Ghost town in the woods: Kerr City

The Fort Gates Ferry ferry landed us near Salt Springs, another place I had not been since I was a kid, but that was not our destination. Instead we stopped at a ghost town known as Kerr City. Now private property, Phil knew the owner from a previous tour and was familiar with the site. No trespassing signs are prevalent throughout the small hamlet in an effort to discourage visitors and prevent vandalism.

An overgrown dirt road takes you to a collection of wooden houses and what is said to be the state's oldest gas station. Kerr City, a former stagecoach stop, was platted in 1884 at the site of a former Civil War cotton plantation. The town was a prosperous citrus farming community with a population of 100, until the legendary freezes of 1894 and 1895. Today the entire town is owned by the great grandson of its founder, 14 buildings in all. On the National Register of Historic Places, some of the buildings are well cared while others look to be slowly melting back into the soil.

According to wikipedia, the Kerr House Hotel was built by Junis Terry, a well-to-do doctor from Illinois. Opened in 1885, the hotel burned to the ground in 1907.
Image from the State Archives of Florida. 

The post office was in operation from 1884 to 1942 (wikipedia). Photo by Ebyabe.

View of the site of the new town, 1885 from the State Archives of Florida

Here's view from 1886 of the Robert B. Henley home from the State Archives of Florida

Here's a great view from 1884 of a double pen Florida Cracker cabin. The open area in the center is known as the dogtrot. State Archives of Florida.

Kerr's City's founder, George Smiley, continued to live in the Marion County Community after the disastrous freezes at the end of the 19th century, and by 1955 the entire town was in the possession of his son Alfred. Today Alfred's aging grandson Arthur is heir to the town and he does his best to keep it intact. On our visit we ran into neighbors who acted as volunteer caretakers, doing their best to keep the forest from finishing off the remnants of Kerr City.

Dating back to 1925, this may be the oldest gas station in Florida

Paddling through Florida's newest state park: Silver Springs

When I heard that one of the results of Silver Springs conversion from privately operated attraction to publicly operated state park was a new kayak trail, I couldn't wait to try it out. The route, formerly closed off for the jungleboat cruise, is now open for canoes and kayaks.  You can launch your own kayak for $4, or rent one for $20 for 2 hours. They also have 3-person canoes for rent. Electing for convenience over economy, I left my kayak at home and was glad because the folks running the kayak operation were helpful and considerate.

Here's the launch site for the new paddling trail, it's near the south end

of the Silver Springs parking lot.

The trail does a loop that is less than 1.5 miles long and takes 

between 1 and 2 hours to complete.

The water has good visibility but you may not always like what
you see, in this case rampant algae.

Many of the sets from the jungle cruise still remain;
this appears to be an Indian village.

There are some wonderful trees along the trail, this live oak
dwarfs the re-created fort.

Birdwatchers will enjoy this paddle quite a bit. I followed this Little Blue Heron all the way down the run. I saw four alligators, but none of them was very large.

Like on my previous canoe trip up the Silver River,
I saw a good number of fish like this gar.

I also saw some decent sized bass.

I think the water clarity in the Silver River was better
than on my previous visit in May of 2012.

The conditions were far from pristine, however, and I saw ample evidence of compromised water quality.

The glass bottom boats have been restored and rides
are offered for an additional charge.

The great thing about paddling up to the springs is that you can spend as much time over the springhead as you like, at least until the next glass bottom boat comes.

The iconic Horseshoe Palm seems to be thriving.

I sat over the spring basin for some time once the tour moved on. Sadly there is no longer a surface boil or any noticeable current at all from these first magnitude springs.

At the left are the statues from past 
film production at the spring.

The spring basin is still one of the most stunning natural wonders in Florida.

Healthy looking eel grass in the spring basin.

Overall I had a fabulous morning at our newest state park and would recommend it to anyone who is a lover of the Florida landscape. The old attraction part of the park is still very much a work in progress and I am hopeful that it will soon be a vibrant, vital enterprise for Marion County. It is also my hope that the water quality can be improved and the spring will be restored to it's earlier grandeur. It is one of the Florida's brightest gems and to continue to let it lose its luster would be sacrilegious.

Quick stop in tiny Citra

Like Orange City, Citra is a small town with an old US highway going through it, (US 301), that was centered around the growing of citrus. The town's most distinctive feature today is the wonderful Citrus Shop, which has been in business since 1936. My stop last weekend fell during the citrus off season, so I could only take photos of the building and the signs and plan a return trip later in the Fall.




The freeze of 1894 forced many 19th century citrus growers further south.
Image from the State Archives of Florida.

This wonderful Baptist church was built in 1893.


This former bank appears to be in the midst of restoration.

What I enjoy about little towns like Orange City and Citra is that they have in large part escaped the out-of-control growth and bland homogenization that plagues the rest of Florida. There are contemporary structures, but here and there are wonderful historic structures without fanfare or celebration. And the landscape outside of town, especially around Citra, is pure Old Florida. It has a rural feeling with wonderful moss draped live oaks and large palmetto stands instead of strip malls and convenience stores.