Around the Banks

People often ask me when I mention the Colonial Hotel, which was part of the White Springs community for over five decades before being dismantled by the State of Florida, "Are you referring to the Telford?" The answer is "No." I am referring to the historic, white, majestic Colonial Hotel, located just north of the south gate entrance of the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. The Colonial opened its doors on New Year's Eve of 1911, right at the beginning of 1912. A dear friend of our family, a longtime prominent citizen of White Springs, now deceased and who shall remain nameless, told me about the opening of the Colonial Hotel. "My mother owned a millinery, dress shop, at