The Black Willow: Creek and Seminole Indian Headache Cure!

Creek and Seminole Indians (and their ancestors!) used a tree common in the Apalachicola, Chipola, and Choctawhatchee River valleys as a headache cure long before pharmacies dotted the landscape! Learn more in "Nature at Florida Caverns," a special feature from Assistant Park Manager Billy Bailey of Florida Caverns State Park.

Bellamy Bridge named to National Register of Historic Places

Florida's Most Haunted Bridge Receives National Recognition!

by Rachael Conrad

Historical and haunted Bellamy Bridge is now on
the National Register of Historic Places.

Bellamy Bridge, which some say is one of Florida's most haunted sites, is now a site of national distinction.

The National Park Service has listed the historic steel-frame structure on the National Register of Historic Places. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is the park service's initiative to "coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archaeological resources."

The bridge was built in 1914 using funds provided by the Jackson County Board of County Commissioners. It was prefabricated by the Converse Steel and Bridge Company and brought to the construction site on the Chipola River north of Marianna using ox carts. Crews assembled the pieces and completed the span in just over six weeks!

The bridge takes its name from earlier wooden bridges that crossed the Chipola River at the same site. These bridges have all been said to be haunted by the restless spirit of a young woman named Elizabeth Jane Croom Bellamy. Please click here to read more about the Ghost of Bellamy Bridge.

A closer look at the surviving steel-frame structure.

The recognition results in large part from the work of Andrew J. Waber of the Florida Division of Historical Resources. He has been engaged in an ambitious project to identify significant historical resources in rural counties of Northwest Florida. His work also led to the Sneads Log Cabin and Longwood House in Greenwood being added to the National Register in recent years.

Historian and author Dale Cox, who assisted by providing documentation and other information, said he was thrilled by today's announcement. "This has been a goal for a very, very long time," he said. "A group of us first started working to preserve Bellamy Bridge all the way back in the 1980s. There have been ups and downs, but this is a definite up!"

Bellamy Bridge is located off County Road 162 (Jacob Road) just west of the Chipola River. A trail leads from a gravel parking area there down to the bridge. Hurricane Michael did extensive damage to the trail. Cleanup efforts have been underway, and the path is once again open to the public, although more work remains to be done.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail as it appears today. Hurricane
Michael did extensive damage to the nature trail, but hard
work has it once again open to the public. More work is ahead.

Cox was a key figure in the effort to build the trail across Northwest Florida Water Management District lands and reopen the bridge to the public but gave higher credit to former Jackson County Parks director and current Florida State Parks assistant director Chuck Hatcher and former Jackson County Tourism director Pam Fuqua.

He also credited many others for their work in preserving Bellamy Bridge, among them current Jackson County Public Works director Rett Daniels, the Board of County Commissioners, the Northwest Florida Water Management District, the volunteers of the Friends of Bellamy Bridge, former tourism employee Whitney Clark, Brig. Gen. James W. Hart (ret.), Tracy and Susan Todd, Emerald Coast Paranormal Concepts, David Melvin Engineering, and current county tourism director Christy Andreasen.

Enjoy this free mini-documentary from Two Egg TV to learn more about the Bellamy Bridge ghost story and hear a great song about the haunting:

Paddlewheel Steamboats on the Chipola River

The Jackson, the Farley, and other boats made the dangerous run.

by Dale Cox

The paddlewheel steamboat Chipola operated in 1911-1926.
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

Paddlewheel steamboats offered transportation, communication, and opportunities to communities across Northwest Florida long before the P&A (later the L&N and today the CSX) railroad was built across the region in 1881-1883.

While it is easy to see how the boats could operate successfully on the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Choctawhatchee Rivers, the idea that they navigated the narrow and twisting channels of Holmes Creek and the Chipola River seems much more far-fetched. And yet, the splash of paddlewheels and shrill whines of steam whistles were heard on these streams as well.

Holmes Creek, for example, was navigated by sternwheelers from its confluence with the Choctawhatchee up to a landing just north of Vernon. They carried cotton, timber, turpentine rosin, and other commodities down to Pensacola via the Choctawhatchee River, Choctawhatchee Bay, and Santa Rosa Sound. Vernon actually became one of the world's top shipping points for gopher tortoises, which were considered a valuable food item in the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

The Chipola River in Northwest Florida

Marianna's location on the Chipola River sparked many to dream that it too could become a commercial port. Wooden barges and pole boats carried cotton, rice, sugar, lumber, and other commodities down the river from the earliest days of settlement in Jackson County. The Natural Bridge at today's Florida Caverns State Park was an important port facility. Commerce from the upper river was offloaded there and transferred to larger boats for the trip down to Apalachicola and St. Joseph.

It was not until 1860, however, that the first powered vessel made its way up to Marianna. The boat was the paddlewheel steamer Jackson, which was built in Pittsburg especially for the Chipola River trade:

LIGHT STEAMER.—A neat little steamer—the Jackson, of Marianna, Florida—is just completed and now loading at the Monongahela wharf for the South. The Jackson was built under the superintendence of Capt. Dan Fry, her commander, for the Marianna and Appalachicola Steamboat Company and is intended to navigate the Chipola river—a river never before navigated by steamboat.—She is of light draught, trimming on less than twelve inches, and having a capacity to stow away five hundred bales of cotton. Her cabin is very near and furnished in true southern style and has all the late improvements in her general outfit to make her the boat for the packet trade she is intended for.—(Pittsburg Despatch, July 11, 1860).

The boat's career was short. Just months after she reached Marianna the first time, Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate States of America. U.S. warships blockaded Apalachicola and St. Joseph Bays, prompting Confederate forces to obstruct the Apalachicola River. They also placed heavy cannon along its banks to prevent the enemy from coming upstream.

