The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 18, 2011 The Suwannee River is the site of the prehistoric Suwanee Straits that separated the

panhandle A salient (also known as a panhandle or bootheel) is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on ...

from the continent.

Geography

The headwaters of the Suwannee River are in the Okefenokee Swamp in the town of Fargo, Georgia. The river runs southwestward into the Florida Panhandle, then drops in elevation through limestone layers into a rare Florida whitewater rapid. Past the rapid, the Suwanee turns west near the town of White Springs, Florida, then connects to the confluences of the

Alapaha River The Alapaha River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 river in southern Georgia and northern Florida in the United States. It is a tributary of the S ...

and Withlacoochee River. The confluences of these three rivers form the southern borderline of

Hamilton County, Florida Hamilton County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,004, down from 14,799 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Jasper. History Hamilton County was crea ...

. The Suwanee then bends southward near the town of Ellaville, followed by Luraville, then joins together with the Santa Fe River from the east, south of the town of Branford. The river ends and drains into the Gulf of Mexico on the outskirts of Suwannee.

Etymology

The Spanish recorded the native Timucua name of ''Guacara'' for the river that would later become known as the Suwannee''.'' Different etymologies have been suggested for the modern name. * San Juan: D.G. Brinton first suggested in his 1859 ''Notes on the Floridian Peninsula'' that Suwannee was a corruption of the Spanish San Juan. This theory is supported by

Jerald Milanich Jerald T. Milanich is an American anthropologist and archaeologist, specializing in Native American culture in Florida. He is Curator Emeritus of Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville; A ...

, who states that "Suwannee" developed through "San Juan-ee" from the 17th century Spanish mission of San Juan de Guacara, located on the Suwannee River. * Shawnee: The migrations of the Shawnee ( Shawnee: ''Shaawanwaki;'' Muscogee: ''Sawanoke)'' throughout the South have also been connected to the name Suwannee. As early as 1820, the Indian agent John Johnson said "the 'Suwaney' river was doubtless named after the Shawanoese hawnee Suwaney being a corruption of Shawanoese." However, the primary southern Shawnee settlements were along the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

, with only the village of Ephippeck on the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...

being securely identified in Florida, casting doubt on this etymology. * "Echo": In 1884, Albert S. Gatschet claimed that Suwannee derives from the Creek word ''sawani,'' meaning "echo", rejecting the earlier Shawnee theory. Stephen Boyd's 1885 ''Indian Local Names with Their Interpretation'' and Henry Gannett's 1905 work ''The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States'' repeat this interpretation'','' calling ''sawani'' an "Indian word" for "echo river". Gatschet's etymology also survives in more recent publications, often mistaking the language of translation. For example, a University of South Florida website states that the "Timucuan Indian word Suwani means Echo River ... River of Reeds, Deep Water, or Crooked Black Water". In 2004, William Bright repeats it again, now attributing the name "Suwanee" to a Cherokee village of ''Sawani'', which is unlikely as the Cherokee never lived in Florida or south Georgia. This etymology is now considered doubtful: 2004's ''A Dictionary of Creek Muscogee'' does not include the river as a place-name derived from Muscogee, and also lacks entries for "echo" and for words such as ''svwane, sawane,'' or ''svwvne'', which would correspond to the anglicization "Suwannee"''.''

History

Lois Duncan Steinmetz gazing at the Suwannee River (8670981193)

The Suwannee River area has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years. During the first millennium it was inhabited by the people of the

Weedon Island culture The Weeden Island Cultures are a group of related archaeological cultures that existed during the Late Woodland period of the North American Southeast. The name for this group of cultures was derived from the Weedon Island site (despite the diss ...

, and around the year 900 a derivative local culture known as the Suwanee River Valley culture developed. By the 16th century, the river was inhabited by two closely related Timuca-speaking peoples: the

Yustaga The Yustaga were a Timucua people of what is now northwestern Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The westernmost Timucua group, they lived between the Aucilla and Suwannee Rivers in the Florida Panhandle, just east of the Apalachee peop ...

, who lived on the west side of the river; and the

Northern Utina The Northern Utina, also known as the Timucua or simply Utina, were a Timucua people of northern Florida. They lived north of the Santa Fe River and east of the Suwannee River, and spoke a dialect of the Timucua language known as "Timucua prope ...

, who lived on the east side. By 1633, the Spanish had established the missions of San Juan de Guacara, San Francisco de Chuaquin, and San Augustin de Urihica along the Suwannee to convert these western Timucua peoples. In the 18th century, Seminoles lived by the river. The

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

''Madison'' operated on the river before the Civil War, and the

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

springs at White Springs became popular as a health resort, with 14 hotels in operation in the late 19th century.

Recreation

Thelma Boltin and the Bryant children fishing along the Suwannee River (7979258047)

According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, "The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge is unlike other refuges in that it was not established for the protection of a specific species, but in order to protect the high water quality of the historic Suwannee River." The Suwannee River Wilderness Trail is "a connected web of Florida State Parks, preserves and wilderness areas" that stretches more than 170 miles (274 kilometers), from

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park is a Florida State Park located in White Springs off U.S. 41, along the Suwannee River in north Florida. Stephen Foster is famous for having written the song "Old Folks At Home," also known as "Way ...

to the Gulf of Mexico. The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge offers bird and wildlife observation, wildlife photography, fishing, canoeing, hunting, and interpretive walks. Facilities include foot trails, boardwalks, paddling trails, wildlife drives, archaeological sites, observation decks and fishing piers.

Crossings

Notes

References

*Milanich, Jerald T. (2006). ''Laboring in the Fields of the Lord: Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians.'' University Press of Florida. * *

External links

USF page with history

Suwannee River Wilderness State Trail

Info on the Suwannee River and surrounding areas from SRWMD

Suwanee River Watershed - Florida DEP
*