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.
This facility was established in 1925 by the State Shellfish Commission. Near here in 1928, a transient camp was established for veterans who were unable to find employment.
The hatchery became part of the Resettlement Administration in 1932, operated by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. In 1939, it came under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. A new station was built in 1960. It and 2,500 acres reverted to the state and was made a game refuge and part of the Extension Service of the University of Florida.
The first aquarium was built in 1929 about 200 yards north of the present one. William Dunson supervised the construction by the CWA.
It was established to house specimens of fish native to this part of Florida. It was closed during World War II and reopened on June 22, 1949. The new aquarium and other related buildings were completed in 1964 under the supervision of Al Wilson.
This free exhibit may be toured by the public.
When the fish hatchery project began, a large pump house and diesel were installed here, pumping water from the river to the fish ponds. A grading station was located at the present site of the U.S. Fisheries office.
R.J. Broad built two houses on this corner. Clarence Greenwood used one for a store and the other for a post office. Broad sold them to Mr. Metz. He combined the two to form the Welaka Hotel, which opened on December 10, 1908. It was renamed in 1921 as the Sunnyside Hotel. The hotel contained the post office beginning in 1949.
Postmaster L.J. McLeod in 1911 moved the post office to a store located on this corner. He sold the store to John Dallow, and later it was acquired by Tom O'Connor. In 1924, the post office was moved to the ice cream parlor across the street, which burned down in 1927.
William Williams owned a grocery store here which was run by his son-in-law, Emory Green. The building was later converted to a casino.
Mineral water was discovered on the casino grounds, and the Welaka Mineral Water Company incorporated on November 15, 1907. It was leased to James A. Wilson, and under his supervision mineral baths were given by attendants with water supplied by a spring 392 feet below the surface. The company had its own electric light plant in the cellar and the bath water was heated by steam.
The baths were supposed to leave one deliciously refreshed with a longing for another dip in the invigorating saline water. The town installed two pumps to provide water for drinking and bathing. In 1908, the company's president was Dr. A.D. Williams.
The casino was later converted into the town hall.
In 1885, Franklin Edwin Reeder came to Welaka and started a drug store with Dr. George Welch of Kentucky. He became the proprietor of the Welaka Pharmacy, having a large line of drugs and sundries. W.T. Walker came here from Jacksonville in 1906 to manage the pharmacy, but he soon returned to Jacksonville.
Reeder planted Bermuda onions as an experiment in 1906, and did well enough to produce a crop for market. In about 1907, he also operated a hardware store and was in the real estate business. He served as the first town clerk, its mayor and was its postmaster for 14 years.
The pharmacy, post office and hardware store were in a large double frame store building at this intersection.
The early post office was moved across the street to this location into the building of Duff McLeod and John Dallow and his sons, Justus and Edwin.
E. Gilchrist and J.H. Reynolds had a general store on this corner in the 1880s. They were two of the early settlers here, arriving by 1875. In 1886, the only other store was owned by J.S. North.
In addition to operating a grocery store together with his brother Duff, Loddie McLeod served as the postmaster from 1911 to 1945 and owned the McLeod Fish Company here on the river. He opened a fish camp in 1906.
A wharf located here, plus the tract to the northeast, was owned by Henry Herbert Bryant, Sr. He and wife, Mary Jane Stephens, homesteaded land in the 1870s with a log house called "Rebel's Retreat", then moved here and built a one and one-half story home, planted an orange grove, and built the wharf. It was a stop for the Clyde Line and Hart Line boats as they traveled the St. Johns and Oklawaha Rivers.
Solon Carroll sold this block to John Dallow and his wife, Catherine Jennie North, in May of 1907. Dallow retired here from the operation of a ferry business in Palatka and started a fruit nursery business.
In additon to his other interests, Mr. Dallow was the construction superintendent of the casino in 1908. In the 1920s, the house was owned by the Craig family from New Jersey.
The first hotel in Welaka was the McClure House, located here and owned by David and Mae McClure. The post office was moved into it in 1942.
Coleman Glass and his wife, Mary Lou, moved here from Blountstown in 1924. He first worked in the Douglas Grocery Store, then operated a filling station on this corner. Later, this was the site of the Fauntleroy store.
