Category Archives: History

Geography of Opportunity, by Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, 2025-12-11 2025-12-11

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Join us for a fascinating historical exploration of Georgia’s Wiregrass Region and the complex stories of survival, resistance, and adaptation that unfolded there after the 1814 Treaty of Fort Jackson.

When: 12-1 PM, Thursday, December 11, 2025

Register to join with Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XHeXy9xUSCOKIPvYpMNtcQ
WWALS Board Member Janet Martin will give a brief introduction.
Questions and answers will be at the end.

[Geography of Opportunity in Georgia's Wiregrass Region, by History Instructor Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, Noon-1 PM by zoom, 2025-12-11]
Geography of Opportunity in Georgia’s Wiregrass Region, by History Instructor Vickie Everitte, a WWALS Webinar, Noon-1 PM by zoom, 2025-12-11

Native American and Passageways to Freedom within the Wiregrass Region1

As settlers moved south of the Oconee River, drawn by the land’s economic promise, waves of migration and militia efforts reshaped the landscape—and the lives of the Native American families who called it home. Through rivers, streams, and the vast Okefenokee Swamp, Indigenous people found ways not only to endure but to carve out paths of freedom and self-determination amid the U.S. Indian Removal Policy of the 1830s.

Drawing from original correspondence between settlers, militia, and Georgia’s governors in Milledgeville, this presentation reveals how waterways became corridors of escape and survival. As Everitte reminds us, “Swamps are places on the margins — as much, they are places of transition, opportunity, and challenge.”2

About the Speaker

Continue reading →

McIntyre Spring with boats, Withlacoochee River –Google Earth Pro 2025-05-27

One of only six second magnitude springs in the state of Georgia, McIntyre Spring is about half a mile upstream from where the Withlacoochee River crosses into Florida for the first time. Here it is seen with kayaks, in Google Earth Pro, for May 17, 2025, looking south and downstream.

[McIntyre Spring with boats, Withlacoochee River --Google Earth Pro, May 27, 2017]
McIntyre Spring with boats, Withlacoochee River –Google Earth Pro, May 27, 2017

Previously I speculated that the kayaks in this Google Earth Pro map were from the WWALS paddle of October 14, 2017. Since then, Google Earth Pro has supplied a more specific date of May 27, 2017 for this map, so the dates do not seem to match.

Brooks County claims the entire river to its left (usually east) bank, so McIntyre Spring is in that county. It is also on private land, inaccessible by road without permission.

To see McIntyre Spring in the river, the water level must be low. Preferably no higher than about 1.75 feet (85.26 NAVD) on the US 84 Quitman gage, and about 6.57 (53.08 NAVD) on the the Pinetta gage.

Those were the readings on July 9, 2016. Continue reading →

Video: Sweet William Ennis, Palatka, FL, a Folk song, Suwannee Cracker Cowboys 2025-09-06

Thanks to Sweet William Ennis of Palatka, Florida, for writing and performing his Folk song, “Suwannee Cracker Cowboys,” at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025. Billy also handled sound.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

About Billy Ennis:

“Sweet William” Ennis is a singer-songwriter who has lived in Palatka Florida for over three decades. His personally original songs written over the span of fifty years covers multi genres and subjects including the environment, love & war with a heavy dose of Blues. 2019 quarter finalist in the Memphis International Blues Challenge, 2021 Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 1st place winner and 2018 Santa Fe River Song Contest 3rd place winner, Sweet William is very active in the Florida music community and recognized for organizing volunteer music events supporting soup kitchens, assisted living facilities and worthy fund raisers.

[Sweet William Ennis, Palatka, FL, with a Folk song, 2025-09-06, Suwannee Cracker Cowboys, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest]
Sweet William Ennis, Palatka, FL, with a Folk song, 2025-09-06, Suwannee Cracker Cowboys, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest

About Billy’s song:

The Suwannee Cowboys, a tour through Suwannee Basin’s Cracker History.

Here’s Sweet William Ennis singing his song:
https://youtu.be/HqpYrufXq4E?si=PQtLUgZGmSiO2kff Continue reading →

Hillman Bridge, Ellaville, Suwannee River 2025-09-27

I stopped at the historic Hillman Bridge, across the Suwannee River at Ellaville, on the way back from the Suwannee River Camp tour.

It was built 1926, abandoned 1983, and is a 916.0-foot 3-span Metal 7 Panel Rivet-Connected Pratt Through Truss bridge over the Suwannee River.

