#55 Original Weeki Wachee was in Jackson County? (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs in 1969
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

When the words Weeki Wachee are mentioned, images usually come to mind of crystal clear waters and Florida mermaids. Weeki Wachee Springs is now a state park in Hernando County and the attraction's famed mermaid shows remain popular with visitors.

You might not know, however, that the first documented use of the words Weeki Wachee in Florida applied not to the South Florida park, but to the creek that now forms part of the western border of Jackson County. Now known as Holmes Creek, the original Weeki Wachee is #55 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

Rising just north of the Alabama line, Holmes Creek flows in a southwesterly direction from its source until it merges with the Choctawhatchee River in Washington County. Its upper course forms the dividing line between Jackson and Holmes Counties.

The stream has been there for thousands of years and provided a route of transportation and source of food for early American Indians. The Chacato Indians lived in the area delineated by the Chipola River to the east and Holmes Creek to the west when Spanish explorers first reached the area in 1674. They fished in the creek and hunted for food along its banks.

Holmes Creek

The oldest known mention of Holmes Creek appears in the account of Fray Rodrigo de la Barreda, a Franciscan missionary who passed through Jackson County more than 300 years ago in 1693. Writing of the expedition of Spanish Governor Don Laureano de Torres y Ayala, on which he took part, Barreda described his arrival at the creek:

...On the 14th [i.e. June 1693] I resumed the march northwest, and, after traveling a little more than a league through pine woods, I came to a creek. To facilitate crossing this stream, it was necessary to break down a good deal of underbrush.... 

A reading of Barreda's full journal reveals that this unnamed creek could only have been the stream we know today as Holmes Creek.

Section of Purcell-Stuart Map of 1778
"Weekaywee Hatchee" is in the right 1/3 of the image.

The next detailed document mentioning the creek was written 85 years later during the American Revolution. The colonies of East and West Florida, then possessed by Great Britain, had remained loyal to King George III despite the rebellion staged by the 13 colonies to the north. American Patriots invaded East Florida in 1778 hoping to capture St. Augustine. Military commanders there called for reinforcements from Pensacola an expedition set out from the latter city.

The British crossed into Jackson County along the old Pensacola-St. Augustine Road, a trading path that followed the general route of today's State Road 2. Mapmaker and surveyor Joseph Purcell accompanied the expedition, preparing a detailed map of the road and keeping an itinerary as the party advanced.

Reaching the northwestern corner of what is now Jackson County, Purcell related that the party forded a stream that he called the "Weekaywee Hatchee" or "Spring Creek." His map and itinerary make clear that this was today's Holmes Creek.

Holmes or "Week-hay-wee" Creek on the Vignoles map of 1823.

Purcell was correct in his translation as Weekaywee (or wekiwa) means "spring" or "springs" in the Hitchiti language of the Lower Creeks. Hatchee means "creek" or "river" in the same language. The modern name Weeki Wachee is a corruption of this old Hitchiti term and when the words Weekaywee Hatchee are pronounced aloud the resemblance is easy to hear.

Although the lower end of the creek was sometimes called the Okchoyee ("Little Okchoy") in those days, the upper part bordering was still called Wekiwa Hatchee (or "Weeki Wachi") as late as 1822 when Jackson County was formed by the Florida Territorial Legislative Council. The Vignoles map drawn the following year shows it as the "Week-kay-wee."

Holmes Creek

The name Holmes Creek came into use at around that time as documents from the mid- and late 1820s use the modern name. The origin of the present name is subject to debate. Old tradition in Washington County holds that it honors the Red Stick Creek chief Holms who battled Andrew Jackson during the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. This is certainly possible, although documents from the mid-1820s note that a "Dr. Holmes" was living near the creek at that time and could also have been the namesake for the stream.

The memory of Florida's original Weeki Wachee has long since faded away, but the name lives on at Hernando County's beautiful and fun playground of Weeki Wachee Springs State Park.