The steamboat John W. Callahan sank in the lower Chipola
River near Wewahitchka in 1927.

The Jackson stopped her runs to Marianna and was placed under the control of the Confederate army. She was lost in an accident on the lower Apalachicola River late in the war.

The Reconstruction era arrived in 1865 with no boat available to navigate the shallow and twisting channel of the Chipola. The steamers that survived the war were too big. They drew too much water, and their lengths were too long to turn the river's sharp bends. The dream of turning Marianna into a river city was dampened but did not end.

As the community recovered from the economic devastation of the War Between the States or Civil War, attention soon turned to the building a new boat christened the Farley. The sternwheel boat made her first trip up the Chipola in March of 1872:

ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST STEAMER - The little steamer "Farley," built expressly to run on the Chipola river and points on the Chattahoochee and Flint made her first trip up to Marianna on the 16th ult., and created the wildest enthusiasm among the citizens. The Courier of the following Thursday is filled with accounts of pic-nics, dances, and all sorts of jubilees in her honor. - The ladies presented the Captain with a handsome flag for his little craft. "The Farley will no doubt prove a great convenience to the people of Jackson - (Tallahassee Weekly Floridian, April 2, 1872).

The Farley brought commercial river traffic back to Marianna for the first time in ten years. Like the Jackson before her, she could only travel the river during the winter and spring when water levels were high. Promoters, however, dreamed of opening the river year-round and appealed to the War Department which sent Thomas Robinson, Assistant Engineer, to inspect the Chipola and make recommendations:

The John W. Callahan, Jr. was the last commercial
paddlewheel steamer to operate on the Chipola River. She is
seen here passing beneath Victory Bridge at Chattahoochee
on its dedication day in 1922.

The Chipola River, flowing southward from Marianna to the “Dead Lakes,” an estimated distance of 65 miles, is a stream of 2½ feet per second, surface velocity (with the water 5 feet above low), a general depth of 5 feet at low water, and a width ranging from 60 to 200 feet. The obstructions are bridges, shoals, overhanging trees, and logs and snags in the channel. - (Report of Thomas Robinson, Assistant Engineer, included in Annual Report of the Secretary of War, Washington, DC, 1889, Page 1418).

Robinson placed the cost of the river at $48,300. The obstructions he found included the Marianna road and railroad bridges, a road bridge 14-miles south of Marianna, and six rock shoals. The largest of these was Calhoun County's well-known Look and Tremble Shoals:

This last shoal goes by the name of “Look and Tremble,” and is the chief impediment of the stream at low water. At a 5-foot stage of water no signs of the shoal are visible. To clear a low-water channel of 3 feet in depth and 60 feet in width through all of these shoals, I estimate that 8,000 cubic yards of rock must be removed, at an approximate cost of $22,000. - (Ibid.).

Look and Tremble is popular with outdoor enthusiasts today, but it was a severe hindrance to navigation in 1888. The bridges at Marianna were not replaced. Landings were at Turner's Landing on Spring Creek and at today's Hinson Conservation and Recreation Area just south of the railroad trestle remained in use.

The shoals, however, were cut. Channels deep enough and wide enough for small paddlewheel steamers to pass through were cut into the rock. The Look and Tremble cut is still visible on the east side of the rapids.

Another view of the John W. Callahan, Jr.

The steamer Chipola made her presence on the river in 1886. Able to carry 32-tons of cargo plus passengers, she navigated the narrow channel for three years before sinking at Magnolia Landing in 1889.

Other boats operated in the late 19th and early 20th-centuries. One of these was also named the Chipola and was launched at Apalachicola in 1911. The sternwheel boat operated until she struck a snag and sank in the lower river in 1926. She never made it as far up as Marianna.

Paddlewheel boats continued to operate on the Chipola River until the 1930s, but getting them up to Marianna remained a significant problem. The Annual Report of the Secretary of War for 1925, for example, includes discussion of an appropriation to open a 3-foot channel all the way from Dead Lakes to Marianna:

The improvement between the foot of the Dead Lakes and Look and Tremble Shoals is absolutely essential to a section of the State which is not provided with other means of transportation. Below Look and Tremble Shoals improvement has made it possible to maintain regular transportation throughout the entire year. No benefit has been derived from the expenditure above Look and Tremble Shoals. - (Annual Report of the Secretary of War, Washington, DC, 1925, pp. 715-716).

Service never was restored to Marianna, and the last commercial paddlewheel steamer to operate on the Chipola was the John W. Callahan, Jr. The boat remained in service until the early 1930s after her sister vessel - the John W. Callahan - sank near Wewahitchka in 1927. The Callahan, Jr. never came above the Dead Lakes so far as is known.

The emergence of modern trucks and highways ended the need for the boats, and they faded away into the mists of time.

Word "Chipola" is hundreds of years old

By Dale Cox

The Chipola River as seen from the air.

Marianna – The traditional story often told in books and articles about Jackson County  - and repeated on many websites - is that the word “Chipola” originates from the Choctaw language and means something akin to “sweet water.” The interesting tale dates back many decades, but unfortunately, it probably is not true.  The Choctaw never lived in Jackson County and there is no evidence that they named the Chipola River.

Early writers probably confused the little-known Chacato with the Choctaw. The names are similar and the Chacato were living in what is now Jackson County when the Spanish arrived in 1674. Their primary homeland was in the rich lands between the Chipola River and Holmes Creek.

Spanish missionaries settled among the Chacato and established the missions or churches of San Nicolas and San Carlos. A third visita or part-time station was built at a place called San Antonio. San Nicolas was a few miles northwest of Marianna, San Antonio was near Campbellton, likely in the Daniel Springs area, and San Carlos was probably near Orange Hill in what is now Washington County.

