomatley, asking for his assistance in freeing the slaves as well as a white woman that was reported to be living in the village. He identified his messengers by name as Chimhuchi and Topahatkee. On the same day he sent a message back to Stuart relaying new information he had obtained about the attacks and the status of the prisoners:

…The Eufalla people say that they have done no wrong as the house they burnt was on their own land but this I shall talk to them about…I intended to come down the River to Tamatley and had prepared a Canoe for that purpose by permission of the Indians here, since they have raised many objections aledging that there is several dangerous whirlpools in the rivers and the people there are a set of runagadoes from every Town in the Nation…I shall send two head men from this Town to Tomatley for the two Slaves which are alive, although the Boy is sold to a Trader there, the Man and Girl they murdered at the place where they took them.

The trader referenced in Taitt’s letter was John Mealy, who lived and operated at trading post at Ocheesee Bluff.

The emissaries sent down the river by Taitt met with success and returned to the upriver towns on May 22nd. They brought with them the slave woman captured on the Pascagoula, but the young boy purchased by John Mealy had already been sent to the populated areas of Georgia. The white woman that Taitt also hoped to retrieve, however, refused to come. She had married a warrior in Tomatley and fled into the woods rather than return with the two messengers.

Note: This article is excerpted from the book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. It is available in Jackson County at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna or online at http://www.amazon.com/.

Steamboat Attack on the Apalachicola River

The Story of a Forgotten Attack of the Second Seminole War

By Dale Cox

One of the more unusual incidents of the Second Seminole War took place in July of 1840 when a party of refugee Creek warriors attacked the steamboat Irwinton as it was churning its way up the Apalachicola River between Jackson and Gadsden Counties.

There were fifteen passengers on the boat at the time, several of them children, and the boat’s captain had become somewhat alarmed after having spotted smoke rising in several locations. According to an account that appeared in New Orleans newspapers a short time later, the captain quickly advised the passengers to retire to their cabins for their safety:

They had only done so when a volley was fired, killing a cabin boy, named John Gill, of Pittsburg. The Indians fired from both shores. Some of the bullets passed through the cabin, and the passengers threw themselves on the floor and escaped the shots. The pilots also cast themselves upon the deck and were unhurt. The captain was at this time below crowding the fires. An alarm was now given that the boat was crowded with Indians, and “we are lost.”

The Irwinton was towing a barge on her trip up the river and eleven of the attacking warriors paddled a canoe out to the barge and were trying to climb aboard when the canoe suddenly overturned, dumping most of the Indians into the river. Three, however, managed to climb onto the barge and make their way over to the steamboat itself:

Two of the Indians who got on board the Irwington, were killed by the engineer and mate, who knocked them down with their wrenches, and threw them into the wheel where they were torn to pieces. The third, who appeared to be the leader, and who supposed his men were with him, entered the cabin calling loudly to the others to follow him. Most of the passengers hid themselves, and the Indian posted himself at the head of the table, apparently waiting a moment for reinforcement. Mr. P. Hendricks seized a chair, as the only weapon of defence at hand, when the chief threw a chair at him across the table. Mr. Metchner, of Randolph county, Ga., a stout man of about fifty years of age, then clasped the Indian in his arms from behind, and endeavored to force him out of the cabin, but was not able. At this time the mate came in and stabbed him in the abdomen, and threw him also in the wheel.

The attack on the Irwinton was the last reported attack on a boat on the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers during the Seminole Wars. The steamboat continued on its way upstream.

To learn more about other Seminole War events in and around Jackson County, please consider The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. The book is available at www.amazon.com or in Marianna at Chipola River Book and Tea on Lafayette Street downtown.

FDLE Issues Report on Dozier Cemetery

As I have been reporting here all along, there are no "mystery graves" or "unmarked graves" in the little cemetery near Dozier School in Marianna.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement released the results of its long, taxpayer-funded, investigation of the cemetery today. As expected, the investigators found no evidence of wrongdoing by staff members at Dozier in relation to the graves.

As I reported two weeks ago, most of the graves were there when the aerial photograph show here was taken of the school area in 1940. State investigators now agree.

