Suwannee River

{{Short description|396 km (246 mi) river in Florida and Georgia, USA}}

{{about|the river in the southern United States|the Stephen Foster song|Old Folks at Home| the Gershwin song|Swanee (song)}}

{{Infobox river

| name = Suwannee

| name_native =

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| name_etymology =

| image = Along the Suwannee - panoramio (1).jpg

| image_caption = The Suwannee River near Lake City, Florida

| map = Suwanneerivermap.png

| map_size = 260

| map_caption = Suwannee River drainage basin

| pushpin_map =

| pushpin_map_size = 260

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| subdivision_type1 = Country

| subdivision_name1 = United States

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| subdivision_name2 = , Georgia (U.S. state), Florida

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| subdivision_type5 = Cities

| subdivision_name5 = Fargo, Georgia, White Springs, Florida, Branford, Florida

| length = {{convert|246|mi|km|abbr=on}}

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| discharge1_location= Gulf of Mexico

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| source1 = Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

| source1_location = Fargo, Georgia

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| mouth = Gulf of Mexico

| mouth_location = Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, Suwannee, Florida

| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|29|17|18|N|83|9|57|W|display=inline,title}}

| mouth_elevation = {{convert|0|ft|abbr=on}}

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| tributaries_left = Santa Fe River

| tributaries_right = Alapaha River, Withlacoochee River

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The Suwannee River (also spelled Suwanee River or Swanee River) is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the Southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about {{convert|246|mi}} long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. [http://viewer.nationalmap.gov/viewer/ The National Map], accessed April 18, 2011 The Suwannee River is the site of the prehistoric Suwanee Straits that separated the Florida peninsula from the Florida panhandle and the rest of the continent. Spelled as "Swanee", it is the namesake of two famous songs: "Way Down Upon the Swanee River" (1851) and "Swanee" (1919).

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 and Withlacoochee River.

The confluences of these three rivers form the southern borderline of Hamilton County, Florida. 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.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SD2Ulc6ei08C&q=brinton+its+present+appellation&pg=PA143|title=Notes on the Floridian Peninsula|last1=Brinton|first1=Daniel|last2=Brinton|first2=Garrison Brinto Daniel Garrison|date=2016-10-10|publisher=Applewood Books|isbn=9781429022637|language=en}} This theory is supported by Jerald Milanich, 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.Milanich:12-13
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 [Shawnee], Suwaney being a corruption of Shawanoese."{{Cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Byron A.|title=The Suwannee – Shawnee Debate |url=https://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/uf%3A32406/datastream/OBJ/view/The_Suwannee_-_Shawnee_Debate_by_Byron_A__Johnson.pdf|journal=Florida Anthropologist|volume=25|issue=2, pt. 1|date=June 1972|page=67}} However, the primary southern Shawnee settlements were along the Savannah River, with only the village of Ephippeck on the Apalachicola River 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.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z3hFAQAAIAAJ&q=sawani&pg=PA23|title=A Migration Legend of the Creek Indians|last=Gatschet|first=Albert Samuel|year=1884|publisher=D.G. Brinton|language=en}} Stephen Boyd's 1885 Indian Local Names with their Interpretation {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGVHAQAAMAAJ&q=sawani+echo&pg=PA46|title=Indian Local Names with their Interpretation|last=Boyd|first=Stephen G.|year=1885|publisher=Published by the author|location=York, PA.|language=en}} 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".{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6pcLAAAAIAAJ|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6pcLAAAAIAAJ/page/n300 294]|quote=sawani cherokee|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|last=Gannett|first=Henry|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|language=en}} 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".{{cite web|url=http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/suwannee/suwannee.htm|title=The Suwannee River, Exploring Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers|year=2002|publisher=College of Education, University of South Florida|access-date=2010-08-18}}

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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA466|title=Native American placenames of the United States|last=Bright|first=William|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-8061-3598-4|pages=466–467|author-link=William Bright}} 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".{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qDkYfyX010C&pg=PA180|title=A Dictionary of Creek/Muskogee|last1=Martin|first1=Jack B.|last2=Mauldin|first2=Margaret McKane|date=2004-12-01|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=0803283024|language=en}}

History

File:Lois Duncan Steinmetz gazing at the Suwannee River (8670981193).jpg in 1949]]

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, 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, who lived on the west side of the river; and the Northern Utina, who lived on the east side.Worth vol. I, pp. 28–29. 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.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gLN7Y7XFFU8C&pg=PA102|title=Timucua|last=Milanich|first=Jerald T.|date=1996-08-14|publisher=VNR AG|isbn=9781557864888|language=en}}

In the 18th century, Seminoles 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 19th century.