To see more from my list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida, please visit:  http://twoegg.blogspot.com/2014/03/100-great-things-about-jackson-county.html

#62 Camp Governor Milton, Civil War camp at Blue Springs (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Blue Springs from site of Camp Governor Milton

The important Confederate camp established at Blue Springs during the War Between the States (or Civil War) is #62 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida.

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

Blue Springs (or Jackson Blue Springs as the state has renamed it) has been a landmark for thousands of years. Early American Indians frequented the spring and surrounding caves to hunt and fish. The actual Old Spanish Trail passed by the spring, which was a frequent stopping point for Spanish missionaries, soldiers and explorers. The U.S.Army of Major General Andrew Jackson visited Blue Springs during the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. During the 1820s it became the centerpiece of Major William Robinson's cotton plantation.

Sylvania Plantation Marker at Blue Springs

By the time Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861, the beautiful spring was known by its present name and was owned by Governor-elect John Milton as part of his Sylvania Plantation. He enjoyed fishing in Blue Springs and sitting by the water to reflect during the trying times of the War Between the States.

The availability of a large quantity of fresh water, access to good roads leading in all directions, proximity to Marianna and the good condition of the buildings of the former Robinson Plantation led the Confederate Army to establish Camp Governor Milton at Blue Springs in 1862.

Historic photo of Blue Springs with plantation house visible.
State Archives of Florida/Memory Collection

The camp stood on the hill overlooking the head spring where the parking area is located today. The surrounding farms and plantations provided a steady supply of provisions plus corn could be ground downstream at Coker's Mill.

While the term "camp" implies a temporary establishment and evokes mental images of soldiers sleeping in tents, Camp Governor Milton was a more permanent facility. Surviving documents include receipts for lumber and nails used to build a hospital. Soldiers were quartered in the original Robinson plantation house and outbuildings instead of in tents.

Underwater view of Blue Springs
Photo by Alan Cox

In fact, the camp was occupied from 1862 until the end of the war in 1865. Among the units known to have been stationed there at various times were Captain Walter Robinson's Independent Company (later Company A, 11th Florida Infantry); the Marianna Dragoons (later Company B, 15th Confederate Cavalry); Company C, 1st Florida Reserves; Captain Robert Chisolm's Woodville Scouts of the Alabama State Militia (later Company I, 5th Florida Cavalry); Companies A and E, 5th Florida Cavalry, and detachments from other companies.

View from Blue Springs at Sunset
Photo by Camille Lakey

Troops from Camp Governor Milton played a critical role in several Florida actions of the War Between the States. Robinson's company marched from Blue Springs to attack Union sailors trying to get the captured blockade runner Florida out of St. Andrew Bay in 1862. The next year the same company attacked another Federal detachment at St. Andrews (present-day Panama City). In September 1864, a detachment of Chisolm's company fought at the Eucheeanna Skirmish in Walton County and then the entire company took part in the Battle of Marianna. Finally, in March 1865, companies of the 5th Florida Cavalry rode from Blue Spring to Tallahassee to fight at the Battle of Natural Bridge.

The camp was abandoned at the end of the war and not used by Union occupation troops during the Reconstruction era. The buildings are gone now, but traces of the Confederate soldiers that once served there can still be seen in the form of carvings left in the rocks and caves around Blue Springs.

To learn more about the history of Blue Springs Recreational Area, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jacksonbluespring.

#90 Shangri-La Spring (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

Shangri-La Spring

On the north shore of Merritt's Mill Pond just downstream from Blue Springs is one of the most beautiful places in all of Florida. Shangri-La Spring is #90 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida. Please click here to see other listings as they appear online.

Currently accessible only by boat, Shangri-La Spring flows from a vent or crack in the limestone about 800 feet down the mill pond from Blue Springs. The maximum depth is 10.5 feet and the water flows up from the ground at a year-round temperature of 68.97 degrees.

The spring is much smaller than its upstream neighbor (Jackson Blue Springs is the only First Magnitude Spring in the Chipola River basin), but it makes up for its size with spectacular natural beauty.