Blue Springs (or Jackson blue Spring) was called "Calutoble"
by the Spanish. It is mentioned in the 1677 report that also
includes the first use of the word "Chipola."

In 1675, however, the Chacato warriors rebelled and drove out the missionaries. Spanish soldiers retaliated by burning San Nicolas and San Antonio. Most of the Chacato survivors fled to the Coushatta (or Coosada) towns in Alabama, although some who had converted to the Christian faith moved closer to the Spanish capital at Mission San Luis in today's Tallahassee.

The war against the Chacato soon expanded to include the Chisca (possibly the Yuchi?) who lived in what is now Walton County. Chisca warriors raided Spanish settlements around Mission San Luis from a fortified village somewhere in southern Walton or Okaloosa Counties.

Apalachee Christian militia responded in 1677 with a raid that located and destroyed the Chisca stronghold. The soldiers passed through Jackson County and the report of the expedition’s commander includes the first known written use of the word “Chipola.”

Crossing the Chattahoochee River at a site now covered by Lake Seminole, Captain Juan Fernandez de Florencia reported that the Apalachee commander and his 197 men marched west into Jackson County in September of 1677. After camping at a pond somewhere north of Grand Ridge, the force continued Blue Springs (Jackson Blue Spring) which the captain described as “a spring which is named Calutoble, whence a river runs toward the south.”

Paddlers enjoy the headwaters of the Chipola River at
Lily Pad Adventures near Campbellton, Florida

The route of the expedition then angled to the northwest across today’s Dogwood Heights area to the natural bridge of the Chipola River at Florida Caverns State Park. There, the Apalachee commander told the captain, his men camped “in a great forest called Chipole; and the next day knelt to pray.”

The 1677 account was the first documented use of the word “Chipola” and it applied to the vast floodplain swamps and not the river itself. This puts the assumption that that the word meant "sweet water" into doubt.

The expedition was guided by friendly Chacato warriors and the word is undoubtedly Native American in origin, so it is logical to conclude that it was from the Chacato language. The exact meaning, however, has been lost to time.

The Alabama-Coushatta of Texas are descendants of the Chacato but report that "Chipola" has no meaning in their language today.

Based on its usage, "Chipola" - which today provides the name for a river, a college, and numerous businesses and nonprofit agencies - probably means something like "big swamp" or "big forest."

Learn more about the Spanish and Native American history of Jackson County in Dale Cox's book:

The Spirit of Blue Springs: A Jackson County Ghost Story

Water flows from the submerged cave at Jackson Blue Spring
as TwoEgg.TV's Rachael Conrad works on a coming program.

The following is legend that was handed down by early settlers of Jackson County. The events described took place long before the first Spaniard set foot in Florida. It revolves around Blue Springs, which the State of Florida has renamed Jackson Blue Springs.

A war once raged in eastern Jackson County. The Chacato, a Native American group that had intruded into Florida from the north, established settlements between Holmes Creek and the Chipola River. They soon began to raid the towns of the Apalache Indians who lived east of the Ochlockonee River around present-day Tallahassee.

The Apalache fought back and the region between the Chipola and Apalachicola Rivers became a depopulated buffer zone that separated the warring chiefdoms. The attacks and counterattacks continued but neither could defeat the other and the war bogged down into a bloody stalemate.

Jackson Blue Spring, locally called Blue Springs, is the head
of Marianna's beloved Merritt's Mill Pond. It is an impressive
first magnitude spring and the largest source of water for the
Chipola River.

It was in this time of conflict, the Blue Springs legend holds, that a young woman of the Chacato stumbled upon a young warrior of the Apalache. The two fell in love but kept their romance secret because they knew that their families would object.

The young woman, however, was the daughter of the most powerful Chacato chief. He hoped to form a military alliance with the Chisca, a militaristic group that lived along Irwin's Mill Creek and the Chattahoochee River. The Chisca were fiercely independent and involved in a war of their own against the Apalache.

The chief of the Chacato offered his daughter as a bride to the young war chief of the Chisca in a gesture that he hoped would cement the proposed alliance. The latter group agreed to the proposal and a wedding was scheduled on neutral ground at Blue Springs.

The prospective bride, however, pleaded with her father and in tears begged him to call off the marriage. He refused and ordered her to comply with his will.

The mouth of the cave as seen from beneath the surface.
Photo by Alan Cox.

The young woman's desperation grew as the hour approached andshe concluded that she could not allow the marriage to happen.

Crowds of Chacato and Chisca gathered at the spring for the ceremony but instead watched in stunned disbelief as she suddenly bolted for the water. Before anyone could stop her, she leaped into the spring and dove down deep through the clear water and into the mouth of the submerged cave itself. All efforts by the bravest warriors to find and save her ended in failure.

At this point her true love arrived on the outskirts of the camp, determined to rescue her from her pending marriage. The scene of panic that he saw from his hiding place confused him and it took until sundown that he was able to learn that his beloved had taken her own life by diving down into the spring.

The young warrior waited for darkness and then walked down into the spring himself. He too dove down into the cave and disappeared forever in its depths.

The chief of the Chacatos was despondent and filled with regret over the loss of his daughter. He walked down to the spring at sunrise the next morning to think and express his grief. As the ray of the rising sun penetrated to the bottom of the spring, however, he saw two figures standing there in the shadows at the mouth of the cave. They were holding hands. He knew that it must be his daughter, Calistoble, and her beloved.

Jackson Blue Spring is the only first magnitude spring in the
entire Apalachicola/Chattahoochee/Flint/Chipola River Basic.