This happened long after the demise of Ellaville as a logging town, capturing logs coming down the Withlacoochee River with a boom, to be sawed in the sawmill owned by Florida Governor George Franklin Drew. Here’s a video about that logging boom town, Dray’s World, 2021, The Remains of the Drew Mansion & The Lost Cemetery of Ellaville.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBWJDJldb9o

[Hillman Bridge, Ellaville, Suwannee River 2025-09-27, 1/5 mile below Withlacoochee River, Built 1926, abandoned 1983]
Hillman Bridge, Ellaville, Suwannee River 2025-09-27, 1/5 mile below Withlacoochee River, Built 1926, abandoned 1983

According to Bullet, Abandoned FL, December 1, 2015, Hillman Bridge,

Hillman Bridge is a through truss bridge located in the small town of Ellaville, once a thriving sawmill and manufacturing center owned by George Franklin Drew, Florida’s governor between 1877 to 1881. Built as a federal aid project in 1925-1926 by the R.H.H. Blackwell Co. of East Aurora, N.Y., it was named “Hillman Bridge” during its construction after W.J. Hillman of Live Oak, a member of the State Road Department who had helped push for the construction of the bridge.

No, it’s not the same as the historic Suwannee Springs Bridge, the old US 129 bridge, built 1931, closed to vehicle traffic in 1971. That’s 22 miles upstream, just above the current US 129 bridge. Yes, both historic bridges have graffiti, they both cross the Suwannee River, and they are both through truss steel bridges. But they are not the same.

There are more pictures below of the historic Hillman Bridge. Continue reading →

Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, with a Bluegrass song, Ellaville. 2025-09-06

Thanks to Bacon James, for writing a song and playing it, at the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest 2025.

And thanks for digging into Suwannee and Withlacoochee River history about Ellavile, the town where George F. Drew had his sawmill, with a boom across the mouth of the Withlacoochee River, to catch logs floated down the river.
https://wwals.net/pictures/songwriting2025

“I’m Bacon James—singer-songwriter and frequent supporter of environmental causes and organizations. I love being in nature, playing and writing music, and generally trying to be too clever for my own good.”

[Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, Bluegrass song, Ellaville, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025]
Bacon James, Gainesville, FL, Bluegrass song, Ellaville, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, September 6, 2025

“I wrote Ellaville after visiting the site during one of my recent trips to the Suwannee and subsequently digging into the history of the town and what occurred there. I loved the idea of a bustling little mill town on the river and was so fascinated by the story of how the town boomed and then fell. I thought of all the hardships of the folks I’ve met, and how I have so many close friends now that are currently unemployed and struggling. Dreams found, lives built and then dashed. Nature constantly exploited by those in power, ostensibly retaliating against those by which it had been wronged. Are we learning? Are we growing? Were there lessons the river was trying to impart about humanity, and have we heard them? That’s what this song explores.”

Here’s he is singing his song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37APDWhJBLQ Continue reading →

Suwannee Riverkeeper in Quitman Free Press 2025-09-17

Thanks to Dr. Horne for writing and sending this article. We all do what we can.

September 17, 2025, Quitman Free Press, Page 3

Doc’s Special Messages
By: Dr. R. Marie Horne MD

Quintessential Mr. Quarterman

Some South Georgians have made numerous contributions to the South Georgia area and have rendered enormous contributions to national and global society as well. One of these South Georgia notables is Mr. John S. Quarterman, a longtime South Georgia resident who has a perpetual passion for navigating activism in protection of waterways, specifically those which impact area communities, as the WWALS Watershed Coalition’s Suwannee Riverkeeper, who takes seriously and enthusiastically his stewardship over protecting the Suwannee River Basin in South Georgia and North Florida.

[Quitman Free Press, 2025-09-17 --Dr. Marie Horne]
Quitman Free Press, 2025-09-17 –Dr. Marie Horne

Having hailed from the Bemiss Community in Lowndes County Georgia, near Valdosta, studied at Harvard, authored in 1990, the book entitled, “The Matrix, Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide,” Mr. John Quarterman became the “longest serving cartographer of the Internet, a designation “dubbed by Mappa Mundi Magazine” in 1990.

Continue reading →

Former Artesian Spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta, GA 2017-09-16

Excerpted from another post eight years ago. This barely trickling spring is on Sugar Creek, which flows to the Withlacoochee River. It is a cautionary tale for overpumping groundwater.

[Former Artesian Spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta, GA 2017-09-16, On Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River]
Former Artesian Spring, Saunders Park, Valdosta, GA 2017-09-16, On Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River

My father told me there used to be a bath house on River Street west of downtown Valdosta, fed by an artesian well. I remember decades ago there being tumble-down buildings. In recent years I never could locate them.

