Tag Archives: Floyd’s Island

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge –USFWS 1948-01-01

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Perhaps the most unusual feature of this historical writeup is this claim:

“In a sense OKEFENOKEE IS NOT A SWAMP AT ALL, but a saucer-shaped depression fed to a great extent by clear, bubbling springs in the prairies.”

Can somebody point out these mythical springs within the Swamp?

[Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Conservation in Action, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1945]
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Conservation in Action, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, 1945

Thanks to Chapin Burgess for sending this document. I don’t know where he got it. A copy is on the WWALS website. Images of each page are below.

Much of it is about alligators, birds, bears, and fishing.

Some swamp terminology was different in 1945. Floating bottom was called “floating isles”. Batteries were called “houses”, or that term is also equated to “hammock”.

The Refuge headquarters was called Camp Cornelia. Continue reading →

The Okefenokee: Charles R. Pendleton on The Trembling Earth, The Times, Valdosta, Ga. 1890-02-08

It was harder to get to Floyd’s Island in the Okfonok back then: several weeks bushwhacking, climbing on water lily roots, through bamboo briars (palmettos) and mosquitoes, on trails made by bears and wildcats.

The author’s tree-cutting camping method would not be allowed in the swamp these days, and his attitude towards native Americans was a product of his times. So was his urge to drain and “root” the swamp to turn it to “valuable account.”

[The Okefenokee: C.R. Pendleton on The Trembling Earth, The Times, Valdosta, Ga. 1890-02-08]
The Okefenokee: C.R. Pendleton on The Trembling Earth, The Times, Valdosta, Ga. 1890-02-08

The Times., VALDOSTA GA., FEB. 8, 1890, THE OKEFENOKEE: CHARLES R. PENDLETON ON “THE TREMBLING EARTH.”

Explanation of the Unknown Land of Georgia—The Constitution’s Hunting Party—Incidents Connected With the Swamp.

From the Atlanta Constitution,

VALDOSTA GA., Feb, 1.—I have been watching with a great deal of interest the discussion in regard to the sale of the Okefenokee Swamp. I have followed, step by step, all the developments in the case. The mistaken opinions of so many people, especially in middle and north Georgia, about this swamp surprises me more than anything else. Those who have written and spoken most seem to know least about it.

EARLY DAYS IN THE SWAMP.

A half dozen years of my boyhood were spent within an hour’s ride of the swamp, and I have sat by the hour and listened to the tales Continue reading →

Cancelled: Okefenokee Floyd’s Island Campout, Suwannee River, SCFSP, 2025-11-14-15

Update 2025-11-02: The Refuge says the water is too low to paddle to Floyd’s Island, so this outing is cancelled.

Update 2025-09-17: Shirley got a reservation for Friday and Saturday, November 14-15, 2025.

Paddle 9 miles upstream on the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp for primitive camping on Floyd’s Island. Paddle back the next day.

You must RSVP on meetup to get a spot (clicking Going on the facebook event does not count as an RSVP).

This is the farthest you can get from any road in Georgia, with very dark sky.

You can camp inside the century-old Hebard Cabin, or in your tent or hammock outside.

Yes, you will see gators, and probably other wildlife.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end All Day, Friday, November 14, 2025
Launch 9 AM, End 1 PM, Saturday, November 15, 2025

Put In: Stephen C. Foster State Park Ramp, 17515 GA-177, Fargo, GA 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel to Stephen C. Foster State Park, in Charlton County.

GPS: 30.826833, -82.361333

[Floyd's Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp, Suwannee River, Friday & Saturday, 14-15 Nov. 2025]
Floyd’s Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp, Suwannee River, Friday & Saturday, 14-15 Nov. 2025

Continue reading →

Pictures: Departing Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05

We got up early enough to see the sun rise above the outhouse on the east side of Floyds Island. I got some pictures of the inside of Hebard Cabin, built in 1925 after the logging was finished. A few of us made a side trip over to Billys Island to see the Lee Cemetery and the few remains of the logging boom town. With alligators and turtles, of course.

[Departing Floyd's Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05, Plus Minnies Lake and Billys Island]
Departing Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05, Plus Minnies Lake and Billys Island

This was all on the Floyds Island Campout and Suwannee River Paddle in the Okefenokee Swamp, November 4-5, 2023.

See also pictures from the previous day. And facebook photosets by Continue reading →

Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp –Gretchen Quarterman 2024-11-10-11

It was drizzly and it rained on Floyds Island, but everybody enjoyed it anyway.

[Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-10-11, Suwannee River, and Middle Fork]
Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-10-11, Suwannee River, and Middle Fork

Thanks to Brack Barker for leading this Floyds Island Campout, 9 miles upstream on the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Thanks to Gretchen Quarterman for these pictures.

Not many gators were visible, but there was a tree full of wood storks. Continue reading →

Floyd’s Island Campout, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-10-11

Update 2024-09-13: Brack Barker got a Floyds Island camping permit for Sunday, November 10. Since Monday, November 11, is a federal holiday, Veterans Day, that should work.

Join us to paddle 9 miles upstream on the Suwannee River for primitive camping on Floyd’s Island in the Okefenokee Swamp.

