Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail is now complete!

Interpretive Panel at Mission San Carlos site

The new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail is complete!

The trail is a 150-mile driving tour that takes visitors to eleven unique Spanish colonial sites in Jackson County, including the sites of Spanish missions, historic American Indian villages, noted landmarks and a surviving trace of the real Old Spanish Trail. It begins and ends at the historic Russ House & Visitor Center at 4318 Lafayette Street in Marianna.

You can pick up a free guide booklet at the Russ House that features information and photographs of each site, a map of the entire drive and directions to each of its stops. The booklets are available from a display stand on the porch when the visitor center is closed.

Blue Springs in Jackson County, Florida

To give you a brief overview, the driving tour leaves the Russ House and stops first at historic and scenic Blue Springs, the only first magnitude spring in the Chipola River basin and landmark noted in reports and journals by early Spanish explorers. Also at Blue Springs is Tour Stop #2, the Original Old Spanish Trail. An interpretive kiosk points out an original section of the Old Spanish Trail and describes its significance.

Canopy oaks along Reddoch Road

From Blue Springs, the tour follows Reddoch Road to State Highway 69 north of Grand Ridge. This section of modern roadway follows the original trace of the Old Spanish Trail and as you drive beneath its canopy oaks, you will be following a path that Spanish explorers used as early as 1674. From the intersection of Reddoch Road and Highway 69, the trail turns south to Grand Ridge and U.S. 90, today's "new" Old Spanish Trail. It follows U.S. 90 through Sneads to the eastern edge of the county and the Jim Woodruff Dam Overlook on the west bank of Lake Seminole.

View of Mission San Carlos site (bottom) and Lake Seminole

The Overlook is the site of Mission San Carlos, a Spanish mission that served Christian members of the Chatot (or Chacato) tribe from 1680-1696. During these years it was the westernmost Spanish settlement in all of Florida. An interpretive kiosk on the shores of the lake tells the story of the mission and its tragic destruction by Creek Indian raiders in 1696.

The tour then leads back along U.S. 90 to Sneads and up River Road past Three Rivers State Park and through the beautiful Apalachee Wildlife Management Area (WMA). Drivers enjoy stunning views of Lake Seminole and the many waterfowl that flock to the WMA. Picnic areas can be found along the route at Three Rivers, Parramore Landing Park and Buena Vista Landing.

Chattahoochee River at site of Ekanachatte

The next stop is at Neal's Landing Park on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. An interpretive panel here tells the story of Ekanachattee ("Red Ground"), a Creek Indian village established during the 1760s. British soldiers stopped here in 1778 as the American Revolution raged and many of the town's chiefs and warriors volunteered to join the British in their fight against the American colonists in Georgia. Ekanachatte remained an important town during the Second Spanish Era (1783-1821) and was one of the bases of the notorious pirate and adventurer, William Augustus Bowles.

Section of Old Pensacola-St. Augustine Road near Malone

From Neal's Landing the tour takes drivers west along State Highway 2, which follows the general route of the original Pensacola-St. Augustine Road. This early trail was first mapped by a British military expedition in 1778 and is believed to be the trail that famed pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone followed during his long walk across Florida!  An interpretive panel that tells the story of the early road can be found at Veterans Park on State Highway 71 in Malone.

Campbellton Baptist Church

From Malone the drive continues west on State Highway 2 across the Forks of the Creek swamps to Campbellton Baptist Church, the oldest Baptist church in Florida still in continuous use. The existing structure dates to the 1850s and was a landmark of the Civil War's raid on Marianna. It was founded in the 1820s by a congregation that included a number of men and women who came and settled in the Campbellton area in 1819-1820 when Florida was still part of Spain. This Spring Creek settlement grew to become the modern town of Campbellton and an interpretive kiosk on the grounds of the church tells its story. A second historical marker provides details on the history of the church itself.

Heritage Village at Baptist College of Florida

Leaving Campbellton, the tour continues west on State Highway 2 to Graceville and the outstanding Heritage Village on the campus of the Baptist College of Florida. This landmark historic preservation effort features an array of beautifully restored historic structures maintained by the college. Individual structures include churches, homes, a log cabin, a one-room school, a syrup shed and more. The interpretive panel on the grounds tells the story of the Chatot (Chacato) Revolt of 1675, an uprising against the Spanish by part of the Chatot tribe. Led by the old chief Dioscale, Chatot and Chisca warriors drove the Spanish out of Jackson County but in turn were defeated by a Spanish military raid.