Turns out that’s because it became John W. Saunders Park, 1151 River Street, Valdosta, Georgia. Continue reading →

SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining –SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11

Update 2025-09-05: Chemours to blame for flooding rural Santa Fe River Basin? –Grist 2025-09-04.

SRWMD knew the mineral rights were already leased for mining by Chemours when SRWMD bought the Double Run Creek property from Rayonier. SRWMD did not intend to use the property for public access or recreation.

SRWMD writes, “The primary goal of the acquisition was to support Camp Blanding military buffers, while subsequently exploring the opportunity for flood abatement and water resource development projects.”

So why didn’t Armory Board State of Florida buy it, since that’s the entity that owns the rest of Camp Blanding? And what sort of “flood abatement and water resource development projects” were contemplated?

[SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining, SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11]
SRWMD purchased Rayonier tract with mineral rights leased to Chemours for TiO2 mining, SRWMD to Carol Mosley 2025-07-11

Here’s an excerpt from a reply to Carol Mosley by Troy Roberts, Office Chief, Communications and Outreach, Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD):

To answer your questions, the mining rights for the Double Run Creek property were not available for purchase at the time of acquisition and were not offered as part of the transaction. The rights were previously leased by a third party with the intent that mining operations would continue, which the District was aware of at the time of acquisition. Any subsequent transactions regarding the mining rights would not fall under District jurisdiction.

The primary goal of the acquisition was to support Camp Blanding military buffers, while subsequently exploring the opportunity for flood abatement and water resource development projects. This language is expressly listed in the District’s resolution for the land purchase, which the Board approved. Recreation and public access were not included as primary goals of the acquisition.

The management plan references public access and recreation, only if the opportunities do not interfere with a project. The site is still considered a project area.

Because the property is managed by the Florida Department of Military Affairs, any public access to the property would be initiated and led by that agency. Questions regarding future access and timing should be directed to the Florida Department of Military Affairs, per the management agreement.

If the purchase was to support Camp Blanding, why didn’t Armory Board State of Florida buy it, since that’s the entity that owns the rest of Camp Blanding?

What sort of “flood abatement and water resource development projects” would those be?

And here is Carol Mosley’s followup, sent by her to WWALS with permission to post. Continue reading →

Turner Bridge, Suwannee River –Ken Sulak 2025-07-01

Update 2025-07-11: Pictures: Turner Bridge to Cone Bridge Paddle, Suwannee River 2025-07-05.

Ken Sulak sent this in preparation for Turner Bridge to Cone Bridge Paddle, Suwannee River, 2025-07-05.
https://wwals.net/?p=67557

[Turner Bridge, Suwannee River --Ken Sulak 2025-07-01, History and what bridge artifacts reveal or conceal]
Turner Bridge, Suwannee River –Ken Sulak 2025-07-01, History and what bridge artifacts reveal or conceal

Over to Ken:

Looking back at the history of Turner Bridge, and what bridge artifacts reveal or conceal. Continue reading →

Video: How Humans Affect the Aquifer, a WWALS Webinar by Dennis Price, 2025-06-19

Update 2025-07-25: SRWMD & SJRWMD aquifer recharge project update @ SRWMD 2025-07-08.

Dennis Price, P.G., of Hamilton County, Florida, asked, “Are we just a water tower for Jacksonville?”

He showed us “the history of surface and ground water in the flatwoods in south Georgia and north Florida in the Suwannee River Basin. Historic water levels and how we have changed these levels. Changes beginning with forestry then farming, and population growth. Ideas for correcting the problems.”

[How Humans Affect the Aquifer, WWALS Webinar by Dennis Price, Are we just a water tower for Jacksonville? 2025-06-19]
How Humans Affect the Aquifer, WWALS Webinar by Dennis Price, Are we just a water tower for Jacksonville? 2025-06-19

This applies to the Floridan Aquifer proper and the other aquifers above it, all below the Suwannee, Alapaha, and Withlacoochee Rivers, the Okefenokee Swamp, and their tributaries.

Here is the WWALS video of this WWALS Webinar:
https://youtu.be/o4s1jPN0EVI

Some still images are appended.

Thanks to WWALS Board Member Janet Martin for organizing this webinar and for introducing Dennis.

Thanks to everyone who attended.

See the announcement of this webinar for Dennis’ resume and other background.
https://wwals.net/?p=67740

See also: Continue reading →