Floridiana Magazine

History. Heritage. Home.

Pioneer Park, Zolfo Springs

Growing up in the country gives you a chance to experience “old Florida” every day.  Backroads replace highways.  Rivers and lakes replace the “concrete pond” and parks become the playground of choice.

One such park sits at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 and State Road 64 in Zolfo Springs in Hardee County – Pioneer Park.  Encompassing more than 115 acres, Pioneer Park offers a little something for everyone – from nature lovers to history buffs.

Peace River through Pioneer Park

The picturesque Peace River meanders 107 miles from just northeast of Bartow at the juncture of Saddle Creek and Peace Creek and to Charlotte Harbor in Port Charlotte.  Along the way it cuts through Hardee County and Pioneer Park, offering opportunities for lazy days of kayaking or canoeing.  Peace River is also a favorite hotspot for fossil hunters – both experienced and novice.

Kayaking on Peace River

Campers can pitch their tents or park their RVs and wake up to beautiful views, not just of the river but also other wildlife. There are two lakes in the park – Rock Lake and Pioneer Lake.  Rock Lake sits just off the river and serves as a favorite fishing spot, not to mention a hangout for a gator or two.

Camping along Rock Lake at Pioneer Park | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Rock Lake residents

Pioneer Lake is near the entertainment area at the park and besides also being a fishing hole, it is home to wildlife whether they are in plain view or hidden along the shore.

Pioneer Lake

Pioneer Lake

Hardee County Wildlife Refuge at Pioneer Park

Pioneer Park is also home to a wildlife refuge.  Located on Animal Way, visitors can walk along the boardwalk and get a glimpse of native wild animals in a natural habitat. Although it has been closed due to damage from Hurricane Irma in September 2017, all but the bear exhibit is now open.

Old Pool House at Pioneer Park

An old pool house once served as the hub of activity at the park, offering up snacks and drinks for those who spent their weekends swimming or just hanging out at the pool.  Built in the 1930s, the pool was part of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and provided decades of fun to the area. It’s safe to say that many children who grew up in Hardee County learned to swim at the pool (myself included). Unfortunately, it was forced to close in the 1970s because of large cracks in the concrete.  The building now serves as a venue for birthdays and other events.  There is little evidence there was ever a pool here.

The site of the old pool

Cracker Trail Museum

For history buffs, the Cracker Trail Museum provides a look at pioneer life in Hardee County through more than 4,000 items, including photographs, farm implements, and household objects.  A separate area showcases a collection of old fossils and bones found along the Peace River. Many artifacts have been donated by local residents.

Pioneer Park Museum | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Pioneer Village

Step outside and into the Pioneer Village, an offshoot of the museum. The village began to take shape after the donation of a cane grinding shed and kettle, just one of several donations from residents of the county.

Another addition to the village was a 1914 wood burning Baldwin Locomotive Engine #3 (also known as the Loping Gopher).  It was donated in 1967 by K.D. Revell, who used it as his crate mill in Wauchula.  Recently repainted, this majestic engine can be seen from Highway 17 and State Road 64.

Train on display at Pioneer Park | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

The C.A. Bryant Blacksmith Shop was moved to the park and reconstructed next to the museum itself.  Clarence Alvin Bryant operated the shop in Bowling Green from 1897 until his death in 1953. The blacksmith shop houses many of the original tools and implements used by the Bryant family.

C.A. Bryant Blacksmith Shop

Old farm implement

One of the hallmarks to the Pioneer Village is the Hart Cabin.  Built in 1879 by William Henry and Mary Jane Hart, the cabin was originally located in the Lemon Grove section of Hardee County.  It is one section of the original house where the Harts raised seven children. The cabin was donated to the park in 1979 by Hart’s great-grandson Wendell Smith. Enclosed cases outside of the cabin provide snapshots of the Hart’s pioneer life.  Visitors to Pioneer Village can also take a look at an old outhouse that sits behind the Hart Cabin, as well as an old shed and the Cracker Trail Post Office.