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

From Graceville the tour follows Highway 2 back to Campbellton and then turns south on U.S. 231. From 231 it turns east on Highway 162 (Jacob Road) and continues on to the next stop, the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail. This interpretive nature trail leads to Florida's oldest and most haunted bridge! The historic bridge, which turns 100 years old this year, stands at the site where it is believed that Spanish explorer Marcos Delgado crossed the Chipola River in 1686. Multiple interpretive panels along the trail detail its history and as you walk its 1/2 mile length you experience a hardwood floodplain forest that has been restored to feature the trees and plants that Spanish explorers found growing in Jackson County during the 1600s.

Tunnel Cave at Florida Caverns State Park

After enjoying the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail, you continue east on Highway 162 to the Old U.S. Road which leads south to Caverns Road and Florida Caverns State Park. The park features Florida's only public tour cave and is rich in history. The original Old Spanish Trail crossed the Chipola River via the natural bridge that can still be seen in the park. The Army of Major General Andrew Jackson crossed the river on this geological feature in 1818 as the First Seminole War raged during the Second Spanish Era (1783-1821). The park visitor center features displays on its geology and history.

Mission San Nicolas interpretive panel

From Florida Caverns State Park the trail returns to U.S. 90 at Marianna, continues west through downtown and then turns north on State Highway 73 to the next stop at the intersection of Highway 73 and Union Road. This interpretive kiosk tells the story of Mission San Nicolas, a Spanish church complex established in 1674 at the mouth of a large cave. The precise site has never been found, but it was at one of the numerous caves in this vicinity.

Fernandez de Florencia interpretive panel at Cottondale

From the Mission San Nicolas stop, the trail continues on to U.S. 231 and turns south to Cottondale and the final stop at the parking area behind Cottondale City Hall. This interpretive panel details the 1676 Fernandez de Florencia expedition, a military raid that passed through Jackson County en route to an attack on a Chisca Indian fort in today's Walton or Okaloosa Counties. The expedition passed across the site of Cottondale, following an old trail that led southwest into what is now Washington County.

After enjoying Cottondale, take U.S. 90 east back to Marianna and the end of the tour!  For more information, pick up the new free guide at the historic Russ House and be sure to visit: http://visitjacksoncountyfla.com/heritage/spanish-heritage-trail/

#80 The Old Spanish Trail (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

1823 map showing part of original Old Spanish Trail
Road from Mt Vernon Ferry (Chattahoochee) to near Marianna is the original.

The historic Old Spanish Trail - sometimes called El Camino Real or the Mission Road - is #80 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

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

Jackson County is blessed with a series of roads that could rightfully be called "Old Spanish Trails." There is the old Pensacola-St. Augustine Road, which followed the approximate route of today's State Highway 2. Early maps also show a road running up the west side of the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers along the route of today's River Road (Highway 271). And, of course, today's U.S. 90 is often called the Old Spanish Trail. There also is a county road connecting Sneads, Grand Ridge, Cypress and Marianna named the Old Spanish Trail.

So which of these was the original or "real" Old Spanish Trail?  The answer might surprise you because it is "none of the above."

Apalachicola River at Chattahoochee Landing
The Old Spanish Trail crossed the river here south of the bridge.

River Road and the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road were both Spanish trails, but the former went north and south while the latter replaced the earlier "Old Spanish Trail" of legend. U.S. 90 was built in the early 20th century and commemorates the original Old Spanish Trail but for the most part does not follow its route. Local records. meanwhile, show that county road called "Old Spanish Trail" was built during the Reconstruction era along the telegraph line that connected Marianna with Chattahoochee and Tallahassee. Its name commemorates the earlier Spanish road, but it does not follow the same route.

Where the Old Spanish Trail crossed the Apalachicola

The "real" Old Spanish Trail can still be traced today, although much of the route cannot be followed by car.

According to the accounts of early Spanish missionaries, soldiers and explorers, they crossed the Apalachicola River between today's Chattahoochee and Sneads by dugout canoe. Their route came down a natural gully cut into the steep bluffs to today's Chattahoochee Landing Park. From there they paddled across to the Jackson County shore at a point just south of today's U.S. 90 Bridge.

