page_title: Suwannee River
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Suwannee River / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Local call number: JJS0379 Title: Lois Duncan Steinmetz gazing at the Suwannee River Date: 1949 Physical descrip: 1 transparency - col. - 5 x 4 in. Series Title: http://floridamemory.com/photographiccollection/collections/?id=49 Repository: http://www.floridamemory.com/, 500 S. Bronough St., Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 USA. Contact: 850.245.6700. Archives@dos.myflorida.com Persistent URL: http://floridamemory.com/items/show/245397
context_page_description: The Suwannee River is a river that runs through south Georgia southward into Florida in the southern United States. It is a wild blackwater river, about 246 miles long. The Suwannee River is the site of the prehistoric Suwanee Straits which separated peninsular Florida from the panhandle.
context_section_description: 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. 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 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.
caption: The Suwannee River seen near Fanning Springs in 1949
exif: {}