Here is the official announcement from FDLE:

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner (FDLE) Gerald Bailey today announced the findings of the department’s investigation into unmarked graves located on the property near the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Fla. FDLE investigators identified 31 individuals buried in the school’s cemetery: · Twenty four of the individuals died as a result of illness or accident. Of the 24, eight students and two staff members were killed in a dormitory fire in 1914. Twelve students perished as a result of influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, or other medical conditions. Two students died of accidental deaths: one drowned and another fell from a mule and ruptured a lung.· In 1944, one student was murdered by four other students who were planning an escape. Accounts indicate the victim was killed because of his knowledge of the escape plans. The four involved were charged in the death. · In September 1940, an individual ran away from the school and was later found deceased four months later under a Marianna residence. Records reflect a coroner’s inquest but determination of death could not be made due to decomposition.· Five individuals, all of whom were buried from 1919 – 1925, had no listed cause of death. The only notation found in records indicated that they were buried in the cemetery.In addition to identifying the 31 individuals buried at the cemetery, the investigation documented 50 student deaths that occurred from 1911 to the last known death at the school in 1973. These deaths were mostly accidental or illness-related and their circumstances are documented in school records and death certificates. Two of these deaths are cases in which students murdered other students. In one case, an escapee from the school was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy. The records available document all of these student deaths. There is no information indicating burial in was the cemetery.The investigation found no evidence that the school or the staff caused, or contributed to, any of these deaths. The investigation found no evidence that the school or its staff made any attempts to conceal the deaths of any students at the school. In all cases, the deceased were accounted for in official records.In conducting the investigation, FDLE interviewed former students and staff and reviewed records from school ledgers, student record books, the school’s newspaper (The Yellow Jacket), local and national newspapers, the Florida Department of State Library and Archives and the Florida Department of Health’s Division of Vital Statistics. The Department of Juvenile Justice cooperated fully in the investigation and provided FDLE with access to all available records, files and documentation.FDLE’s investigation also found that during the time the graves were placed (1914 – 1952), the school was owned or operated by the Governor Appointed Commissioners and the Board of Commissioners of State Institutions. FDLE’s investigation began Dec. 9, 2008 at the direction of Governor Charlie Crist. Governor Crist charged FDLE with determining: 1) the entity that owned or operated the property at the time the graves were placed; 2) identification, where possible, of the remains of those buried on the site; and 3) if any crimes were committed, and if so, the perpetrators of those crimes. While the portion of the investigation addressing the identification of unmarked graves has concluded, FDLE continues to investigate allegations surrounding the abuse of the students at the school.

Dozier School "Mystery Graves" were there in 1940

USDA Aerial Photographs Show “Controversial” Cemetery Existed Before World War II

by Dale Cox

The little cemetery near Dozier School that has been the subject of so much controversy of late actually existed for decades prior to the current allegations. In fact, aerial photographs taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture clearly show that the cemetery was part of the Marianna landscape as early as 1940.

Historical records indicate that most of the graves in the burial ground, which is located on the hill behind the Jackson County Correctional Complex, probably date from 1914 and 1918.
A deadly accidental fire took place at what was then the Florida Reform School in 1914, claiming the lives of six students and two staff members. A Jackson County Grand Jury report indicates that the fire was caused either by a faulty heater or spontaneous combustion from a nearby pile of oily rags. Regardless of the cause, however, it quickly spread through a dormitory at the school threatening the lives of everyone inside.

While more than fifty students were led to safety by staff members, five other students and two staff members were trapped by the flames. Grand Jury records indicate that a desperate effort was made to save them. Several staff members, including the facility’s superintendent, received severe burns in an unsuccessful effort to reach the unfortunate individuals. A sixth student died after he ran back into the building to try to save one of the staff members. A letter written in 1914 from the superintendent to the mother of one of the victims indicates that those who died in the fire were burned beyond recognition and were buried on the grounds.

A second tragedy at the school in 1918 claimed at least 13 more lives. According to U.S. health records, what is now Dozier School was severely impacted by the terrible influenza epidemic that year that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. A federal health inspector visited the Florida Reform School and found that hundreds of students and all of the staff members were severely ill with the flu. According to his report, one dozen students and one staff member had already died in the epidemic and many others were near death.

These two incidents alone count for the deaths of at least 21 people at the school prior to 1920, all of whom are believed to have been buried on the grounds. Records also verify the deaths of other individuals at the school over the years, from causes ranging from accidental drowning to the murder of a student by another student.

