Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
Located within this park is a huge spring which forms the headwater of the Homosassa River, which puts out 6 million gallons of clear water every hour. Manatee are frequently found here.
This was formerly called Nature World, and was renamed when the state took it over in 1989.
From 1932 to 1940, Hunt's Lumber Mill operated here. It provided employment and housing for about one hundred families.
The sugar mill was built here in 1849-51 on the 5,100-acre plantation of David Levy Yulee, the first U.S. senator from Florida. One of the individuals who came here to build it in 1848 was Joseph Hale, who later became a pioneer settler of Brooksville.
The mill helped to supply the Confederate army with sugar during the Civil War. It was built of limestone and the ruins include a nine-foot square chimney and forty-foot-long building which housed the boiler. The county's first citrus trees were likely introduced here in the early 1850s by Joshua Stafford.
A sailing vessel brought the boiler, kettles and steam engine from New York. The mill ceased operation after a Union naval force captured ammunition and supplies at a home on Iathleo (Tiger Tail) Island in the middle of the river, and burned the home and plantation in 1864.
This site was presented by Claude Root to the Citrus County Federation of Woman's Clubs in 1923, deeded to the state in 1953, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 12, 1970.
The first Homosassa mail service began in the 1830s, following an Indian trail (now US 19) from Fort Brooke (Tampa) to the Stage Stand. Official establishment of the U.S. Post Office occurred on July 18, 1873. It was decertified three times and reestablished permanently by mid-1886.
The place was called Hales' Stage Stand because it was the point where stage coach drivers changed their horses and spent the night. This town was at the junction of trails from three blockhouses - Camp Izard on the Homosassa River, Fort Fannin on the Suwannee River, and Horn's Bridge (now Stokes Ferry) on the Withlacoochee River.
A one-room school was built here in 1892. Its teacher was Miss Bardy Garrett.
The first school in the vicinity was constructed on Gordy Island, about two miles down the river. The island, formerly known as South Island, lies in an area still known as School House Bay.
Prior to this being converted to a residence, it was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
This was built in 1882 as the four-bedroom house of John F. Dunn of Ocala, the banker and land agent who is credited with subdividing Homosassa. He worked for the Homosassa Land Company, which bought out the Yulee Plantation holdings. The building was constructed of wood with a porch on three sides of each floor, and several additions have been made to it over the years.
When a freighter carrying lumber was wrecked near here, Dunn hastily built a 12-room addition from the porch and offered his home as an inn. The addition was on stilts and could only be reached from the porch or the river. Visitors included John Jacob Astor and Thomas Edison. Dunn sold the structure to Albert Willard, his sister Helen Willard, and her husband E.B. Richardson. A storm in 1897 brought down the addition.
Mrs. Willard-Richardson and her husband sold the home to J.A. and Mary J. McRae, who used it as their residence until 1933. They then rebuilt the inn and connected it to a similar two-story building. In 1946, another addition increased the rental space to 12 rooms. In the early 1950s, seven more were added. It was later known as the Dry Dock Restaurant, operated by Ma and Pa Griffins.
This clubhouse was built in 1903 for sportsmen from Atlanta who had formed a club in 1899. The two-story wood frame house features Victorian Revival decorative gable ends. It has been altered and added to several times.
This area was popular with sportsmen, including Grover Cleveland prior to his becoming president. In 1880, he built a hunting and fishing lodge of 37 rooms, which was later torn down and replaced by a modern motel.
In about 1900, a two-room frame schoolhouse was built here. By 1926, it was outgrown and replaced by a brick school. It had room for eight teachers and a principal. In 1969, it burned down and was replaced by the present modern structure, accommodating 480 students in grades K-6.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
Back Home: A History of Citrus County, Florida, by Hampton Dunn (Citrus County Historical Society, Inc. 1989)
Citrus County Historical Notes, by Mary Isabel MacRae (The Homosassa Public Library Bicentennial Project 1976)
Florida Historical Markers & Sites, by Floyd E. Boone (Gulf Publishing Company 1988)
Florida Jewish Heritage Trail, by Rachel B. Heimovics and Marcia Zervitz (Florida Department of State 2000)
Florida Off the Beaten Path, by Diana and Bill Gleasner (The Globe Pequot Press 1993)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Nature's Masterpiece at Homosassa, by W. Horace Carter (Atlantic Publishing Company 1981)