The Witch of Buena Vista Slough

A Haunting near Buena Vista Landing

by Dale Cox

A bizarre series of events along Buena Vista Slough (then called Sugar Mill Creek) terrified residents in Florida's Chattahoochee River valley more than 140 years ago.

October 1877 was a time of growing optimism in eastern Jackson County. The violence and strife of Reconstruction were finally over, the local economy was improving, and riverboat traffic was once again booming on the Chattahoochee River. Sugar Mill Creek flowed from a collection of small springs past the remains of the already ruined mill that gave the stream its name to join the river near today's Parramore Landing.

The lands along its low ridges were well-suited for the production of cotton, corn, tobacco, and other crops, and the harvest was good that fall. Most of the farms were small, and the families who settled near the creek in the years after the Civil War included whites, blacks, and Native Americans. All worked the land or cut timber to make their livings.

Things seemed peaceful as everyone worked and waited for the first cold snap of winter and "hog killing" time. No one, however, expected what happened next:

Buena Vista Slough now covers the original Sugar Mill Creek.

A Witch! The people about Sugar Mill creek in east Jackson are all alarmed about a witching at Godwin's spring on Thursday night last. Highsmith, an elderly Negro man, says his family was asleep by the fire when an unseen witch started to pelt his cabin with stones and brickbats. Thinking it was irreverent pranksters or Republicans he took up his shotgun and rushed into the yard only to witness a piece of lime rock rise from the ground and dash itself against his chimney. - Marianna Courier, October 1877. 

Godwin's Spring, where the incident supposedly took place, is now underwater at Godwin Lake, the head of the slough that extends north from Buena Vista Landing on the backwaters of Lake Seminole. The spring and the small creek that it and a few other springs headed was inundated when the Jim Woodruff Dam was completed in 1958.

Buena Vista Landing as seen from the slough.

Stories of witches or other unseen forces that threw rocks, bricks, and other objects against the sides of houses were relatively common in the 19th century. The best-documented case was the Edgefield Ghost in South Carolina, but the best-known was, without doubt, the Bell Witch of Tennessee.

People in that day usually blamed such instances on witches, although today they are often said to be the result of "poltergeist" activity.

More from the Witch! A witch seems quite begrudged with the people above Bellview on Sugar Mill creek. Brickbats, rocks, crockery and tools fly about. Dogs howl without ceasing. Bells sound at midnight. The rattle of dragging chains distinctly heard. Birds that speak. A creature like a dog with the head of a cat! If but half the stories are true then the good citizens of that vicinity had best revisit the methods of Cotton Mather of old Salem! - Marianna Courier, October 1877

The two brief articles are the only known written accounts of the paranormal "outbreak" that shook the Buena Vista area of eastern Jackson County in 1877. Earlier generations had vague memories of the incidents and told of how their parents and grandparents met for weekend-long brush arbor "preachings" and "camp meetings."

Like the Edgefield and Bell Witchings of earlier generations, this one also slowly faded away.

#57 Buena Vista Landing (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Buena Vista Landing from the water.

Buena Vista Landing, a small but extraordinarily beautiful park on Lake Seminole, is #57 on my list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Please click here to see the full list as it is unveiled.

If you are not familiar with Buena Vista, it is located off River Road (Highway 271) exactly 14 miles north of U.S. 90 at Sneads. The park was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of its Lake Seminole project during the late 1950s. It is now managed by the Jackson County Parks Department.

Buena Vista is a paradise for birders.

The park occupies a low ridge that overlooks an arm of Lake Seminole. There has always been water here, but before the completion of the Jim Woodruff Dam in 1958 the stream was known as Sugar Mill Creek. It is now much wider and flows at a slower pace than it did prior to the completion of the dam and creation of the lake.

The elevated ground along the spring-fed stream has attracted human beings for thousands of years. It offered a good place to live above the normal flood levels of the Chattahoochee River with great access to food sources. The creek was rich in fish, shellfish, turtles, alligators and other foods while the surrounding woods and swamps offered bear, deer, possum, rabbits and other game animals. Nuts were plentiful, as were edible plants, roots, fruit and more.

Channel leading from Buena Vista to Chattahoochee River

By around the time of Christ a prehistoric American Indian village began to develop at what is now Buena Vista Landing. The people that lived here were subjects of the Kolomoki chiefdom, a far-flung prehistoric nation centered on a capital city at today's Kolomoki Mounds State Park near Blakely, Georgia.

The Kolomoki chiefdom was part of a culture known today as Weeden Island (also spelled Weedon). Thought by some archaeologists to have been the most powerful chiefdom or nation in the Americas from around AD 400 to AD 900, the Kolomoki people developed advanced knowledge of astronomy, engineering and art. They were exceptional makers of high-quality pottery and tools.

The village stood on the high ground at the top of the ramp.

The village at Buena Vista was a fair-sized Kolomoki town. Long-time residents of the area remember that bulldozers and graders uncovered vast piles of shells as they built the parking area. These shell mounds or middens were created by the people of the village as they enjoyed thousands of meals of shellfish from Sugar Mill Creek.

Archaeologists investigated the site in 1948 and again in 1979. They found broken sherds of prehistoric pottery that helped them to date the village to the Kolomoki era. They also found flint and quartz tools and arrowheads from that time period.

Chattahoochee River arm of Lake Seminole near Buena Vista

While most of the large and important prehistoric site is now covered with asphalt, the natural beauty of its setting can still be enjoyed. The park offers a boat ramp, dock and small picnic area and is a great place for fishing, picnicking, photography and birding. Many of the trees show beautiful colors in the fall and the parking lot area is known for its beautiful redbuds during the spring.

To reach Buena Vista Landing from U.S. 90 at Sneads, travel north for exactly 14 miles and turn right (east) on Buena Vista Road. The road dead-ends at the park.

One note:  Like all such places on Federal lands, the remnants of the archaeological site at Buena Vista are protected by U.S. law.