The original trail led west through the vast floodplain swamps along a still visible trace below Victory Bridge to the high bluffs south of today's Apalachee Correctional Institution. From the point it intersected with high ground, it turned almost due north and followed the ridge up across U.S. 90 to today's West Bank Overlook Park at the western end of the Jim Woodruff Dam.

Lake Seminole from the site of Mission San Carlos

The Spanish mission of San Carlos (the second of that name) stood on the hilltop here in 1680-1696. At the time of its existence it was the westernmost outpost of the King of Spain in all of Florida. Consisting of a church, a home for its priest and a large village of Catholic Chacato Indians, Mission San Carlos was destroyed by Creek Indian raiders in 1696.

Mission San Carlos is now a stop on the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, a 150 mile driving tour that links eleven Spanish colonial sites. A guidebook is available at the historic Russ House and Visitor Center in Marianna and an informational kiosk will be erected soon at West Bank Overlook Park.

Section of original Old Spanish Trail along Reddoch Road

From Mission San Carlos, the trail wound west across the site of present-day Sneads. It ran slightly north of but parallel to U.S. 90 until it reached what is now Providence Church Road. This modern county road follows the route of the "real" Old Spanish Trail northwest to the point where it intersects with State Highway 69 north of Grand Ridge.

From that intersection, the route of the original trail is followed by Reddoch Road (Highway 164-A), a paved county road that leads northwest from Highway 69 to its intersection with Blue Springs Road (Highway 164).

Providence Church Road and Reddoch Road combine to form the single longest stretch of the original Old Spanish Trail that can be driven by car in Jackson County today. The route leads through the beautiful rolling hills north of Grand Ridge and past numerous ponds and small lakes, some of which were described by Spanish explorers.

Old Spanish Trail kiosk at Blue Springs
The trace of the original road is in the background.

Although Reddoch Road intersects with Blue Springs Road today, the original trail continued straight west into Blue Springs Recreational Area where a portion of it can still be seen today.

On the left just past the booth where visitors to the park pay their entrance fees an old road can be seen deeply cut into the hillside overlooking the spring. This is a rare surviving segment of the actual Old Spanish Trail and is now Tour Stop #2 on the Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail. A new interpretive kiosk is in place there.

Tour Stop #1 on the driving tour is Blue Springs and another new kiosk has been built overlooking the historic spring.

The Spanish knew Blue Springs by the name "Calistoble." The name is probably a Chacato (not to be confused with Choctaw) Indian word, but its meaning has been lost. They believed the spring to be the main source of the Chipola River, which they labeled as the "Calistoble" on early maps.

Andrew Jackson marker at the Natural Bridge of the Chipola
Florida Caverns State Park

From Blue Springs the trail angled again to the northwest to today's Florida Caverns State Park where it crossed the Chipola River by way of its Natural Bridge. A portion of the road to Blue Hole Spring follows the original route across the Natural Bridge.

The Spanish referred to the vast floodplain swamp of the Chipola River as the "great forest of Chipola." Tradition that the name comes from the Choctaw word for "sweet water" is not correct, as the Indians who lived in the area during the 1600s were Chacato and not Choctaw. Most of the Chacato later merged with the Alabama-Coushatta people who then lived among the Upper Creeks.

The main group of this band now lives in Texas, although some descendants reside in Oklahoma. The exact meaning of the word in their language is not known.

Blue Hole Spring at Florida Caverns State Park

From the Natural Bridge, the Old Spanish Trail followed today's park road to Blue Hole Spring. From there it continued west along a route that can no longer be driven but can still be seen in places.

The original trail passed a large cave several miles northwest of Marianna where the Spanish mission of San Nicolas de Tolentino stood in 1674-1675. This cave has not been identified by archaeologists and could be any one of several near today's intersection of Highway 73 and Union Road.

The Catholic church at San Nicolas was the site of the first Christmas service in what is now Jackson County. Established in 1674 at the Chacato village of Atanchia, the mission only survived for about one year. Spanish accounts indicate it stood at a cave large enough to hold 200 people and inside of which a natural spring or karst window produced a stream of water that flowed from the "living rock."

Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail kiosk in Cottondale

From the long lost mission site, the trail angled to the southwest and crossed at or near what is now Cottondale before continuing on to pass out of the county west of Alford at today's Oak Hill.