="Swanee River"=

The Suwanee (given as "Swanee") is the locale of the protagonist's longed-for home in two famous songs: Steven Foster's 1851 "Old Folks at Home", which is commonly called by its first line ("Way down upon the Swanee River") or just "Swanee River",{{cite web |url=https://dos.fl.gov/florida-facts/florida-state-symbols/state-song/ |title=State Song |publisher=Florida Department of State |accessdate=September 30, 2024}} and George Gershwin's 1919 song "Swanee" (partly inspired by Foster's song){{cite web |url=https://americansongwriter.com/the-guy-who-wrote-swanee-with-gershwin/ |title=Legends of Songwriting: Irving Caesar, the Guy who wrote “Swanee” with Gershwin |author=Paul Zollo |date=August 2, 2021 |work=American Songwriter |accessdate=September 30, 2024}} made a #1 hit by Al Jolson.{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Swanee.pdf |title=Swanee -- Al Jolson (1920) |author=Cary O’Dell |date= |publisher=Library of Congress |accessdate=September 30, 2024}}

The river thus being internationally famous much beyond other rivers of its size and importance, the Suwanee is presumably the referent in the idiom "go down the swanny" (a variation of "go down the river"), meaning "finished, used up, gone to hell".{{cite web |url=https://greensdictofslang.com/entry/ax5zery |title=river n. |work=Green's Dictionary of Slang |accessdate=September 30, 2024}}

"Swanee whistle", another name for slide whistle, is also probably based on "swanee" as a variant spelling of "Suwanee".{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/swang-and-bang#google_vignette |title=Definition of 'Swanee' |author= |date= |work=Collins English Dictionary |accessdate=September 30, 2024}}

Ecology and biota

The Suwannee River is a diverse and rich ecological space, hosting varied aquatic and wetland habitats. It is home to a large number of temperate and subtropical species, including unique and endangered ones.{{cite web |url=http://news.ufl.edu/2014/04/10/alligator-snapping-turtles/ |title=Study shows 'dinosaurs of the turtle world' at risk in Southeast rivers |author=Stephenie Livingston |date=April 10, 2014 |website=University of Florida News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413132322/http://news.ufl.edu/2014/04/10/alligator-snapping-turtles/ |archive-date=April 13, 2014 }} The Suwannee alligator snapping turtle, described scientifically only in 2014,{{cite web |url=http://phys.org/news/2014-04-alligator-snapping-turtle-dinosaur-world.html |title=Research splits alligator snapping turtle, 'dinosaur of the turtle world,' into three species |author=Joshua E. Brown |date=April 24, 2014 |website=Phys.org }} is endemic to the Suwannee river basin.

Recreation

File:Thelma Boltin and the Bryant children fishing along the Suwannee River (7979258047).jpg

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."{{cite web |author= |title=Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge: About the Refuge |url=https://fws.gov/refuge/lower-suwannee|access-date=11 November 2022|url-status=live|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930141456/https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Lower_Suwannee/about.html |archive-date=September 30, 2018}}

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 to the Gulf of Mexico.{{cite news |author=Robin Draper |title=Authentic Florida: 6 essentials of the Suwannee River |url=https://www.floridatoday.com/story/life/style/2016/04/27/essentials-suwannee-river/83598376/ |url-status=live|work=Florida Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430150758/http://www.floridatoday.com/story/life/style/2016/04/27/essentials-suwannee-river/83598376/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin= |archive-date=April 30, 2016 |language=en}}

The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge offers bird and wildlife observation,{{cite book|title=The American Bird Conservancy Guide to the 500 Most Important Bird Areas in the: Key Sites for Birds and Birding in All 50 States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4f-3r0DRueQC&pg=PT415|date=13 April 2011|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-48138-2|page=415}} wildlife photography, fishing, canoeing, hunting, and interpretive walks.{{cite book|title=Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvwDfkGYVFoC&pg=PP9|year=2003|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|page=9}} Facilities include foot trails, boardwalks, paddling trails, wildlife drives, archaeological sites, observation decks and fishing piers.

Crossings

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=Georgia=

| Suwannee River Sill

| Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

| {{coord|30.803778|N|82.417672|W|scale:500}}

| Norfolk Southern Railway
(Former Atlantic, Valdosta and Western Railway line)

| Fargo

| {{coord|30.683964|N|82.559503|W|scale:500}}

| {{Jct|state=GA|US|441|SR|89|SR|94}}

| Edith to Fargo

| 1952

| {{coord|30.680902|N|82.559930|W|scale:500}}

!colspan=8|

=Florida=

| Turner Bridge (defunct)

| Northeast 38th Trail

| Cypress Creek Conservation Area

| late 1950s

| {{coord|30.524596|N|82.727892|W|scale:500}}

Suwannee River

Geography

Etymology

History

="Swanee River"=

Ecology and biota

Recreation

Crossings

=Georgia=

=Florida=

See also

Notes

References

External links

Further reading