The chief decreed at that moment that the spring would bear his daughter's name. People from any tribe or nation could come there without fear to enjoy the cold water, beautiful forests and abundant wildlife. It remained known as Calistoble Spring for many years.

The chief's decree also came with a serious warning. If anyone should disturb the beauty of the water where his daughter's spirit remained, the spring would stop flowing and become nothing more than a stagnant pool.

The Chacato and Apalache eventually disappeared from Florida, the victims of war and oppression. The Creeks and Seminoles that followed, however, abided by the powerful declaration of the ancient chief and preserved Calistoble as a place of recreation, beauty and peace. They also handed down the old warning that damaging the beauty of the spring would bring about its death.

Visitors claimed that the spirits of the lost lovers could be seen moving in the waters of the spring on moonlit nights, constant reminders of the long ago tragedy and a father's warning to to any who might disturb his daughter's peace.

Possession of the spring eventually passed on to the whites, but they soon adopted a plan to adapt it for industry and in doing so awakened the curse and summoned the anger of the Spirit of the Spring.

What happened? Read the story in the conclusion of this article: http://twoegg.blogspot.com/2017/05/bluespringsspirit2.html!

To learn more about the history of Blue Springs, please click play on this video from TwoEgg.TV:

James Webb and Webbville: A remarkable man and Jackson County's first town

A view south down Union Road from the site of
Webbville in Jackson County, Florida.

Webbville is one of Florida's best known ghost towns. It was Jackson County's first incorporated community and - according to the U.S. Congress at least - remains its official seat of government.

Note: This is Part One of a two part series. Click here to continue to Part Two.

Not a soul lives on the site today, but its stories remain some of the most interesting in the county's history.

Florida had been a U.S. territory for only two years when James Webb arrived from Georgia in 1823. A veteran of the War of 1812 and a former school teacher, he had practiced law in both Virginia and Georgia before coming to the "Chipola Settlement" at the age of 31.

Jackson County was only one year old and then stretched from the Choctawhatchee River on the West to the Suwannee River on the east. It included all or parts of today's Holmes, Washington, Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Franklin, Liberty, Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Madison, Dixie, Suwannee, Lafayette and Hamilton Counties.

Not a building remains on the site of Jackson County's
first incorporated town. The one-time county seat of
Webbville has vanished without a trace.

Attorneys were few and far between in this vast region. Marianna, Chipley, Bonifay, Panama City, Port St. Joe, Apalachicola, Quincy, Tallahassee, Monticello and other well-known communities of today did not yet exist but settlers were arriving in increasing numbers.

One of the earliest American communities in this region was the old Chipola Settlement, which lay south of today's Waddell's Mill Pond and west of the Chipola River. Similar settlements were growing elsewhere within the present Jackson County limits at Campbellton, Greenwood, Irwin's Mill Creek and on the Apalachicola River near Sneads.

James Webb was a family man and it seems strange today that he would pull up stages and head off into a largely unexplored wilderness but this was how fortunes were made on the American frontier of the early 19th century.

His wife, the former Rachel Elizabeth Lamar, was expecting a child at the time and remained back in Georgia with her family and the couple's 10-year-old daughter, Mary Elizabeth, while James headed south to Florida. He would clear land and build a home before they traveled down to join him.

James Webb's land was located in the Southeast 1/4 of Section
9 and the Southwest 1/4 of Section 10, as shown on this 1826
survey plat. The creek running east to west is Russ Mill Creek.

Webb eventually laid claim to four pieces of land in Jackson County, but the most important of these were two adjoining parcels between Russ Mill Creek and Baker Creek. Located near today's Baker Creek Road, they combined to total about 450 acres, 100 acres of which he cleared over the next few years.

Rachel, Mary and the new baby boy, Thomas Francis Webb, arrived in Florida in 1824. The family grew by another member one year later when another baby boy, James William Webb, was born.

Sugar production then rivaled cotton on the plantations of Jackson County and was especially popular along the wetlands and creeks of the Chipola Settlement. James Webb grew sugar cane on his farm, probably sending the stalks down the creek to the sugar mill near the Natural Bridge of the Chipola River at Florida Caverns State Park. Little is known of this early refinery, but the Pensacola newspaper regularly reported the arrival of hogsheads of sugar from the Chipola River region.

Jackson County grew dramatically between 1822 and 1825. The population soared from fewer than 200 to more than 2,000 in that short time period. The Chipola Settlement emerged as the largest community within today's county limits and a central village began to grow on Section 16, Township 5 North, Range 11 West.

Union Road crosses Russ Mill Creek by way of a wooden
bridge. The creek was an important source of water power
for grist and saw mills that served Webbville.

James Webb hung out his shingle there and opened a law office, one of the first in Jackson County. He later partnered with Peter W. Gautier, a prominent figure in frontier Florida. Other businesses opened as well, among them Col. L.M. Stone's general store. Some idea of the prosperity of the community can be obtained from early real estate listings which mention two story homes with wraparound porches and a brick store building.

The growth of the community further spurred by an act of the Florida Territorial Legislative Council on January 20, 1827. Hoping to head off a growing dispute over the permanent location of a county seat for Jackson County, the legislators appointed a commission to select the final site, survey the community and initiate the sale of lots. James Webb was one of the five members named to this board.

While the selection committee did its work, the legislative council decreed that the courts of Jackson County would meet on Section 16, Township 5 North, Range 11 West. This was the location of Stone's Store, Webb's law office and the growing community of business and houses that would become the county's first town.

Stone's Store had been named a U.S. Post Office the previous June and on February 2, 1837, ads appeared in the Pensacola Gazette announcing that the village had been named Webbville.

Jackson County's first post office, first hotel and first
public school stood atop this hill at Webbville.