The fact that the little cemetery there existed during the early 1900s can be confirmed by aerial photographs taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A series of photographs taken through the 1940s show that the Dozier Cemetery then looked much as it does today. The initial photograph, taken in 1940, shows the clearly visible graves on open ground on the hilltop where they can still be seen. A second photograph (shown above), taken in 1948, is so detailed that the headstones can be seen. A third, taken in 1960, shows the cemetery surrounded by trees as it is today.

While this new evidence does not prove or disprove the stories of abuse at the school, it does show that the little cemetery has been a part of the Jackson County landscape for nearly sixty years.

Cave Tours Operating Again at Florida Caverns

The cave tours at Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna are once again operating, but the campground, Hickory picnic area and Blue Hole swimming area remain closed.

Flooding along the Chipola River has caused a lot of problems at the park this year. Water usually rises into the caves when the river is at flood stage and this year has been no exception. Interestingly, this is actually one of the reasons that the city of Marianna developed on its present site.

The original crossing of the Chipola River was located at the Natural Bridge within today's state park. A low "land bridge" where the Chipola flowed underground for a short distance before rising back to the surface to continue its passage down to the Apalachicola River and eventually the Gulf, the Natural Bridge had been an important crossing point for hundreds of years.

When the first Spanish missionaries entered the region in 1674, they followed a trail that crossed the Chipola by way of the Natural Bridge. In 1693, when Florida's Governor Designate Torres y Ayala made the first recorded overland journey from what is now Tallahassee to Pensacola Bay, he also followed the trail over the Natural Bridge, but reported that it was an extremely difficult passage due to high water and mud.

The British used the passage during the American Revolution and Andrew Jackson later marched his army across the Natural Bridge during the First Seminole War of 1817-1818.

When the first settlers flooded into the area in 1819-1820, they also used the trail over the Natural Bridge, but quickly discovered its disadvantages. Any time the river was high, it flowed over the bridge preventing people from using the passage.

As a result, the early settlers quickly decided that it would be easier to build rafts or "flats" to use as ferries at other points along the river. One was operated at Cristoff's Ferry and another was used at the present site of Marianna. This was one of the reasons that the site was recommended as a location for a permanent county seat and the existence of a ferry and the adjacent hills helped draw Robert and Anna Beveridge to the site in 1827 when they founded Marianna.

Florida Caverns Cave Tours are Closed Again

New information from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection indicates that Florida Caverns State Park is once again largely closed.

The cave tours, Hickory picnic area, campground and Blue Hole are closed. The visitor center remains open for day use visitors.

The closures result from flooding along the Chipola River.

Here is the latest information on all Florida state parks experiencing closures from the DEP:

TALLAHASSEE — Fourteen of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s state parks are experiencing closures today after severe weather recently caused flooding. These are temporary closures and services will resume once conditions allow.

Continued state park closures include:

Adams Tract River Camp
C/o Troy Springs State Park
674 N.E. Troy Springs RoadBranford, Florida 32008
*Closed until further notice.

Holton Creek River Camp
C/o Suwannee River State Park
3631 201st Path
Live Oak, Florida 32060
*Closed until further notice.

Dowling Park River Camp
C/o Suwannee River State Park
3631 201st Path
Live Oak, Florida 32060
*Closed until further notice.

Fanning Springs State Park
18020 N.W. U.S. Highway 19Fanning Springs, Florida 32693
*Docks, boardwalk and swimming area closed until further notice. The cabins and park remain open for day use visitors.

Ichetucknee Springs State Park
12087 S.W. U.S. 27
Ft. White, Florida 32038
*River is closed to tubing until further notice. Some portions of the park are closed to visitors due to high water.

Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
799 N.W. Blue Spring RoadMayo, Florida 32066
* Closed until further notice.

Madison Blue Springs State Park
8300 N.E. State Road 6Lee, Florida 32059
*Closed until further notice.

Manatee Springs State Park
11650 NW 115th Street
Chiefland, Florida 32626
* Closed until further notice.

Peacock Springs State Park
12087 SW US Highway 27
Ft. White, Florida 32038
*Closed until further notice.

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park
U.S 41 North
White Springs, Florida 32096
* Hiking trails and some portions of the park are closed to visitors until further notice.

Suwannee River State Park
3631 201st Path
Live Oak, Florida 32060
*Campground is now open, but some portions of the park remain closed.