In the mid-19th century, Welaka had a population of about 100, with large orange groves and cotton plantations. Wild animals roamed freely. Henry H. Bryant was on a roof at this corner, helping to shingle a building. Hearing a noise, he looked down and saw a bear attack a wild hog.
Myron and Jean Warr had a restaurant and filling station at this corner before they moved to the river and opened a boat-building business.
This block was inherited by Dr. Winston Stephens, including the Stephens house and a small slave house. Dr. D.C. Main, the only physician in town in 1910, bought the property and had Dr. William R. Spratlin, allegedly a drug addict, live in the small house.
In 1918, this building was erected as a one-room concrete school for eight grades. The W.P.A. later added on two more rooms, modifying the first room to be an auditorium. It reduced to six grades during World War II, with grades seven and eight going to school in Crescent City.
This replaced a small frame schoolhouse erected at the corner of Orange and Canal Sts. in 1875, consisting of two classrooms and cloak rooms. On the left side of the building, a cistern caught rainwater from the roof, which was then pumped into the school to a pitcher pump and sink. That school burned down in 1918.
This school closed in the mid-1960s, and thereafter children were bused to Crescent City. This building was converted to the Welaka Town Hall.
Welaka incorporated as a town on June 21, 1887. J.S. North served as the first mayor.
During the Civil War, Union troops headquartered themselves in the Stephens house and burned all of the others in Welaka.
Henry and Mary Jane Bryant had five children, one of whom, Henry Herbert Bryant, Jr., married Sara Harris of Columbia, South Carolina. In 1920, they moved here from Brunswick, Georgia, and lived in the old Louis Stephens house at this location.
Herbert was a salesman for the Fred Cochran Stationery and Book Store in Palatka.
Along Beecher Springs Rd. is a cemetery which was part of Ridgewood, a predominantly black community. One resident was Esther Sinton Mills, a granddaughter of slaves Alec and Laura Lucas. Alec was owned by the Stephens family and took care of their groves. Esther's father, Sinton, taught school in the one-room Ridgewood School.
Ned Gaston had a home near there, on the road to the cemetery. One day, when the Gastons were traveling north, they stopped at a hotel. When the gas was turned on at the hotel, all of the people inside were killed. Youngsters used to meet there for square dances. Plums growing on the land were used for jelly and jam in the 1930s.
The springs, formerly known as Sulphur Springs, became known as Beecher Springs because Henry Ward Beecher and Harriett Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, owned the nearby land. South of Welaka, a point of land sticking out into the St. Johns River is known as Beecher Point. The springs can be reached by a short nature trail leading from the Fish Hatchery.
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce McLeod moved from a house at the corner of Palmetto St. and 5th Ave., just north of the school, to this corner. Bruce logged along the Oklawaha River and sold logs to the Wilson Cypress Company.
Their sons, Duff and Loddie, ran a grocery store. It was located south of the Reeder Pharmacy on Front St., then at the corner of Front and Elm Sts., and then in 1935 it was moved to the corner of Elm St. and 3rd Ave.
Capt. L.A. "Curd" Morris was the first man in Welaka to catch catfish and ship them to a commercial market, and was known as the "Catfish King". He and his wife, Emma Glisson, lived here. Later owners include the Dishmans.
The first Methodist church in Welaka was known as the Southern Methodist Church, located on this corner. Brother Lowder served as the first pastor. A new belfry was completed in May of 1907, and the largest bell in town was installed in it.
After the building ceased to be used as a church, it was used as a school. In 1931-33, it served the primary grades.
Located here was a jail built from fat pine boards. Its water was provided by neighbor Earl Morris. It burned down in 1934, killing two men who had been jailed for being drunk and disorderly.
This cemetery contains several graves of Welaka residents who died during the 19th century, including:
Selah North (1889)
Maurice B. Kirby (1889)
Mary Stearns Whipple (1875)
Kitty Kirby (1881)
Mrs. J.S. North (1893)
Ellen L. Perry (1896)
and the oldest grave is likely that of Nancy F. Smart, who died on January 16, 1855.