James Webb was instrumental in many of the accomplishments of the town that bore his name. He served Board of Trustees for the Webbville Academy, Jackson County's first public school. The students studied Greek and Latin, as well as mathematics, science, literature and other courses of the day. The school opened its doors in 1827 and students sat for their first quarterly finals on May 25, 1827:

The first quarterly examination of the students of this institution took place this day, under the direction of the Trustees, and they take much pleasure in stating, to parents and guardians who have placed their children and wards in this Seminary, that the examination was highly satisfactory and reflected much credit on the teacher, for his care and abilities in conducting the school, and upon the pupils, for their industry and attainments. - Trustees of Webbville Academy to the Pensacola Gazette, May 27, 1827, published in the Pensacola Gazette, June 22, 1827.

James Webb signed the report as one of the school's seven Trustees. The others were Peter W. Gautier, Thomas Baltzell, William P. Hort, Joseph Russ, William J. Watson and Thomas Russ.

Webbville hosted a 4th of July celebration that year. A "numerous assemblage of citizens" listened as Benjamin W. Cumming read the Declaration of Independence. A speech and dinner followed, but the evening's toasts - accompanied by gunfire - were the highlights of the day.

Independence Day of 1827 found Webbville on the verge of great success. Its population and business community were growing. It had been temporarily designated as county seat and the county's first school was functioning well.

The prosperity would not last. A major political fight loomed on the horizon, as did a change that would start James Webb down the path to a remarkable life.

Please click here to continue to Part 2 of this two part series.

Howell's Mills: 1829 mill site on the Chipola River

The Chipola River flows past the site of Howell's Mills.
Joseph H. Howell owned the west or right bank of the river
at this point. Richard Keith Call owned the east or left bank.

The year 1829 was a significant one in the history of Jackson County, Florida.

Marianna was founded that year by Robert and Anna Maria Beveridge, igniting an almost instant political war with nearby Webbville over which town would emerge as the permanent county seat. Webbville in turn announced a sale of town lots to fund the construction of Jackson County's first public school. Dr. H.B. Crews of Webbville fought the first recorded duel in county history against Mr. J.O. Sewall at the Alabama line near present-day Campbellton on July 30, 1829. Please see: A Duel near Campbellton in 1829.

The Florida Territorial Council, meeting in Tallahassee on November 10, approved the construction of a water mill south of Marianna on the Chipola River by Mr. Joseph H. Howell:

Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, That Joseph H. Howell, be, and he is hereby authorised and vested with all the rights and privileges of building a set of mills, gins, or any other machine on the Chipola river in Jackson County, where the same runs thro' section twenty three, in Township four, range ten, north and west, and to use the waters of said river for the use of said mills, or machine, in any way he may think proper. Provided he shall in no case, obstruct the passage and free navigation of said river.

The measure was passed and became effective on November 10, 1829. It was signed by Gov. William P. Duval a short time later.

Paddlers stop to climb a tree at the site of Howell's Mills.

The site selected by Howell for his mills was on the west bank of the river immediately below the mouth of Spring Creek. Thousands of people paddle, boat or tube pass this point annually now, enjoying the scenery and cool water along a particularly beautiful stretch of the Chipola River. Few if any realize that they are passing an important industrial site from Florida's Territorial era.

It is not known how long it took for Joseph Howell to get his mills into operation following the receipt of approval from the Territorial Council. He clearly had activity underway on the site by the end of 1830 when he obtained a patent for 79.68 acres from the Tallahassee Land Office in a cash entry purchase. The parcel made up the West 1/2 of the Southeast 1/4 of Section 23, Township 4 North, Range 10 West.

The other half of the quarter section was claimed on the same date by Richard Keith Call, a noted associate of President Andrew Jackson and future governor of Florida. He was also involved in the simultaneous development of Marianna and his acquisition of land directly across the river from Howell's Mills is a clear indication that he expected them to become a landmark on the Chipola.

Section 23, the site of Howell's Mills, as shown on an 1826
survey plat. Spring Creek enters the Chipola River at upper
right. Bridge Creek flows in at lower right. The mills stood on
the left side of the river near the bottom of Section 23.

The 1830 U.S. Census for Jackson County shows that Joseph Howell was prosperous at the time he developed his mills. His household included four occupants, all over the age of 20, as well as 10 slaves, three of whom were under the age of 10.

The mills probably included a grist mill, sawmill and cotton gin. Timber and cotton were among the county's earliest exports, with Florida newspapers reporting the arrival of cargoes of each from up the Chipola on barges and pole boats. Most Chipola River commerce went to Apalachicola (then called West Point), but some was portaged over from the river into Bear Creek and St. Andrew Bay for transport via the small port that had developed near the site of today's Deer Point Dam.

The Chipola River would continue to be used as a way of moving commerce for more than 100 years, proving the wisdom of the Legislative Council's requirement that Howell's operation not "obstruct the passage and free navigation of said river."

The author paddles down crystal clear Spring Creek on the way
to see the site of Howell's Mills in Jackson County, Florida.

Additional research will be required to learn more about the commercial success and durability of Howell's Mills. Joseph Howell himself never saw his dream realized. The 65-year-old businessman died shortly after receiving title to the land on which the mills stood. The property passed to his son, also named Joseph H. Howell, who by 1841 was living in today's Hillsborough County, Florida. He remained in Hillsborough County for the rest of his life, dying at Plant City in 1862.

The mills no longer stand. A few cut limestone blocks can still be seen beneath the water at the site when the river is clear, silent reminders to one of Jackson County's earliest industries.

To learn more about the early history of Jackson County, please consider my book: The History Of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years.

Dale Cox
January 27, 2017

Chuck Hatcher named to key State Parks post

Chuck Hatcher
New Assistant Director of Florida State Parks
Photo courtesy of Patte Hatcher

Jackson County's Director of Parks & Recycling has been named Assistant Director of Florida State Parks.