Hart Cabin | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Outhouse | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Post Office at Pioneer Park | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Pioneer Park Days (Pioneer Festival)

**Note: Pioneer Park Days (Pioneer Festival) has been discontinued.

The biggest event of the year at the park is held the first weekend of March. Pioneer  Pioneer Park Days started as a show for antique tractors and gasoline engines with about 50 people in attendance and soon grew into one of the largest events in the area.  Over the years, not only did the show include tractors and engines, but also antique cars, a flea market, Civil War Re-enactment, and a visit by the Budweiser Clydesdales. Park Days underwent a name change In 2023 to Pioneer Festival.

Newspaper Insert 1990 – Herald Advocate A bandshell was built to provide a larger area for entertainment and a postal station added to the event to provide a special philatelic cancellation stamp for anything mailed out of the park.

Entertainment Bandshell

FM Note:  For more than 50 years, Pioneer Park Days (Pioneer Festival)  provided a fun weekend for Hardee County residents and has attracted thousands of visitors from all over the country.  (I grew up attending Pioneer Park Days with my Dad as coordinator from 1978 – 1992).

George Collins, Coordinator of Pioneer Park Days 1978 – 1992 (My Dad!)

Nostalgia aside, Pioneer Park introduces visitors to the Park’s beauty and everything it has to offer.

Wakulla Springs State Park

Even when exploring isn’t the main goal for a weekend, there is always a desire to find someplace nearby to visit for the day.  I recently traveled to Tallahassee to see my granddaughter perform in her school’s spring program.  The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for the weekend, and we knew our Saturday plans should include someplace outside.  Our final choice:  Wakulla Springs Lodge and State Park, about 16 miles south of Tallahassee, truly a slice of “old Florida.”

What made this excursion more enjoyable was seeing it through the eyes of my grandkids.

Wakulla Springs State Park | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

First, a little about the park.  Wakulla Springs State Park incorporates 6,000 acres and was developed as a wildlife sanctuary by Edward Ball who purchased the property in 1934.  There is a lodge on the property, one of the largest springs in the world, a nature trail, and a river tour that offers an up-close look at the wildlife along the Wakulla River.

Wakulla Lodge | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

The Lodge

The lodge was completed in 1937 and is still operational today.  Walking inside you can’t help but notice its grandeur.  Everything from the grand piano, to the furnishings, to the 10-foot ceilings.

The ceiling at Wakulla Lodge | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Also in the lodge, a bit of its history is on display, including a photograph of some of the original groundskeepers of the park.  It’s funny what kids pick up on, because later in the day when my four-year-old granddaughter was looking through the photos on my phone, she saw that picture and said, “My great-granddaddy is in that picture.”  Her paternal grandmother, along on our trip, says “It was nothing but swamp land, and he and all those men cleared it out and kept the grounds.”

While inside, you don’t want to miss “Old Joe,” an 11-foot 2-inch stuffed alligator. He was once a famous resident along the river, but met with a tragic death in 1966.  Needless to say, he is still a hit – and kids and grandkids are amazed by just how big he was.

Checking out “Old Joe” | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Wakulla Springs was also home to some famous movies.  Tarzan’s Secret Treasure was filmed here in 1941.  Then there was The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1950s) that used Wakulla Springs for most of its underwater scenes.  An FSU student and part-time lifeguard at the springs played the part of the creature in those scenes.  (Both of these movies are talked about more in the River Boat Tour.)

Movie Memorabilia, Wakulla Springs | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

Also, a hit of the lodge, the Soda Fountain which offers some delicious sweet treats and is home to the longest marble counter ever built:  70 feet six inches long.

Soda Fountain at Wakulla Lodge | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

The Springs and Boat Tour

Of course the draw to the park is the spring itself.  Wakulla Springs is one of the largest in the world.  It measures 315 feet in diameter, is almost 185 feet deep, and pumps 250 – 300 million gallons of water a day.  A beach and three-story dive tower are favorites among park visitors.

