City of Hawkinsville

 The City of Hawkinsville was a paddle steamer, built around 1886, and scuttled in the Suwannee River between 1922-1924. The vessel was reported to be 140 feet long by 30 feet wide. The City of Hawkinsville plied the route between Cedar Key and Branford Florida, with stops at various embankments, mills, and landings.

The general consensus is that the City of Hawkinsville was abandoned due to the rise of the railroads, and the loss of it's usefulness. The brochure (linked below has this to say): "Although accounts of her last days vary, official registry records indicate that she was in service until May 19, 1922". That date is about 6 months before the effort to build a passenger bridge (between Fanning Springs and Old Town) was launched, and about 16 months before the dedication of the "Three Counties Bridge".

The "Three Counties Bridge" was constructed using components donated by the Cummer Cypress Company's bridge at Fowlers Bluff (which they no longer needed, and likely wanted it to go away). The bridge at Fowlers Bluff (all the timbers and the steel swing span section) had to be moved about 17-18 miles to the new location. The obvious method would have been via the river, as roads in 1922 were poor. 

A present day river nautical chart suggests that "MINIMUM VERT CL 5 FT.". None of the three concrete bridge spans have such a small vertical clearance. The Wilcox railroad trestle, other than during periods of extreme flood, is listed as minimum vertical clearance of 5-15 feet, depending on river levels. The one existing picture of the Three Counties Bridge suggests it may have a least clearance of 5-feet. Current USGS documents say the two concrete spans have vertical clearances of 15-30 feet, depending on river levels.

 Since the US Coast Guard took over navigation rulemaking on the Suwannee River, the old railroad trestle (last owned by CSX, now under the control of Florida DEP) had a requirement to be opened on 5-days notice. As there were no requests for opening since 1981, that was amended in 1999 "to be restored to operable condition based on notice from the district commander, within 6 months". This bridge is not on the FDOT bridge list, so presumably someone else is periodically inspecting it. It has now, as of 2025, been 44 years since the last request to open the span.

 Vertical bridge clearances, especially during times of river high water levels, may have trapped the City of Hawkinsville between the two spans. Prior to 1923, it could have made it south to Cedar Key and north to Wilcox (or beyond if the river was low enough). The only impediment was the swing span of the Cummer Cypress bridge at Fowlers Bluff. My own personal view, is that as of 1920-1921 (with the advent of the motor vehicle and the number of them increasing, the owner of the City of Hawkinsville saw the writing on the wall. It's days were numbered. The need to move various sections of the Fowlers Bluff bridge could have been the final use of the City of Hawkinsville. The bridge timbers could have been moved like most other timber products, but the (believed to be 90-100 foot long) swing span, is more likely to have required a barge, and to be towed up the river. There is no documentation to back this up, but it seems a likely story to what happened. That the boiler is missing from the abandoned hull, may also tie in, if the boiler was needed to operate the swing span on the Three Counties Bridge.

 Anyone with more information about this subject, please contact me via the comments.

Wikipedia - City of Hawkinsville (shipwreck) 

Florida Museums of the Sea brochure This document contains a history of navigation on the Suwannee River.

Image 1 at Florida Memory 

Image 2 at Florida Memory 

Image 3 at Florida Memory 

 Image 4 at Florida Memory

Image 5 at Florida Memory 

USCG river navigation information 

 CFR concerning opening of the span at mile 35

 

 

Bridges across the lower Suwannee River

 This is a subject that has interested me for years. In the early days, passage across the river was by canoe, or if you were lucky, during periods of low water, on horseback. Then came the river steamers and the ferries. River steamers operated out of places like Tampa and Cedar Key. The Suwannee River was navigable up to Branford, and possibly to New Troy. Beyond that, river conditions did not permit ships to travel, except during very heavy flooding (where there was sufficient draft). During flooding, the current flowing downstream would have made this a difficult proposition.

 Then came the bridges. Over the years (beginning from 1900) and only considering the river below Branford, there have been seven bridges. Two of them were in fact the same bridge, which was relocated. The list of bridges are:

 ACL railroad trestle - Built about 1906/1907 at Wilcox (a mile north of Fanning Springs). This bridge contains a box-girder steel segment on the east end, and a steel swing span on the west end. It is still standing in 2025, although the swing span no longer operates.

W. W. Cummer Sons railroad trestle - Built about 1915 at Fowlers Bluff. This bridge connecting the Cummer Cypress rail line, which ran from the mill at Sumner, and along the east bank of Suwannee, with a built-for-purpose line on the west bank of the Suwannee. That line ran south, allowing Cummer to extract cypress trees along the west bank and likely from an area in Township 13S. Bridge removed in 1923. Permission to construct this bridge required approval by the US Congress, and likely required being manned 24 hours/day and lit at night.

