The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River) is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
that runs through south
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
southward into
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
in the southern
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 ...
. It is a wild
blackwater river
A blackwater river is a type of river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. As vegetation decays, tannins leach into the water, making a transparent, acidic water that is darkly stained, resembling black te ...
, 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
The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee ...
in the town of Fargo, Georgia. The river runs southwestward into the Florida Panhandle, then drops in elevation through
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
layers into a rare Florida
whitewater
Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
rapid. Past the rapid, the Suwanee turns west near the town of
White Springs, Florida
White Springs is a town in Hamilton County, Florida, Hamilton County, Florida, United States, on the Suwannee River. The population was 777 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, down from 819 at the 2000 census. Home of the annual Florid ...
, 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
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The var ...
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 ...
, 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
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
: ''Shaawanwaki;''
Muscogee
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlandshawnee 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
The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...
website states that the "Timucuan Indian word Suwani means Echo River ... River of Reeds, Deep Water, or Crooked Black Water". In 2004,
William Bright
William O. Bright (August 13, 1928 – October 15, 2006) was an American linguist and toponymist who specialized in Native American and South Asian languages and descriptive linguistics.
Biography
Bright earned a bachelor's degree in linguist ...
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
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 di ...
, 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
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 ...
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
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
, 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
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 Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
.
The
Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge
The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge (LSNWR) is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System. It is located in southeastern Dixie and northwestern Levy counties on the western coast of Florida, approximately fifty miles southwe ...
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
See also
*
List of Florida rivers
This is a list of streams and rivers in the U.S. state of Florida. With one exception, the streams and rivers of Florida all originate on the Coastal plain. That exception is the Apalachicola River, which is formed by the merger of the Chattahooch ...
South Atlantic-Gulf Water Resource Region
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
Notes
References
*Milanich, Jerald T. (2006). ''Laboring in the Fields of the Lord: Spanish Missions and Southeastern Indians.'' University Press of Florida.
*
*