Troy Springs State Park
674 N.E. Troy Springs RoadBranford, Florida 32008
*Closed to swimming and diving until further notice. The park remains open for day use visitors.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park7525 W. Scenic Highway 30ASanta Rosa Beach, Florida 32459*The isolated day use area accessed by Topsail Road, off of Highway 98 is closed until further notice. The rest of the park remains open for day use and overnight visitors.

Florida Caverns State Park
3345 Caverns Road
Marianna, Florida 32246
*The campground, cave tours, Blue Hole use area and Hickory picnic area are closed until further notice. The visitor center is open for day use visitors.

Visitors can contact state parks directly for the most up to date information on park closures, or visit http://www.floridastateparks.org/. For additional information on flood conditions, visit http://www.floridadisaster.org/, or visit http://www.fl511.com/ for traffic updates.

Early Settlers of Jackson County, Florida

By Dale Cox

The smoke had barely cleared from the First Seminole War when the first settlers began to make their way back to the rich lands they had explored with Andrew Jackson in 1818. It was a risky proposition at best. The area that would become Jackson County was still Spanish territory at the time and there was the possibility of violent confrontation with Native American warriors still angered over their losses in the war.
Despite such dangers, however, several dozen frontier families made their way into the area by 1820. Their initial settlements were along Spring Creek in the Campbellton area, on the old Indian fields along Irwin’s Mill Creek and along the Apalachicola River south of the Native American towns of Tomatley and Choconicla.

Some of the names of these first settlers are recognizable in Jackson County today. The Spring Creek settlement, for example, included John Williams, James Falk, William T. Nelson, Abraham Philips, Benjamin Hamilton, Owen Williams, Micajah Cadwell, Joseph Parrot, John Ward, Nathan A. Ward, William Philips, James Ward, Andrew Farmer, Robert Thomas, John Hays, Samuel C. Fowler, Nathaniel Hudson, Wilie Blount, Moses Brantley, Robert Thompson, Guthrie Moore, Stephen Daniel, John Gwinn, John Jones, Allaway Roach, Henry Moses, Joel Porter, Simeon Cook, James C. Roach, John Smith and Presley Scurlock.

Their farms stretched from Holmes Creek on the west across the present site of Campbellton and then down Spring Creek to its junction with the headwaters of the Chipola River. To the south their lands extended about as far down as today’s Waddell’s Mill Pond, while to the north other settlements lay just across the Alabama line.

None of these farms were the large plantations for which Jackson County later became known. The largest had around 40 acres in cultivation, but the average settler farmed less than 15 acres. It was a start, though, and qualified each of them to later claim 640 acres after Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States in 1821.

The settlement at Irwin’s Mill Creek, then called “Conchatty Hatchy” or “Red Ground Creek,” included Joseph Brown, William Brown, Joseph Brooks, William Chamblis, James Irwin, Adam Kimbrough, William McDonald, William H. Pyke, George Sharp and Allis Wood.
Down on the Apalachicola, meanwhile, were Charles Barnes, Adam Hunter, John H. King and Reuben Littleton. These men all lived along the stretch of the river north Ocheesee Bluff, where Thomas and Stephen Richards had settled.

Other settlers known to have been in Jackson County prior to 1821 included James Dennard, Jonathan Hagan, John Hopson, Hugh Robertson, Joshua Scurlock and Robert Sullivan, all of whom settled along the upper Chipola east of the Spring Creek settlement, and William Pyles who staked a claim at Blue Spring.

Note: This article is excerpted from The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. The book is available at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna or online at http://www.amazon.com/.

Second Seminole War Attack in Jackson County

By Dale Cox

Fought in virtually every corner of Florida, the Second Seminole War was a bloody conflict that deteriorated into guerrilla raids by the forces of both sides. Jackson County became the target of such a raid in July of 1841 when a party of Creek warriors emerged from the swamps south of Marianna and attacked the home of Morris Simms.

According to a report carried by newspapers across the nation, the attack took place with around 30 warriors struck the Simms’ home, located near the Chipola River about 12 miles south of Marianna. Subsequent events indicate that the warriors responsible for the raid were part of a group that had eluded capture by hiding with their families deep in what was then a wilderness area surrounding St. Andrew Bay. Between 1840 and 1844 they carried out a series of raids against isolated farms and homes, primarily to obtain food and other supplies.