This street is named after James W. Bryant who, on July 6, 1853, purchased from Miguel Crosby 500 acres on this side of the St. Johns River and 2,000 acres on the west side. The land on this side became the town of Welaka. Welaka comes from a combination of Indian words meaning "tide", "river of lakes", or "intermittent springs".
Bryant served as the postmaster from 1855 to 1858, and was a state legislator in 1856.
A large amount of property in the area was owned by Henry H. Bryant, who deeded it to his grandson, Henry Yates Reeder. He lived in the Reeder house at the corner of Walnut St. and 4th Ave. with his wife, Mati Belle Powell of Camilia, Georgia, from 1927 to 1935. After living for a time in Miami and then Daytona Beach, they moved to a home on Broad St. and then in 1969 built a home on Fox Pond.
The pond was named because of an incident involving Henry H. Bryant. He was part of a hunting party of four who were near the pond one night, when the dogs treed two foxes. With fires, they tried to make them jump into a sack, but both jumped and escaped. One of the boys was badly burned, and since then it has been known as Fox Pond.
In 1926-27, the Colonial Inn was built and operated by the White twins for elderly guests. It was used by the Blue Ridge Military School of Hendersonville, North Carolina, as its winter home during the early 1940s.
H.C. Richards and W.S. Middleton, Jr. sold it to Forrester Woods of Jacksonville. He converted it to the fishing lodge known as the Sportsman's Lodge in about 1947.
Just to the north of the lodge was the Tall Tale House, built by Woods. It burned down in about 1973.
During the mid-1920s, farmers came here from Georgia, which was hard-hit by boll weevils. They lived here in lean-to palmetto huts. The site later became the home of Anderson's Lodge.
The first Welaka post office was created on May 27, 1851, with Lewis H. Bryant as the first postmaster. The present post office building was built in 1969 while Margaret Doughty was the postmaster.
The first service of this church was conducted by Rev. Williams in the school building in 1878. Other early services were held in homes or under the oak trees. Mr. Reed of Jacksonville donated land for the construction of a church building, which hosted its first service on December 26, 1880, and which was consecrated on June 3, 1881.
On June 29, 1885, Octavia Stephens donated the bell in the tower in memory of her daughter. The lectern was donated in memory of Justus Selah North's wife, Nancy Ripson.
It was built of horizontal heart pine board siding. Inside walls are formed by a herringbone pattern of two-inch tongue-and-groove boards. The church was closed for lack of support, and reopened in 1889 while Rev. E.C. Belcher was its pastor. The social hall is named after Rev. John McTammany, who served the Crescent City church.
This was the site of Broad's Hall, which Pat O'Connor turned into a boarding house. Later, it was the home of the Wendell family. The Methodist Church trustees bought it in September of 1957, and demolished it to make room for this parking lot.
This church was organized at a meeting in Broad's Hall on September 14, 1879. It was known as the Northern Methodist Church, part of the Welaka Methodist Episcopal circuit. It operated a Union Sunday school, renamed in 1882 or 1883 as the Undenominational Sunday School.
R.J. Broad donated this site for the church in 1885 and the building was dedicated on May 5, 1889, by Bishop Newman. A two-story hall next door was bought in 1906 and used as a parsonage.
In 1957, adjoining land to the northeast was bought from Hugo and Dorothy Wendel, and that same year the church affiliated with the Georgetown church, sharing a pastor with it.
From 1909 to 1916, this was the home of Dr. George E. Welch of Kentucky. After serving in World War I, he moved elsewhere and did not return to Welaka until 1928. He then practiced medicine here and moved to Palatka.
In back of this house, Dr. Main built a garage and in it he constructed a boat. He used it to commute to his patients at Norwalk on the other side of the river. In 1911, Main owned the first car in Welaka, a new Model T Ford brought here by boat.
History of Welaka 1853-1935, by Mati Belle Reeder (1976)
The River Flows North: A History of Putnam County, by Brian E. Michaels (Taylor Publishing Company 1986)
Welaka at the Turn of the Century, by Nancy Cooley Alvers (Welaka, Inc. 1987)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.