Chuck Hatcher, a Dellwood resident, will be leaving for his new position on March 7th after a remarkable 10 years of service to the people and visitors of Jackson County. He began his work with the county on September 26, 2006.

Hatcher will be supervising day to day operations for all 174 of Florida's state parks. Stretching from the Keys to the Perdido, the system's lands include hundreds of thousands of acres of some of the most pristine, historic and ecologically significant places in the state.

In a phone conversation this morning, he told me that he will miss his role in Jackson County. "I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish in Jackson County," he said. "We are a rural county but we have done some major development in the areas of parks and recreation."

It was a modest understatement. During his tenure at the head of Jackson County's park system, Hatcher has supervised dramatic improvements in facilities and park operations. Visitation to Blue Springs alone has skyrocketed and now pays for the county's entire parks effort. In addition to noted and visible improvements at Blue Springs, he has also supervised an upswing in cleanliness and use of parks and recreation sites from one side of the county to the other.

Chuck Hatcher at Bellamy Bridge

I had the opportunity to work closely with Chuck in the realization of our dream to see Bellamy Bridge once again open to the public. Without spending a single dime of property tax money, we designed, funded and developed the new Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail on Highway 162. The one-half mile nature trail leads to the historic bridge and has been visited by thousands of people in just a few short years.

Chuck has also been instrumental in securing funding for boat ramps, boardwalks, the new Jackson County Greenway on the Chipola River and improving the quality of the county-maintained parks along Lake Seminole. His key accomplishments are bringing tourists to our area in growing numbers while also benefiting the citizens of Jackson County on a daily basis.

Chuck and his wife of many years Patte reside in downtown Dellwood. They have two highly accomplished daughters. The entire family has been visible and active in Jackson County for many years and will remain so after he transitions to his new position.

Congratulations to a long-time friend!

Did the Titanic Curse sink the riverboat John W. Callahan?

The John W. Callahan

The paddlewheel steamboat John W. Callahan was a beloved sight at landings along the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, and Flint Rivers. Its run ended in 1923 in an incident that some have linked to the curse of the Titanic.

In some ways it is appropriate that the fate of the Callahan has been linked to that of the Titanic. Each was a luxurious vessel that ranked among the largest ever operated by its line. Each was known for its decor and the hospitality of its crew. Each was captained by a confident officer. And each steamed off on its final voyage carrying passengers confident in ability of the vessel to overcome all obstacles of man and nature.

Interior of the John W. Callahan

The John W. Callahan was a river steamer of the Tri-State Navigation Company's Callahan Line. Named for Bainbridge, Georgia, businessman and investor John W. Callahan, Sr., it was built at Apalachicola, Florida, in 1907 and carried passengers for the first time on January 3, 1908:

By invitation of Mr. John W. Callahan a large number of invited guests were given a steamboat ride last Friday afternoon on the new steamer The John W. Callahan, which will make weekly trips to the Dead Lakes of Florida and Apalachicola. It is 127 feet long - two decks and thirty state rooms. It is electric lighted and is fitted up with the most improved machinery. - Bainbridge Democrat, January 9, 1908.

Many of the people living along Florida's Chattahoochee, Apalachicola and Chipola Rivers in 1908 had never seen electric lighting or some of the boat's other amenities. The Callahan was a marvel to them and for the next 15 years was a much anticipated sight at Neal's, Parramore, Peri and Butler Landings in Jackson County.

John W. Callahan
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

The boat also had a dramatic impact on the economy of the region. Its cargo capacity was huge and within 9-months the steamboat was bringing affordable and quality merchandise in such quantities that merchants in Northwest Florida, Southwest Georgia and Southeast Alabama were able to significantly reduce their prices.

By the time the RMS Titanic sank in 1912, the Callahan was the undisputed queen of the region's river steamers:

Passengers who have enjoyed the ocean trip between Savannah and New York find the Callahan's appointments of as high class, and the hourly changing scenery hardly as monotonous as just water, water, water. They find the fifteenth meal as palatable and as plentiful as the first, and they begin to figure out how much they would have to add to the round trip ticket price to buy the food alone in a hotel or cafe of the better class. - Charles F. Pekor, Jr., "Down the Chattahoochee on the John W. Callahan," Columbus Daily Enquirer, January 9, 1922.

The John W. Callahan was the first boat to pass under
old Victory Bridge at Chattahoochee, Florida.
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

Ten years after the loss of the Titanic, however, the crew of the Callahan committed an error in judgment that some would blame for the steamer's loss.

Sailors believe even today that it is extremely bad luck for the name of the Titanic to be mentioned aboard ship while a vessel is at sea. Doing so can bring down a curse upon a ship, its crew and passengers.

On New Year's Eve of 1921, however, the crew of the John W. Callahan did not just mention the name of the Titanic, they sang a song about the ill-fated liner while their vessel was underway, inviting upon themselves a curse tied to the luxury liner.

It was tradition aboard the river steamers of the Callahan Line for the head stevedore to form his men into a chorus for the entertainment of passengers each New Year's Eve. On December 31, 1921, head stevedore Gross Harvey kept this tradition alive aboard the John W. Callahan, singing for the tips of the passengers.

The Titanic Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress

He and his men, however, ran out of songs before their audience ran out of money so they turned to a new folk song then spreading across the country:

Ladies and children saved their life,
Husbands parted from their wife - 
It was sad when that great ship went down.

The lyrics are from "The Titanic," a tuned created by an unnamed troubadour in around 1915. It was first recorded in 1924 by Ernest V. Stoneman and became the first country record ever to sell 1,000,000 copies. You can hear it by clicking play at the bottom of this page.

