Strolling through White Springs Florida

 

With enchanting old structures you know time has paused. The scenes demand you ponder the events that led to the current town of White Springs.

Adams Store these days

As with many Florida towns WhiteSprings has a rich history wrapped in the ribbons of boom and bust. It was “Florida's first tourist attraction, located on the banks of the Suwannee River in Hamilton County, Florida ...”, http://www.whitesprings.org/

White Sulpher Springs Bath House

Before the arrival of Europeans the area was frequented by the native people seeking the healing powers of the White Sulpher Springs. The springs were sacred and hostile tribes such as the Timucuan and the Apalachee bathed in the springs peacefully. These enemies would put aside their implements of war while in the area.

One of the remaining early hotels

By the early 1800s  the US land grab of Florida was in full swing.

The United States annexed Spanish West Florida in 1810 after U.S. settlers there staged an insurrection and declared their independence from Spain. Andrew Jackson's invasion of Florida (1817-1818) and several filibustering expeditions into Texas exacerbated the boundary question. Finally, in 1819, the ratification of the Adams-Onis Transcontinental Treaty clearly defined the frontiers of Spanish and U.S. lands and ended a decade and a half of bellicose posturing. http://www.pbs.org/kera/usmexicanwar/prelude/md_boundary_disputes.html

The Suwannee River made for easy access 

Rumors spread of fertile land and fortunes to be made in agriculture enticing farmers and ranchers to move south. White Springs was on the in-land route from Georgia by wagon. Those traveling by steamboat could journey down the Suwannee River and stop in White Springs. 

This structure could tell many tales

By 1830 White Sulpher Springs was now called Jackson Springs, a boom town that continued to boom and blossomed into White Springs.

Methodist Parsonage
1898

Camp School House
1906

Somewhere around 1950 the limelight refocused to the dazzle of other tourist attractions:  Daytona Beach and the Beach Stockcar Races, Cape Canaveral with the space program, and Orlando with Disney World.  The final nail in the chapter of this era was probably the construction of I-75, three 3 miles west of town and I-10, ten miles south of town.   

New Library with funding from
Potash Corp, a local employer

Volunteers are the heart of any community
Even more so in White Springs

But don't discount the town because there is revival as new residents arrive to cherish the history, community, and charm of White Springs.

A study in contrasts.
Yes the town will boom again.