A military expedition followed this section of the Old Spanish Trail in 1677 on its way to attack a fort held by Chisca (Yuchi) Indians somewhere in present-day Walton County. The history of that raid is interpreted by Tour Stop #11 on the Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail. A new informational kiosk for the stop stands next to U.S. 231 in the parking lot of Cottondale City Hall.

An important part of American history, the Old Spanish Trail is commemorated by U.S. 90 today. Its real path is an important part of the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail. You can learn more about that driving tour at http://visitjacksoncountyfla.com/heritage/spanish-heritage-trail.

Be sure to pick up a free guide booklet at the historic Russ House in Marianna and enjoy doing some exploring of your own!

#82 The Pensacola-St. Augustine Road (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

A surviving section of the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road

The historic Pensacola-St. Augustine Road is #82 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

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

In 1778 the American Revolution was underway and its outcome was far from certain. While most Americans of today have heard of the 13 Colonies and their fight for independence from Great Britain, few realize that there were other colonies in North America that did not join the war against King George III.

1776 map shows East and West Florida

East and West Florida were both British colonies when the Revolutionary War began and both remained loyal to King and Country throughout the conflict. Founded by the Spanish, the Florida colonies had passed to the control of Great Britain at the end of the French & Indian (or Seven Years) War in 1763.

The British administered Florida as two colonies. East Florida extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers, while West Florida extended from the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee all the way to the Mississippi. What is now Jackson County formed the northeastern corner of British West Florida.

Purcell-Stuart Map of 1778, showing the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road

The only two cities in all of present-day Florida were Pensacola and St. Augustine. To link them, the British connected a series of Indian trails and parts of the Old Spanish Trail to form a new road that they called the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road. This early "super highway" was the predecessor of today's U.S. 90 and I-10.

Heritage Village in Graceville
A stop on the Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail

In Jackson County, the route of the Pensacola-St. Augustine road is roughly followed by today's State Highway 2. It crossed Holmes Creek into the county where Graceville stands today and crossed through the modern sites of Campbellton and Malone before reaching the Chattahoochee River at Neal's Landing, where the Creek Indian town of Ekanachatte ("Red Ground") stood at the time.

The road was mapped in 1778 when a British force marched across Florida from Pensacola to reinforce St. Augustine against an expected attack by American Patriots. Accompanying that expedition was cartographer Joseph Purcell and his map of the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road provides a fascinating look back through time.

In western Jackson County, using Purcell's map as a guide, it appears that the historic road generally followed modern State Highway 2 east from Graceville to Campbellton. What is now Holmes Creek was shown on the map as the "Weekaywee Hatchee." This Hitchiti Creek term means "Spring Creek" or "Spring River." If the name looks familiar, there is a reason. Today's term Weeki Wachi (as in Weeki Wachi Springs) is a corruption of the Creek term Weekaywee Hatchee.

Coosa Old Fields (today's Campbellton)
As shown on the Purcell-Stuart Map of 1778

The road between Holmes Creek and today's Campbellton was described by Purcell as "small and little trod." Where Campbellton stands today, the map shows that in 1778 was a place called the Coosa Old Fields.

These "old fields" had been the site of the Spanish conversion or part-time church of San Antonio. The Chacato inhabitants who lived there had fled the area in 1675 following a rebellion against the Spanish missionaries. Most of them wound up living on the Coosa River in Alabama. Living on the Coosa Old Fields when Purcell passed through was a small band of Creeks who had a village on the site of present-day Campbellton that they called Puckanawhitla ("Peach Tree").

Forks of the Creeks swamp

From Campbellton the road followed the approximate route of today's State Highway 2 east, but as it neared Marshal Creek it veered to the southeast. Today's St. Phillips Road is an actual part of the original Pensacola-St. Augustine Road.

The route by which the road crossed the Forks of the Creeks swamps is no longer in use today, but Purcell noted crossing what he called the "Chanpooly" (today's Chipola River). The creek that he called the "Chanpooly" was today's Cowarts Creek, a main tributary of the Chipola.

Trace of Pensacola-St. Augustine Road
Notice State Highway 2 through the trees at left.