If you believe in such things, the crew of the Callahan invited disaster by singing about the Titanic while their steamer was underway on the Chattahoochee River. In less than one year a series of strange accidents began to plague the vessel. Within two years, the John W. Callahan was history.

The problems began with a series of nagging incidents that troubled the Callahan throughout 1922, the most serious of which took place in November of that year when the steamer struck a snag near Gunn's Landing and started to sink. The quick-thinking pilot ran the boat aground to save her, but she still sustained serious damage when one end of the vessel sank to a depth of five feet.

John W. Callahan underway
State Archives of Florida/Mwmory Collection

The boat was raised, restored and back in service by March 1923. On the 3rd of that month she left Columbus with the largest shipment ever carried by a river steamer from that city - 337 tons of cargo and as many passengers as her cabins could hold. The Callahan made it to Apalachicola but it would be the last time that she would ever sniff the salt air of the Gulf.

The John W. Callahan began its ill-fated final voyage on March 20, 1923. On board were some of the leading businessmen of the South, among them James W. "Jim" Woodruff, for whom the Jim Woodruff Dam at Chattahoochee, Florida, is named. The vessel was also attempting to break its own record for cargo. On her decks were 375 tons of fertilizer and a large amount of other merchandise.

The Chattahoochee River was running extremely high when the boat left Columbus and some in that city expressed fear that she would not be able to steam under the bridge at Eufaula, Alabama. The Columbus Daily Enquirer made note of this concern , "It was thought that in spite of the depth of 20 feet the boat, upon unloading some of the freight at Eufaula, would be able to get by the bridge."

Chipola River near where the John W. Callahan sank
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection (Photo by Charles Barron)

The steamer passed under the bridge at Eufaula without incident but her pilots failed to consider the cable that pulled a ferry back and forth across the river at Gordon, Alabama. The cable normally was high enough above the surface for steamboats to travel beneath it without trouble. With the river at flood stage, however, the Callahan ran into it and decapitated herself:

At Gordon, Ala., according to the local officer of the company, the boat was tied up for two days when a ferry cable caused the collapse of the builder and hurricane decks. The smoke stacks were torn down as a result. - Macon Telegraph, March 27, 1923.

As soon as the debris of the upper decks was cleared away and the stacks repaired as much as possible, the steamer continued her trip downriver. Residents of Jackson County watched as she steamed past Neal's and Parramore Landings for the last time.

The John W. Callahan

The boat made it to Chattahoochee and passed beneath Victory Bridge there to begin her final run down the Apalachicola. She reached Iola Landing on the night of March 24 and turned into the Chipola Cut-off, a channel that connects the Apalachicola with the Chipola River, the next morning. It was a Sunday:

Columbus, Ga., March 26. - There will be no salvage of the river steamer John W. Callahan, Sr., running between Columbus and Apalachicola, Fla., which struck a snag and sank 315 miles from this city Sunday afternoon, according to a statement made public today by General Manager O.W. Donnell, of the Tri-State Navigation Co., owners of the boat...The steamer is a total loss, which is estimated at $35,000 by the manager with only $8,000 insurance. - Macon Telegraph, March 27, 1923.

The steamboat Chipola, seen here at Iola Landing, helped
rescue the passengers and crew of the John W. Callahan.
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

Like the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee, the Chipola was at flood stage when the John W. Callahan went down. The pilot tried to run the steamer aground in a repeat of the maneuver that ad saved her the previous November, but this time the effort failed. The Callahan sank in 45 feet of water near the mouth of Magnolia Slough about 2 miles from Wewahitchka. She was a total loss, but the crew was able to get all of the passengers safely to shore as the paddlewheeler went down.

The scene was surreal, and the boat's loud steam whistle sounded incessantly as she slipped beneath the water:

All members of the crew escaped without injury from the steamer but Jasper Carlo, Columbus... standing on the bank dropped dead as the big whistle, which had in some manner become caught and shrieked until water killed the steam, ceased blowing. The sounding of the whistle's last blast marked the passing away of a [man] who had worked for 20 years on the Chattahoochee river being the veteran stevedore of the Tri-State Navigation Company. Carlo was buried at Wewahitchka. - Columbus Daily Enquirer, March 28, 1923.

Jasper Carlo had been one of the crewmen of the Callahan that sang about the sad fate of the Titanic just fifteen months earlier on New Year's Eve.

For years after the sinking of the John W. Callahan, river men whispered that the crew of the elegant steamer had brought disaster upon themselves by singing of the Titanic. The curse of the great White Star liner, they said, had sent the Callahan to a watery grave.

You can hear the original recording of that song here:

To read other stories about the history of Jackson County, visit our main page at https://twoegg.blogspot.com. 

#65 The forgotten Penn-Jarratt Railroad (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

A Baldwin 4-4-0 locomotive
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

A long-forgotten railroad that ran up the west side of the Chipola River from Marianna to the Alabama state line is #65 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

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

Near the western border of Florida Caverns State Park and within sight of Blue Hole Spring, the bed of an abandoned railroad cuts through a limestone outcrop before continuing north out of the park. The story of this railroad was almost completely forgotten, but with help from Sue Tindel and Robert Earl Standland of the office of Jackson County Clerk of Courts Dale Guthrie, Pat Crisp of the Chipola Historical Trust and Billy Bailey of Florida Caverns State Park, the facts can now be brought to light.

Billy Bailey of Florida Caverns State Park points out
old cross-ties in the bed of the Penn-Jarratt Railroad

Lumber was a hot commodity in the United States during the first years of the 20th century. The red cypress and other hardwood trees growing along the upper Chipola River were of enormous value and great profits stood to be made by the company that could fell them and bring them out of the swamps.

