By Starr Munro
Riverbend News
America has led the way for a lot of new ideas, but one pioneering action from this country was how ahead of the times it was when it came to land preservation. The liberties of this nation are recognized to include the right to have somewhere in every state where a citizen can visit numerous natural riches. And in Florida there is no exception to the occasional side result of places like State Parks and Preserves, and in having areas where the local flora and fauna are safe from development; there are also numerous places full of history to visit that lay in wait, with no chance of being paved over for another Wal-Mart to ever be their fate.
One of such places is Big Shoals State Park, located in Southeast Hamilton County. It's home to the only spot in the entire state of Florida where you'd want a helmet to paddle safely, due to the largest whitewater rapids to be found in the state, there. And although it's well-known within Florida borders and outside of them as well, the people who reside around the Suwannee River may like to know about the history that has quite literally seeped itself into the rich river silt over the centuries.
Home to First Nations people like the Apalachee and Timucua tribes who resided on the shores, they revered in the local mineral spring waters for their healing powers much like Americans eventually would in later years. The limestone lining the riverbanks provided the Apalachee with the stone they needed for tool and weapon making, which they were very skilled in creating. And the Timucua tribe is documented to have hunted alligators in the area. Queen Annes War essentially wiped out both of these tribes in the Apalachee Massacre of 1703 with survivors relocating to the Savannah River where they lived out the rest of their days on reservations. By the 1800's the tribes utilizing the area had been replaced by European settlers who were beginning to learn how to live off the land of Florida and trying to develop it into something profitable.
In 1998, the management plan was approved and Big Shoals State Park was created but not without the consideration of the artifacts that had been found on the new public lands. At the time, there had been multiple findings of archaic artifacts of lithic sorts, with 19 sites already documented, and an additional 17 sites located and evaluated by Ryan J. Wheeler in 1999. Ten of them being prehistoric, three historic, and three multi-component sites with one historic structure within the park's bounderies. Material found has proven the amazing capabilities the tribes had with lithic weapon making, using stone with precision and expertise. Remnants of early 19th century Floridians include what is known as “Hooker's homestead.” Square cut nails, broken glass, a pipe bowl, an iron hoe and scrub cattle/ horse teeth were found on the crest of the ridge in the area where the homestead used to be, perfectly illustrating what came to the land after the Native Americans were no longer living off the river.
After the conquest of Florida from local tribes, one of the next people to use the Big Shoal area for their livelihood was Captain William B. Hooker, known then and now as one of the original Cattle Kings who possibly helped change Florida into a state with prospects that were hard to realize in such a wild and unique place. A living legend of his era, he had settled on the Northern shore of the river and raised scrub cattle and black seed cotton. Originally from Georgia and born in 1800, William Hooker, earned his title of “Captain” after leading several successful attacks on the Seminoles in the 1830's. As an owner of over 10,000 cattle by 1860 and after 40 years of helping pioneer one of the main industries of Florida that put us on the map, he built not one, but two homes, one of which being large enough for two families to live in, with its 33 rooms. He also took advantage of the Suwannee River area that is called Big Shoals now by building a ferry and charging $1 for every loaded wagon and team that needed to use it to cross the river with, 50 cents for Ox carts and one half cent for every man and horse. He owned 489 acres of upper mineral springs known today as White Springs and will always remain a testament to how tenacious and innovative the early settlers of this region were.
In 1835, Joseph Bryant and Elizabeth Sheffield bought land for a cotton plantation in Big Shoals and came upon the sulfur springs, originally used by the Native Americans who believed the water to be rich in healing properties and the ground itself, sacred. They quickly switched tactics and built a hotel and bathhouse, which is considered to be the very first tourist attraction here in Florida. Soon the “Upper Middle Springs” as it was eventually renamed at some point during the American Civil War, boasted to be a cure-all for a plethora of maladies, including rheumatism, “nervousness” and kidney issues, to name a few. Before the end of the Civil War it was renamed “White Sulfur Springs” and by 1885 the town “White Springs” was incorporated. In 1903 the simple structure built from roughly cut logs was enclosed in coquina and concrete walls. As the world got increasingly modern, the bathhouse with its springs healing properties became an idea of the past but tourists can still go see the ruins of the bathhouse and in White Springs, if one can even call them that because they are being preserved and looked after with the utmost respect and appreciation for the past.
Big Shoals State Park boasts a rich mixture of ecology, with mostly mesic flat woods but featuring basin swamps and cypress domes as well, some of Florida's most iconic natural features. If one were to go out and visit today, they could ask one of the Rangers that work there to point out some of the long leaf pines that still have the scars from the time when the land was bought in the 1900's for logging and turpentine collection that were essential for naval stores that were used in boat making and maintenance. The bark would be chipped away for a collection of resin. Turpentine eventually became a less popular product once folks became aware of how hazardous and mildly toxic it was to collect and use, due to both fumes in the production of it and high flammability concerns in using it. The camps that the collectors would stay in held a high number of artifacts from the 1910's to 1930's and were considered to be in fair condition when cataloged.
Take advantage of the opportunities that are all around when it comes to state parks like Big Shoals. Not just for the natural beauty and wonder that something like the Suwannee River or a winter of green can inspire, but for the dedication in areas like ours to not bury the past and instead have it available for all its local residents to visit and to perhaps learn from.
Big Shoals State Park is located at 11330 SE County Road 135 in White Springs.