Ever wonder what is hidden on service
roads and in the back woods of a state park?
I am always curious to know the behind
the scenes story. One morning in early December while reading the
Suwanee Democrat I happened on an announcement for a Timeline Tour
through Ichetucknee Springs State Park. Not only did it catch my
attention but it necessitated a call to reserve a spot on the tour.
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| Ranger Sam leading the tour |
Saturday morning arrived... cold, quite
cold, about 32 degrees. Brrrr. But we suited up and headed out by 8
AM for the 45 minute drive to the park. There are two entrances to
the park and the directions were unclear as to which entrance was
correct for the tour. You guessed it, we arrived to find a van, one
car, and no one around... but it was cold so perhaps they were in the
Education Center. Knocking on doors we located a ranger who
confirmed we were at the wrong entrance; however, she was taking the
van to the correct entrance and “Did we want to ride along?”
This was perfect.
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| Ichtucknee River |
Meeting up with the main group Ranger Sam Cole, our interpretive guide, gave a trip overview before we boarded
three vans and headed into the woods. The overview included a
discussion of area geology and human involvement from 12000 BC to
present. Our first stop was the original entrance to the park and a
history lesson about how the property had been used for phosphate mining in addition to a local swimming hole. This was a chilly stop
so the ranger suggested we limit our walking through the woods but
look for signs of phosphate mining: holes, tram beds, reclaimed
forest. Back in the vans we traveled through dense woods as we
traversed the old tram beds used to haul Phosphate ore from the area
to the processing plant.
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| Notice the three blue objects above... Tallhassee, Ichetucknee, St. Augustine |
Now, at the last stop Ranger Sam
informed us the next stop was the Mission de San Martin de Timucua.
So we had time to roll back the time clock before arriving at the
site of a major mission on the Camino Real, the Kings Road,
from St. Augustine to Tallahassee and points west. The mission sat
on a knoll above the river not where treasure hunters and historians
had explored for many years. Logic indicated the mission had been
closer to the river and springs; this assumption was derived from the
presence of pottery and artifacts found at the water edge. Not true,
the native people probably washed dishes in the spring and thus the
presence of historical artifacts.
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| Mission Spring |
In the 1980s archeologists studied the
site to determine the actual mission grounds and outlined the
perimeter of the church, priest home, lodge house, and Indian
village. There was one priest in residence and over the life of the
mission, 8-10 years, two different pastors served in the community.
Now the community was abandoned and burned around 1580 when there was
a native uprising against Spanish control. Fascinating.
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| Possible Mission Building |
On down the road to the original town
of Ichetucknee. As with the previous site, not much remains;
however, you can find the mill race once the site is explained by
the ranger. Now, with a bit of imagination you can see a town with a
post office on the rise, a dry goods store, a few businesses, and
maybe a house or two. Isn't imagination wonderful?
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| Ichetucknee Mill Race |
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| Site for the Town of Ichetucknee |
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