Suwannee River

The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a major river of southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about 266 miles long.

Geography

The river rises in the Okefenokee Swamp, emerging at Fargo, Georgia. The river then runs southwest into Florida, dropping in elevation through limestone layers resulting in Florida's only whitewater rapids. It then turns west near White Springs, Florida, receiving the waters of the Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers, which together drain much of south-central Georgia. It then bends south near Ellaville, then southeast near Luraville, receives the Santa Fe River from the east just below Branford, then south again to the Gulf of Mexico near the town of Suwannee.

Suwannee Valley

As the river turns north-northwest near White Springs, Florida, it begins to border the Suwannee Valley and Suwannee County. This continues to form a "C"-shaped curve as it drops southeast, and south again.

History

At the time of the Spanish exploration of the area in the 1530s, the river banks were inhabited by the Timucuan people, who named it Suwani, meaning "Echo River". In the 18th century, Seminoles lived by the river. The steamboat Madison operated on the river before the Civil War, and the sulphur springs at White Springs became popular as a health resort, with 14 hotels in operation in the late 1800s.

Music

This river is the subject of the Stephen Foster song "Old Folks at Home", in which he calls it the Swanee River. Foster had named the Pedee River of South Carolina in his first lyrics, then changed it to Swanee because he thought it sounded better. Foster never saw the river he made world famous. When crossing the river by car today, the sign greeting visitors announces that they are crossing the Historic Suwannee River, complete with the first line of sheet music from the song. "Old Folks at Home" is the state song of Florida. There is a Foster Museum and Carillon Tower in the state park at White Springs. The spring itself is called White Sulphur Springs because of its high sulphur content.

Bridges

US 19/US 98/Alternate US 98 at Fanning Springs, Florida (Joe H. Anderson Sr. Bridge)
CR 340 near Bell, Florida
US 27 at Branford, Florida
FL 51 at Luraville, Florida
CR 250 at Dowling Park, Florida
Interstate 10
US 90 at Ellaville, Florida
CR 249
US 129 at Suwannee Springs, Florida
Interstate 75
US 41 at White Springs, Florida
CR 6
US 441 at Fargo, Georgia

External links

Rivers of Florida | Rivers of Georgia (U.S. state) | Gulf of Mexico