You must RSVP on meetup to get a spot.

This is the farthest you can get from any road in Georgia, with very dark sky.

You can camp inside the century-old Hebard Cabin, or in your tent or hammock outside.

Yes, you will see gators, and probably other wildlife.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end All Day, Sunday, November 10, 2024
Launch 9 AM, end 1 PM, Monday, November 11, 2024

Put In: Stephen C. Foster State Park Ramp, 17515 GA-177, Fargo, GA 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel to Stephen C. Foster State Park in Charlton County.

GPS: 30.826833, -82.361333

[Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-02-03, Suwannee River, Fargo, GA, Stephen C. Foster State Park]
Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-02-03, Suwannee River, Fargo, GA, Stephen C. Foster State Park

Continue reading →

Okefenokee Floyd’s Island Campout, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-09-10

Update 2024-09-13: Got a permit for Sunday, November 10. Okefenokee Floyd’s Island Campout, Suwannee River, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-02.

Update 2024-09-04: Didn’t get a permit for November 2, so trying for November 9.

Pending a permit, join us to paddle 9 miles upstream on the Suwannee River for primitive camping on Floyd’s Island in the Okefenokee Swamp.

This is the farthest you can get from any road in Georgia, with very dark sky.

You can camp inside the century-old Hebard Cabin, or in your tent or hammock outside.

Yes, you will see gators, and probably other wildlife.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 10 AM, end All Day, Saturday, November 9, 2024
Launch 9 AM, end 1 PM, Sunday, November 10, 2024

Put In: Stephen C. Foster State Park Ramp, 17515 GA-177, Fargo, GA 31631. From Fargo, travel south on US 441 to CR 177; turn left and travel to Stephen C. Foster State Park in Charlton County.

GPS: 30.826833, -82.361333

[Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-02-03, Suwannee River, Fargo, GA, Stephen C. Foster State Park]
Floyds Island Campout, Okefenokee Swamp 2024-11-02-03, Suwannee River, Fargo, GA, Stephen C. Foster State Park

Continue reading →

Okefenokee season, fall 2023

Apparently it’s Okefenokee season this fall, with resolutions for the Swamp and against the proposed strip mine, when Clinch County also reserved cash match for a Dark Sky Observatory, one of three natural resources economy projects around the Swamp. There is some movement on listing the Refuge as a UNESCO World Heritage Site including an art auction dinner in Brunswick. Charlton, Ware, and Clinch Counties held their first-ever collaboration, Okefenokee Gateway Getaway. There were dinners and paddles at all three entrances to the Swamp, including a WWALS paddle to camp at Floyds Island, the most remote spot in Georgia, with people from Miami, Alabama, South Carolina, and Atlanta, and a Georgia Water Coalition panel attended by Suwannee Riverkeeper.

You can still help stop the proposed titanium dioxide strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

[Collage of Okefenokee season, fall 2023]
Collage of Okefenokee season, fall 2023

In August, Echols and Clinch Counties passed resolutions for the Swamp and against the proposed titanium dioxide mine. When DeKalb County passed a resolution in November, it mentioned those, and a previous resolution by Waycross and Ware County. Continue reading →

Floyds Island 1838, Hebard Cabin 1925, Okefenokee Swamp

Update 2024-12-09: Pictures: Departing Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-05.

Answers to some popular questions about Floyds Island, up the Middle Fork of the Suwannee River in the Okefenokee Swamp.

Meanwhile, you can help stop a proposed strip mine near the Swamp:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

[Collage, Floyds Island]
Collage, Floyds Island

Who was Floyds Island named for?

The Okefenokee was a Creek hunting ground in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Briefly in 1836 and for most of 1838 theSecond Seminole War in Florida extended into the Okefenokee. Roads and forts were built around the perimeter of the swamp, and Georgia militia and U.S. army troops patrolled intensively. They burned down a Seminole village on an island that they subsequently renamed Floyds Island, for Charles Rinaldo Floyd. In response to this violence, the Seminole began to leave the swamp in 1838, but skirmishes continued to occur along the Georgia-Florida boundary as late as 1840.

C.T. Trowell, New Georgia Encyclopedia, Originally published Sep 20, 2002, Last edited Feb 23, 2022, Human History of the Okefenokee Swamp.

Who was Charles Rinaldo Floyd? Continue reading →

Pictures: Arriving Floyd’s Island, Okefenokee Swamp 2023-11-04

Update 2023-11-19: Floyds Island 1838, Hebard Cabin 1925, Okefenokee Swamp 1925-01-01.

Alligators and pitcher plants on the Suwannee River to Floyds Island, logging railroad, Indian mound, and tents there, and somebody fell over in a chair.

[IG: Collage, SCFSP to Floyds Island, Okefenokee Swamp, 2023-11-04]
IG: Collage, SCFSP to Floyds Island, Okefenokee Swamp, 2023-11-04

People came to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from as far away as Miami, Alabama, South Carolina, Savannah, and Atlanta, as well as from Williston, White Springs, Pearson, Douglas, and Hahira.

Thanks to Shirley Kokidko for organizing, and for Randy Madison for leading when Shirley could not go. Continue reading →