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''Ol' Folks At Home''
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Fargo, Georgia
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Suwannee, Florida
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United States
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266 Miles (426 Kilometers)
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The (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.
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 River s, 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 .
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.
At the time of the
Spanish exploration of the area in the
1530s , the river banks were inhabited by the
Timucua n people, who named it , meaning "Echo River". In the
18th Century ,
Seminole s 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 .
This river is the subject of the
Stephen Foster song "
Old Folks At Home ", in which he calls it the . 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.