The Three Counties Bridge - Built at Fanning Springs during 1923. This bridge is actually the Cummer railroad trestle plus various wood work, but with the rails removed. The width of the swing span would only allow one car in each direction at a time. So there had to be some method of controlling traffic flow. Because of the swing span and low clearance beneath it, this bridge probably had to be manned at all times and lit at night.

 The "Benjamin Chaires Bridge" - Built at Fanning Springs, by the State of Florida, in 1935. This bridge was stationary and high enough for boat traffic to pass below it. Consisting of four box girder segments, each likely to be 100-ft long. Bridge supported one lane of traffic in each direction simultaneously. This bridge replaced the Three Counties Bridge.

 First concrete span at Fanning Springs - Built about 1963 by the State of Florida, just north of the Benjamin Chaires Bridge, and parallel to it. (NB US-19) The two spans allowed two lanes in each direction. As of 2009, FDOT lists this span as FO (Functionally Obsolete) so I expect it will be replaced at some point in time. Moving all the traffic to the opposite span (during demolition/replacement) is possible, but not something to be enjoyed.

Concrete span at Rock Bluff - built about 1965. This span replaced the last ferry operating on the lower Suwannee River.

 Second concrete span at Fanning Springs - Built about 1987, and replacing the Benjamin Chaires Bridge, in the south span position. One box girder from the Benjamin Chaires Bridge was preserved in the roadside park next to the bridge. (SB US-19)

Thus we have seven bridges, built across 65 years, of which 4 remaining standing. 

update:

Old Railroad Grade

When looking thru the USGS maps for North Florida (7.5 Minute Series, Topographic), you will commonly see features marked Old Railroad Grade. These are ballast and limerock back-fills that were made to support a temporary railroad line. How temporary depended on how much timber it would haul, and over what length of time. Some may have lasted less than a year, some were used for several decades.

Looking at those same maps, you notice unimproved side roads, that leave the main road via long sweeping curves. These were also old railroad grades. A good example of this is Dixie County 357 (the Shired Island road), as shown on the Cross City SW quadrangle map. There are many unimproved roads, which run off today's main road, that represent old logging railroad grades. Dixie County was a main source of timber to the Putnam Lumber Company mills at Shamrock. Shamrock milled old growth longleaf pine and tidewater cypress (sometimes called bald cypress), from the late 1920s, until the mid 1940s. That timber is all gone, other than possibly a rare tree tucked away somewhere.

A return to blogging

For the past several year, my life has been in transition. Now that a semblance of stability has returned, I hope to be blogging more often.

For the immediate span, I will be posting about the most important topic of our day, the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020, and how it has, and will, affect our lives.

Sykesville, or Sikesville

An 1864 map of North Florida, produced by the United States Coast Survey Office, shows an unknown community called Sykesville, situated somewhere along the east bank of the Suwannee River, north of Fort Fanning. Gilchrist County historian types have never heard of this place.

Some sleuthing at the BLM General Land Office reveals the sale of two 80 acre parcels to a William G Sikes in 1859. Both of these parcels are located ESE of Hart Springs, as we know it now, and situated on the old road between Fort Fanning and Wannee.

Now we know the location of Sykesville/Sikesville, and at least some of that story.

Wannee

Wannee is a small community on the east bank of the Suwannee River. It is located about half way between Fanning Springs and Rock Bluff.

Wannee is one of the earliest known (and documented) settlements on the river. Sun Springs is nearby, and supplied fresh water to indigenous people. I have personally observed chert in the limestone on the bank of the river at Wannee.

Wannee is also a stem word for Suwannee. This is important, although exactly why is unclear,

Why they settled where they did

While working with various maps (both historical and current) one thing that jumps out at me is the importance of terrain. Earliest settlers always went for the most hospitable terrain. Fort Fanning, Wannee and Rock Bluff are 3 examples of places that were high enough to escape flooding, had easy access to the river, and a source of fresh water (the nearby springs). They also picked a spot that allowed for crops to be cultivated nearby.

In later times, transportation became the more important factor. Starting with Indian traces, then rough trails and (what they thought of as) roads, followed by trains, and eventually motorized vehicles. The arrival of electricity, mostly via rural electrification in the 1930s, allowed for settlement of pretty much anywhere that wasn't deep in a swamp. I once had a conversation with a retired Southern Bell lineman who told me about having to use a boat, to service a line on a coastal island.

The earliest settlers (1880-1920) took advantage of the various forms of the Homestead Act. Generally, someone was entitled to homestead a quarter section (~160 acres) provided they lived on it for 5 years, planted some area in trees (to replace old growth that was being harvested) and farmed the remainder. The registration fee (circa 1903) was $18. That same farm land, in 2015 values, would be worth around $500,000 (or more, depending on where it's located).

Thus began the arrival of civilization.