We were
headed south to Tampa/Clearwater on the last day of our drive before we arrived
at our friends Bob and Nona’s house. We
took in a couple more historic places along the way.
The
first spot we stopped to photograph was in Cross City Florida. This is the old Atlantic Coast Line
Depot. It was built ca. 1910. At one point in more recent days it apparently
was occupied by a local business. These
days it’s not in use…but I noted that they’d boarded in the old freight dock
for this combination passenger and freight depot.
The
asphalt path in the foreground is part of the 32 mile long Nature Coast State
Trail… The former rail right of way has been converted to what is popularly
called a “rail trail”. At one point,
this paved trail crosses over the Suwannee River.
Historical
Note:
· During the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) Federal
forces engaged the Seminoles in this area near the Suwannee River, across from
Ft. Fanning. The engagement is known as
the "Battle of Old Town."
This
Spanish Mission style building in Crystal River Florida was built with native
limestone in 1939 under the auspices of the Work Project Administration…part of
Roosevelt’s New Deal program. It was
originally designed to house the police and fire departments, (with a 3-cell
jail) and it served as City Hall until 1972.
The
building now houses the Coastal Heritage Museum, which is operated by the
Citrus County Historical Society. Exhibits
focus on the early history of the west side of Citrus County Florida and
include a 1929 diorama of downtown Crystal Springs, a fish house facade, and one
of the an original jail cells. Admission is free. You can check it out at: http://www.coastalheritagemuseum.org/.
Notes:
· Both Art Fleming, the original host of “Jeopardy!”
and baseball hall of fame member Ted Williams, lived in Crystal River at the
time of their deaths.
· Crystal River is situated around Kings Bay,
which is spring-fed and so keeps a constant 72 °F temperature year around.
A cluster of 50 springs designated as a
first-magnitude system feeds Kings Bay. This
discharge equals about 64 million gallons of water per day! Kings
Bay can be home to over 400 manatees during the winter when the water
temperature in the Gulf of Mexico cools and this fact is a major draw for
tourists in the area.
Yulee
Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park is a Florida State Park located in Homosassa
Florida, just a couple of miles west of US Hwy 19. In addition to the historic ruins, the park
has a picnic pavilion, restrooms, picnic tables and grills…as well as the ruins
of the historic old sugar mill.
David
Levy Yulee was a delegate in the Florida Territorial Legislative Council and
when Florida became a state, he became the first US Senator from the state as
well as the first American of Jewish heritage to serve in the Senate. Yulee is also credited as being responsible
for the development of a network of railroads that tremendously boosted the
state's economy.
The
large mill (which was steam-driven) operated from 1851 to 1864. It produced sugar, syrup and molasses. FYI, the molasses was used in making rum. At the park, the stonework (foundation, well
and 40-foot chimney) of the mill, iron gears, a cane press, and some of the
other machinery remain.
The
mill was just part of Yulee’s huge enterprise in the Homosassa area. His plantation covered more than 5,100 acres
and was worked by approximately 1,000 slaves.
They raised sugarcane, citrus, and cotton. Yulee made the plantation the base for all of
his businesses and land holdings, building his home on Tiger Tail Island in the
Homosassa River just a few miles from the mill.
David
Yulee had a much larger empire than just this 5,100 acre plantation and
mill. Yulee also owned vast lands across
North Central Florida and maintained other homes in Fernandina and what is now the
town of Yulee. (When his father Moses,
first emigrated to Florida from the island of St. Thomas in what is now the US
Virgin Islands, he purchased 50,000 acres in that are now occupied by
Jacksonville Florida)
Using
the labors of 69 slaves, Yulee built the mill of hewn Florida limestone, brick
and wood. In addition to the
steam-operated grinding or pressing rollers, the operation also included large
kettles for cooking down the juice squeezed from the sugar cane. By the time of the Civil War, when it was in
full operation the Yulee Sugar Mill used more than 100 slaves to process the
sugar cane. Sugar was exported from the
Homosassa River to ports all along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts.
Elected
to the U.S. Senate again in 1855, Yulee was still serving in Washington when
the obvious threat of Civil War loomed over the horizon. Resigning his post in the U.S. Senate, Yulee
went home to Florida. Although he served
for a time in the Confederate Congress, his primary role during the Civil War
was as a businessman and industrialist. His
railroad was brought into operation in March of 1861 and the sugar mill on the
Homosassa was devoted to the production of sugar for the Confederate armies.
In May
of 1864, the Union navy made a raid up the Homosassa River to Tiger Tail Island. A building containing Southern military
supplies was set on fire and the flames spread to Yulee's home. In their reports of the affair, U.S. Navy
officers claimed that burning Yulee’s home was "accidental".
To
learn more about David Levy Yulee, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Levy_Yulee.
FYI…Homosassa
Florida is the home of the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, where
visitors can observe manatees close up and personal. To learn about this park, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosassa_Springs_Wildlife_State_Park.
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
