Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park

 3.8.2024

Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center State Park

Straight east was our direction today along I-10.  However, before we left Topsail Preserve this squirrel, who is actually king of RV site 105, expressed his opinion of us leaving.  Not sure if he was pleased or saddened, but he definitely had a lot of thoughts.

Two hundred miles later we pulled in to the Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center.  This is one of those places that time seems to have forgotten.  The first couple of buildings are a memorial to the music of Stephen Foster who wrote Oh Susannah, Old Folks at Home (Down Along the Suwanee River), Camp Town Races and many other folk songs.  He lived during middle part of the 19th century and some of the lyrics of his music depict slavery and were used in minstrels.  This fact is acknowledged in signage in the museum.

There are dioramas of 9 of his most famous songs.   "Camptown Races" (1850), "Nelly Bly" (1850), "Ring de Banjo" (1851), "Old Folks at Home" (known also as "Suwanee River", 1851), "My Old Kentucky Home" (1853), "Old Dog Tray" (1853), and "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" (1854). 

There is a large collection of antique pianos some of which I had never seen before.

A large Carillon was built in the 1950s to play his songs.  The structure is quite impressive with marble walls and floors.  The bells are currently under renovation so it is currently silent.

Azaleas are just starting to bloom here.

There are several craft cabins which house local crafters.  I spoke to Pat, who is a potter and today was etching this glass bottle.  She shared that crafters used to be able to sell their creations in the gift shop, but that was stopped in 2019.  Since then most of the crafters have moved on.  It looks like it used to be a vibrant community with beautiful facilities.

This park is along the Suwanee River as indicated by the signs above.  

Dogwoods are also blooming here.

This park looks like a place that was great a couple of times during its history.  Today it is hohum.  We stopped because it is along I-10.  It is a place we don't need to return to.  This was our last night in Florida.  Tomorrow we turn north.