From the Forks of the Creeks to the Chattahoochee River, the old road roughly followed the route of today's State Highway 2. A section of the original can be seen running along the north side of the modern highway in the vicinity of its intersection with Pleasant Ridge Road.

The road passed through the modern town of Malone and continued on to the Chattahoochee River. The section of Biscayne Road between Concord Road and the point where Biscayne intersects with State Highway 2 is a part of the original Pensacola-St. Augustine Road that is still in use today.

Chattahoochee River at Neal's Landing Park

The historic roadway reached the Chattahoochee River at today's Neal's Landing Park. There in 1778 stood the large Creek village of Ekanachatte and the trading post of its chief, an individual called "The Bully" for his prowess as a businessman. It is a little known fact that British troops camped at what is now Neal's Landing during the American Revolution.

The Pensacola-St. Augustine Road was replaced in the 1820s by the Old Federal Road and still later by U.S. Highway 90 and eventually Interstate 10, all of which followed more direct routes between Pensacola and St. Augustine. Its surviving portions, however, remain important historical landmarks in Jackson County that date from before the time of the American Revolution.

Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail (in red)
Click to Enlarge

Today's Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail commemorates in part the historic roadway. A 150-mile driving tour that connects eleven important historic sites from the Spanish era, part of its route follows State Highway 2 from Neal's Landing Park to Graceville.

An interpretive kiosk has been erected in Malone to tell the story of the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road. It stands in the city park facing Highway 71, one-half block south of Highway 2. Malone is a great place to stop for lunch while driving the Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail.

If you are interested in learning more about the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, guide books are available for free at the historic Russ House and Visitor Center on West Lafayette Street in Marianna. You can also learn more by visiting the Spanish Heritage Trail section of the TDC website at:  http://visitjacksoncountyfla.com/heritage/spanish-heritage-trail.

#97 Daniel Boone's Long Walk (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Daniel Boone
Painted in old age by Chester Harding

#97 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County is Daniel Boone's Long Walk. Click here to read previous posts in this series.

It is a little known fact that in 1765 (250 years ago next year), the famed American explorer and pioneer Daniel Boone passed through Jackson County on his long walk across Florida. He later told the story of the journey to his son, Nathan Boone, who recorded it along with many of his father's other memories.

After 250 years of Spanish rule, Florida was surrendered to Great Britain at the end of the French & Indian War in 1763. Spain had sided with France in that conflict and lost Florida as a result.

As the British took over the colony, a steady flow of settlers began to move down from Georgia, the Carolinas and even Virginia. Pensacola and St. Augustine were the primary destinations of these settlers, but others spread out through the back country where they were welcomed by the Lower Creek and Seminole Indians. The British were on good terms with the American Indians who lived in Florida.

Daniel Boone and his dog
Drawing by Alonzo Chappel

Two years after Great Britain gained control of Florida, Daniel Boone joined a party of men headed south on a journey of exploration. He then lived in North Carolina, was 31 years old and had survived Braddock's Defeat, the bloody ambush and defeat of British troops portrayed in the book and movie, Last of the Mohicans. Boone, in fact, was the primary model for the hero of the story, Natty Bumpo (renamed Nathaniel Poe for the movie).

Contrary to legend, Daniel Boone did not wear a coonskin cap. He was from a Quaker family and wore a flat brimmed hat. He had blonde hair and blue eyes.

Boone and his fellow travelers came south through Georgia to St. Augustine. From there, with Boone leading the way, the men set out on a more than 400 mile journey to Pensacola through the vast Florida wilderness. They were following a trail called the Pensacola-St. Augustine Road.

The "road" was really little more than a footpath that wound its way west from St. Augustine to the Suwannee River and then on to Lake Miccosukee near present-day Tallahassee. From there, the trail split into two paths, both of which angled north into what is now Decatur County, Georgia, before reuniting just outside the city of Bainbridge.

Daniel Boone leading a party of settlers
Painting by George Caleb Bingham

A settler and trader named James Burges (or Burgess) had settled where Bainbridge stands today and the explorers crossed the Flint River at his settlement. They then followed the trail on past the present site of Donalsonville, Georgia, and crossed the Chattahoochee River into Jackson County and back into Florida at Ekanachatte ("Red Ground"), a Lower Creek village at what is now called Neal's Landing.