A 640 acre tract in Marianna was home to multiple sawmills and lumber operations, among them the Jarratt Lumber Corporation. This firm had come into existence in 1910 when it purchased the assets of clearly related Jarratt Brothers Lumber Company. By 1920 it had merged with another timber interest to become Penn-Jarratt Lumber.

The bed of the railroad cuts through limestone at
Florida Caverns State Park.

The firm leased timber rights to thousands of acres along the Chipola River and employed then revolutionary technologies in its harvesting and milling techniques. Steam-powered skidders were used to drag massive logs of cypress, gum, oak and other hardwoods from the floodplain swamps. These machines replaced the ox carts and manual labor of previous times.

To move the logs to its mills at Marianna, the firm operated a 20-mile long railroad that extended from the L&N (today's CSX) all the way up to the Alabama state line.

Logging railroads were not uncommon in Northwest Florida, but the Jarratt line was unique in that it employed the use of full-size trains instead of the smaller locomotives often used on such lines.

Baldwin 4-4-0 locomotive
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

One of its locomotives, for example, was a massive steam-powered Baldwin 4-4-0 purchased from the Alabama, Florida & Gulf  (AF&G) railroad in 1917. That line operated passenger and freight trains that ran from the Dothan vicinity south to Malone and eventually Greenwood.

Jarratt found itself in considerable legal difficulty when the company decided to run its tracks along the rights-of-way of public roads in places.  A court case decided in 1917 that railroads could be held liable for using public roadways and for damage to adjacent properties.

The trains ran on the Jarratt line until around 1932 when the last of the old growth timber had been cleared from the upper Chipola River. The mills closed and the company's property holdings were sold for taxes, a common practice employed by lumber companies in those days to dispose of land once they no longer had use for it.

Section of the railroad bed.

Sections of the old railroad bed are still visible at Florida Caverns State Park and on the adjacent lands of the Northwest Florida Water Management District.

The tracks connected with the L&N where Orange Avenue crosses the CSX tracks in Marianna today. From there they ran to the west of the old Marianna High School Campus and followed Carters Mill Road and Fish Hatchery Road into Florida Caverns State Park. A deep section of railroad bed can be seen near Blue Hole Spring adjacent to the equestrian trails in the park.

The tracks crossed through the parking area for the
Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail on Highway 162.

From Florida Caverns, the railroad continued up the west side of the Chipola, crossing Waddell's Mill Creek on a trestle and passing through what is now the parking area for the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail at Highway 162.

The tracks ran from there up the west side of the river and Forks of the Creek all the way to Alabama. Although the rails were removed after the railroad ceased operation, some of the cross-ties can still be seen.

The long forgotten railroad of the Penn-Jarratt Lumber Company is #65 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

#69 The Natural Bridge of the Chipola River (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Natural Bridge of the Chipola at Florida Caverns State Park

The fascinating Natural Bridge of the Chipola River is #69 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

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

A prominent but often overlooked geological feature of Florida Caverns State Park, the Natural Bridge of the Chipola is the largest such feature in Jackson County and possibly even all of Northwest Florida. It has served as a place for humans to cross the Chipola River for thousands of years.

The Natural Bridge is created by a deep sink that causes the river's water to swirl down into a series of underground passages. The swift currents and darkness of the natural sink has prevented divers from exploring it to any great extent. It remains as mysterious as it is remarkable.

Another view of the Natural Bridge

After plunging into the sink and flowing through a myriad of underground passages, the river emerges again about 1/4 mile downstream to continue its passage south through Jackson County.

The large number of prehistoric American Indian sites on each side of the Chipola within the park indicates that early human beings likely used the Natural Bridge as a place for crossing over the river. Artifacts found at Florida Caverns by archaeologists demonstrate that the first humans to enter the vicinity were ancient Paleo hunters who came thousands of years ago in pursuit of large animals such as mastodons (giant prehistoric elephant-like creatures).

Every major phase of human occupancy from that time to our own time is represented in the park and each has made use of the Natural Bridge.

Andrew Jackson marker at the Natural Bridge

The first recorded crossings were made by the Spanish, who passed over the bridge in 1674, 1675, 1677 and 1693.  The U.S. army of Major General Andrew Jackson crossed the Natural Bridge during the First Seminole War, its topographer mistakenly describing nearby Blue Hole Spring as the rise of the river from its underground channel.

Early settlers used the old trail over the Natural Bridge to reach the Chipola Settlement communities around Webbville and Baker Creek. The bridge tended to flood during heavy Spring rains, however, so by the mid-1820s the crossing point had been rerouted upstream a short distance to Christoff's Ferry. After Marianna was founded in 1827, the primary road was moved again and a ferry established near the site of today's U.S. 90 bridge.

Canal cut across the bridge during the 1800s.

From around 1820 until after the War Between the States (or Civil War), the Natural Bridge of the Chipola was an important port facility for the farmers and planters in a large area of Jackson County.  Wooden pole boats were used to float cargoes of cotton, timber and other commodities down the Upper Chipola to the bridge.  A warehouse there stored these cargoes until they could be loaded onto barges on the south side of the Natural Bridge for the journey on down the Chipola to the port cities of St. Joseph (today's Port St. Joe) and Apalachicola.

A ditch or canal was cut across the bridge during the 1800s to allow timber to be floated past the natural obstacle. Water continues to flow swiftly through this cut today.

Many visitors to Florida Caverns State Park cross over the Natural Bridge without ever noticing it. The road to Blue Hole Spring passes over it. Just look for the canoe launch area on your right and you will know you are there.  A marker erected by the state stands adjacent to the bridge and details the passage of Andrew Jackson's army.

The Natural Bridge of the Chipola is #69 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.