A scout enjoys the view of Shangri-La during a guided tour.

A 20-foot bluff rises above the Mill Pond at Shangri-La, once used by Graham Air Base as a picnic area and recreational complex, and the huge boulders and natural plants that surround the spring are stunning. The water is crystal clear.

Shangri-La is embedded in the history of Jackson County. The first Spanish explorers to enter the area passed by in 1674 while following the real Old Spanish Trail. Often confused with U.S. 90 or the current county road of that name, the original Old Spanish Trail angled northwest from present-day Sneads to Blue Springs via what is now Providence Church and Reddoch Roads.

Shangri-La in Jackson County, Florida

Fray Rodrigo de la Barreda, a Catholic priest who accompanied that expedition, later described the area around Blue Springs and Shangri-La in glowing terms:

...[A]round it are numerous huge rocks and habitable caves frequented by the Indians on their hunting trips for bear, deer and buffalo, of which there is an abundance. The soil for three or four leagues round is rich and suitable for all kinds of cultivation. There are very excellent wild grapes on the many vines, and many luscious chestnuts. Here we spent the night, thanking God for such a pleasant and delightful spot uninhabited save for the wild animals who enjoy it. - Fray Rodrigo de la Barreda, 1693.

Spectacular view of Shangri-La and Merritt's Mill Pond

The Old Spanish Trail led west to the Natural Bridge of the Chipola River at today's Florida Caverns State Park after passing Shangri-La.

Soldiers under Major General Andrew Jackson explored the caves and rocks around Shangri-La when the U.S. Army camped at Blue Springs on the night of March 10, 1818. The First Seminole War was then underway and Jackson had invaded Spanish Florida on the orders of President James Monroe. He was on his way to attack Pensacola.

Crystal clear water of Shangri-La Spring

Less than one year after Jackson and his men passed through, the first American settler laid claim to the rich lands surrounding Blue Springs and Shangri-La. The adventurous frontiersman William Pyles settled on the site of what is now Blue Springs Recreational Area, which encompasses both Blue Springs and Shangri-La. Florida was still part of Spain when he arrived, but he spent at least one year there clearing fields, building a cabin and raising a crop.

Pyles' claim soon passed to Major William Robinson, who built a comfortable home on the hill overlooking Blue Springs. Robinson's plantation covered 3,100 acres encompassing both Blue and Shangri-La Springs. Some idea of the appearance of the area at the time was left by Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, the Catholic Bishop of Florida, who visited the major at his home in 1827:

"Rocks...as high as the trees themselves"

...Rocks were to be met as high as the trees themselves, and bordered around with wild flowers, while sweet-scented shrubbery decked the sides and summits of these pygmy mountains. Natural wells, underground caves, oak trees blasted by lightning or cast by the tempest across our narrow pathway like an artificial bridge - everything was present to enhance the spectacle. - Rt. Rev. Michael Portier, 1827.

Robinson lived at Blue Springs (then called Robinson's Big Spring) and Shangri-La until his death. His lands eventually passed to his relative, Governor John Milton.

View down into the cave at Shangri-La Spring

Arriving in Jackson County during the late 1840s, Milton folded Major Robinson's former lands - including Shangri-La - into his Sylvania Plantation. Accounts from the time note that Milton often enjoyed fishing and walking along the banks of the springs and stream to escape the pressures of Tallahassee during his tenure as Florida's Confederate governor.

Confederate soldiers also enjoyed the crystal clear water and scenery while stationed at Camp Governor Milton, which incorporated Major Robinson's old home at Blue Springs. Some of these men carved their names into the rocks of Shangri-La Bluff and they rode past the spring on their way to the Battle of Marianna in 1864.

Shangri-La Spring today is owned by the state and protected by Jackson County Parks & Recycling. Future work will open the grounds to the public, but for now the scenic spot can be accessed by boat via the mill pond or by canoe or kayak when Blue Springs is open to the public during the summer season.