Assuming that Boone and the other men remained on the main trail, from Neal's Landing they passed west along the route of today's State Highway 2. Their journey would have taken them across the sites of today's towns of Malone, Campbellton and Graceville. They crossed Holmes Creek out of Jackson and into Holmes County near Graceville.

1778 Map of the road followed by Boone

None of these towns or counties existed then, of course, and the only people that Boone encountered in what later became Jackson County were the Creek Indians who lived at Ekanachatte and at a small town called Pucknawhitla ("Peach Tree") which stood on the present site of Campbellton.

Section of road followed by Boone through Jackson County

The journey was long and difficult. At one point Boone and the others lost track of the path and became confused in the wilderness. He later told his son Nathan that he never was lost in his life, but was confused once for a few days.

Daniel Boone had not been impressed with the lands he saw between St. Augustine and the Chattahoochee River, but once he crossed into what is now Jackson County he found richer lands and pristine forests. Deer and other animals were plentiful and the pioneer was impressed.

Daniel Boone from Life
Painting by John James Audubon

After the group reached Pensacola, Boone made arrangements to acquire land in West Florida (the British divided the modern state into two colonies, East Florida and West Florida). He planned to relocate to the area and become one of its first English settlers.

The explorer's wife, Rebecca, had other ideas. She firmly objected to the move because it would take her so far from her family in North Carolina. Boone complied with his wife's wishes and the idea of moving to Florida was abandoned.

Other members of the pioneer's family, however, would follow in his footsteps. Among the earliest American settlers of Jackson County was Gilley Crawford Boone Neel, a member of Boone's family. She first settled with her husband and children near Neal's Landing and later lived in the Paront community north of Grand Ridge. She and many other relatives of Daniel Boone are buried at Cowpen Pond Cemetery near Dellwood.

Great Oaks in Greenwood, Florida

Other relatives of the famed pioneer and his wife settled in Greenwood. Rebecca Bryan Boone was a member of North Carolina's noted Bryan family. That family was instrumental in the founding of Greenwood and Great Oaks, a beautiful antebellum home, was originally the Bryan Mansion. Members of the Boone and Bryan families are buried in numerous cemeteries around Greenwood.

The historic Pensacola-St. Augustine Road, which Boone followed across Florida, is interpreted on the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail. A kiosk at City Park on Highway 71 in downtown Malone tells the story of the historic road.  Click here for more information.

Daniel Boone's long walk is an almost forgotten footnote of Florida history, but it is one of the 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Historic Preservation Projects mark the season in Jackson County

Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail

As you know, I love the history and culture of this beautiful place we call home. And this year I'm really pleased to see the way several historic preservation efforts are coming together to save and interpret some really significant parts of Jackson County's past.

The first is the Bellamy Bridge Heritage Trail. Now open to the public during daylight hours, the trail leaves from a brand new parking area on Highway 162 only 200 yards west of the Chipola River bridge between Greenwood and U.S. 231.

The trail is a 1/2 mile nature walk that takes visitors to historic Bellamy Bridge, one of Florida's 10 oldest bridges and, of course, the site of one of our county's favorite ghost stories. The trail has been developed without spending a single extra dime of taxpayer money and is being maintained by volunteers. It provides public access to Bellamy Bridge again for the first time in 30 years.

You can learn more about the history of Bellamy Bridge here: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bellamybridge

I hope you will stop by and check out the trail. It really is a beautiful walk. We will be adding interpretive signs soon, but it is open to the public and is well-maintained. Remember, the access is on Highway 162, NOT Bellamy Bridge Road. You can no longer reach the bridge the old way that most people remember.

Remember also that the full purchase price of my new book, The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge, goes to benefit the heritage trail project. You can purchase it here: The Ghost of Bellamy Bridge: 10 Ghosts & Monsters from Jackson County, Florida  It is also available for Amazon Kindle.

The other project underway right now is the Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail, a driving tour that connects a number of historic sites in the county that date from Spanish colonial times. Most residents don't even know that these places exist, but we are hoping to make them part of a wider effort to draw visitors to Jackson County to learn more about our history, culture and scenery.

The Jackson County Floridan ran a nice article on the Spanish Heritage Trail today:
http://www.jcfloridan.com/news/article_00077cae-4676-11e2-adef-001a4bcf6878.html

If you have some time to donate, even just an hour or two a week, let me know!  We would love to have your help.