The attacks were usually swift and bloody. In the attack on the Simms’ settlement, for example, the warriors killed two of Morris Simms’ young daughters. “The little girls were found in the cowpen,” read a letter received in Tallahassee from Marianna, “pierced with spiked arrows, and their brains dashed out with lightwood knots.” The oldest of the girls was seven, while the youngest was only two.

The war party also carried away a large quantity of bacon from the smokehouse, a barrel of flour and any other provisions it could find, before killing two hogs and crippling Simms’ horses by shooting barbed arrows into their legs.

Such attacks, sadly, were commonplace during the war and were not limited to Indian warriors. A party of Jackson County militia had been accused four years earlier of killing a number of women and children in a brutal massacre in Walton County.

As soon as news of the raid was received in Marianna, a group of local men took up arms and formed into a volunteer company. Led by Major Bryan, the rode south to the Simms’ settlement. They reached the scene of the attack and managed to pick up the trail of the retreating warriors, “but they had made good their retreat, and their trail could be traced no further than a hammock some three or four miles from the scene of the outrage.”

News of the Simms’ attack prompted the U.S. Army to send regular troops into the region. In November of 1841, about four months after the raid, Lieutenant James W. Smith and a company of men from the 3rd U.S. Infantry established Fort Chipola south of Marianna. Located where the Federal Road crossed the Chipola River on the Jackson-Calhoun line, the fort served as a base for operations against scattered parties of Indians in the region for at least the next year.

Note: This article is excerpted from my 2008 book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years. The book is available at Chipola River Book and Tea in Downtown Marianna or online at www.amazon.com.

Florida Caverns Tours Closed due to Flooding

The Chipola River flooding has forced a temporary closure of the cave tours at Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna.

The caves, which were created by water, often flood during times of high water. The Blue Hole swimming area and Hickory picnic area are also temporarily closed. The Visitor Center remains open for day use visitors.

The caverns are not alone. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection indicates that a number of parks across Florida have been forced to close, including Suwannee River State Park in Live Oak.

Here is the latest list from the DEP:

Continued state park closures include:

Adams Tract River Camp
C/o Troy Springs State Park
674 N.E. Troy Springs RoadBranford, Florida 32008
*Closed until further notice.

Holton Creek River Camp
C/o Suwannee River State Park
3631 201st Path
Live Oak, Florida 32060
*Closed until further notice.

Dowling Park River Camp
C/o Suwannee River State Park
3631 201st Path
Live Oak, Florida 32060
*Closed until further notice.

Fanning Springs State Park
18020 N.W. Highway 19Fanning Springs, Florida 32693
*Closed to swimming until further notice. The cabins and park remain open for day use visitors.

Madison Blue Springs State Park
8300 N.E. State Road 6Lee, Florida 32059
*Closed until further notice.

Lafayette Blue Springs State Park
799 N.W. Blue Spring RoadMayo, Florida 32066
* Closed until further notice.

Manatee Springs State Park
11650 NW 115th Street
Chiefland, Florida 32626
*The Usher Boat Ramp, swimming and diving are closed until further notice. The park remains open for campers and day use visitors.

Peacock Springs State Park
12087 SW US Highway 27
Ft. White, Florida 32038
*Portions of the park, including swimming and diving, are closed to visitors until further notice.

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park
U.S 41 North
White Springs, Florida 32096
* Hiking trails and other portions of the park are closed to visitors until further notice.

Suwannee River State Park
3631 201st Path
Live Oak, Florida 32060
*Closed until further notice. Adjacent U.S. 90 bridge is also closed to traffic.

Troy Springs State Park
674 N.E. Troy Springs RoadBranford, Florida 32008
*Closed to swimming and diving until further notice. The park remains open for day use visitors.

Florida Caverns State Park
3345 Caverns Road
Marianna, Florida 32246
*Campground, cave tours and the Blue Hole use area, and hickory picnic area are closed until further notice. The visitor center and is open for day use visitors.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park
7525 W. Scenic Highway 30A
Santa Rosa Beach, Florida 32459
*The isolated day use area accessed by Topsail Road, off of Highway 98 is closed until further notice. The rest of the park remains open for day use and overnight visitors.

Visitors can contact state parks directly for the most up to date information on park closures, or visit http://www.floridastateparks.org/. For additional information on flood conditions, visit http://www.floridadisaster.org/, or visit http://www.fl511.com/ for traffic updates.