Dive Tower at Wakulla Springs | Photo by Doris Keeler, Floridiana Magazine

When the water is clear, a glass bottom boat tour can provide beautiful glimpses into the bowl of the spring.  Unfortunately, the boats don’t run as much as they used to and you can no longer see some of the Springs’ treasures:  a mastodon, schools of fish, or Henry-the-Pole-Vaulting Fish.

The River Boat Tour may not offer all of the beauty below the surface, but there is still plenty to see.  A 40-minute leisurely ride around a two-mile loop is a must for visitors.  Our tour guide was friendly, provided answers to questions, and allowed us to drift around points of interest, which included close up views of birds…

alligators…

and amazing views of the river.

Cameras are a must to capture the beauty of this state park.  Binoculars are a good idea, too, even for the youngest of passengers.  As my grandson said, “I can’t see anything without them!”

This is definitely one of those places for the whole family to enjoy.  Plan for a whole day for picnicking, swimming, playing on the playground or visiting inside the lodge.  Just make sure you get your boat tickets early.  They do sell out.

 Floridiana Magazine (FM) Footnote:  Wakulla Springs State Park is on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a National Natural Landmark.  It’s believed that Wakulla means “river of the crying bird” or “strange and mysterious waters.”

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park

“I do not understand how anyone can live without some small place of enchantment to turn to.”                          Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Cross Creek

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Front of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlling house

Two hours away from the hustle and bustle of Orlando city life, lays that “small place of enchantment.”  The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park sits between Orange Lake and Lochloosa Lake in Hawthorne, Florida about 19 miles southeast of Gainesville.  Nestled along Cross Creek, it was the homestead of Rawlings, the Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Yearling and author of many other books depicting cracker life.

A small county road leads into the park.  The unpaved parking lot sits off to the side, where you are directed to place your $3.00 park admission into the provided envelope and insert into a small wooden box.  From there, you are free to wander the grounds of the Rawlings homestead, a 72-acre home site featuring nature trails, citrus trees, a barn, garden, tenant house and the main farmhouse.  Not all of the buildings are the originals, but rather true-to-life replicas.

On the morning of our visit, we were the first ones to arrive and the only ones on the first guided tour of the morning.  A gray bearded park ranger, dressed in denim overalls, a plaid shirt and hat provided a very in-depth history of the grounds.  We began at the barn for an introduction to the history of the park before moving to the house itself.  Stepping inside the old cracker house was like stepping back in time.  Through the arrangement of the furnishings and the tales of the old homestead, it was easy to envision Rawlings living at Cross Creek.  A typewriter, pack of cigarettes, and other personal items sat on a handmade table on the screened-in front porch – a favorite place for Rawlings to sit and work.  If you let your mind wander, you can almost hear the clackety-clack of the old typewriter as she worked on her stories….

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“Who owns Cross Creek? The red-birds, I think, more than I, for they will have their nests even in the face of delinquent mortgages.. It seems to me that the earth may be borrowed, but not bought.  It may be used, but not owned.  It gives itself in response to love and tending, offers its sesonal flowering and fruiting.  But we are tenants and not possessors, lovers, and not masters.  Cross Creek belongs to the wind and the rain, to the sun and the seasons, to the cosmic secrecy of seed, and beyond all, to time…”

 ~from Cross Creek

The guided tour through the house lasted about an hour.  With each new room came new insight into the life of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. If you have read any of her books, it is easy to connect to many of the sights of the homestead. If you haven’t, or if it’s been awhile since you have, pick up The Yearling or Cross Creek, read them, then head on over to the park. Some of the scenes in those books come alive inside the walls of this old house.

There are too many stories to tell about the house and the life of its famous occupant.  It is a piece of history you need to experience for yourself.  There is a $3.00 per person charge at the end, but if you’re a Florida history buff or an avid reader, it’s worth it.

The park is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. October through July (closed August and September).  The house tours are offered Thursday through Sunday.

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Find out more at: https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Marjorie-Kinnan-Rawlings