Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is located near

Homosassa Springs, Florida Homosassa Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 13,791 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Homosassa Springs is the principal city of the ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The park is one of the notable locations in the state to view

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...

s. Visitors can get close to the animals on a floating observatory.

Black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

American alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the g ...

s, and river otters can also been seen in the park. The park is also home to the

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

Lu, famously known for his performances in many movies for the past 40 years. The park is officially named Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park in honor of Elmyra Felburn Schiller (1943 – 2009), a benefactor of the Florida state park system.

History

Native Americans lived in the area of Homosassa Springs, Florida, long before the first non

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

people entered the area. Within 200 years of encounter, the original inhabitants of the area were decimated by disease and colonial warfare. Soon after that, the area was resettled by several groups of Native Americans displaced from other areas, including the

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and ...

and

Miccosukee The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. They were part of the Seminole nation until the mid-20th century, when they organized as an independent tribe, receiving fed ...

. The springs are a historical attraction with documented accounts of tourism since the early 1900s.Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State park : History
Florida Department of Environmental Protection. 2021. Accessed November 2, 2021. At that time, a railroad running along what is now Fishbowl Drive would let passengers off to walk a short trail to the spring. In the 1920s, the attraction was expanded to several structures that no longer exist, and a public swimming area was located at the spring. The 1940s led to more expansion, along with the construction of the first underwater observatory, which consisted of an iron tank with small windows on each side. The original property was purchased in 1964 by the Norris Development Company, with an additional surrounding property, and entertainment facilities and animal exhibits were added. Many of the animals kept here were trained for TV and film from Ivan Tors Animal Actors, including Buck, a bear that was a stand-in on the 1960s television show ''

Gentle Ben Gentle Ben is a bear character created by author Walt Morey and first introduced in a 1965 children's novel, ''Gentle Ben''. The original novel told the story of the friendship between a large male bear named Ben and a boy named Mark. The story pr ...

'', and Lu, the oldest hippopotamus in North America. Lu is the only animal in the park not native to Florida, he was born at the

San Diego Zoo The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a p ...

on January 26, 1960, and appeared in the TV shows ''

Daktari ''Daktari'' ( Swahili for "doctor") is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veter ...

'' and ''

Cowboy in Africa ''Cowboy in Africa'' is an ABC television series produced in 1967–1968 by Ivan Tors and starring Chuck Connors. A 1966 television pilot turned into a movie and released to cinemas starring Hugh O'Brian as Jim Sinclair was called '' Africa Tex ...

''. He has lived in the park since 1964, and was declared an honorary citizen of Florida by Governor

Lawton Chiles Lawton Mainor Chiles Jr. (April 3, 1930 – December 12, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 41st governor of Florida from 1991 until his death in 1998. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United State ...

in the 1990s. From 1978 until 1984, the land had several owners, until the Citrus County Commission purchased it as an environmentally sensitive area until the state of Florida could purchase the property as a Florida State Park.

Gallery

File:Homosassa Springs State Park01.jpg File:Homosassa Springs State Park02.jpg File:Homosassa Springs State Park03.jpg File:Homosassa Springs State Park04.jpg

References

External links

Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
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Florida State Parks
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Absolutely Florida
{{authority control 1964 establishments in Florida Bodies of water of Citrus County, Florida Nature centers in Florida Parks in Citrus County, Florida Protected areas established in 1964 Springs of Florida State parks of Florida Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centers Zoos in Florida

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links