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 Frame Vernacular style home was built between 1880 and 1900 as a four-room cottage with a narrow open front porch and a back wing containing a dining room and kitchen. Many windows and porches on the south, east, and west sides provide good cross-ventilation and make this house appropriate for the warm climate.
After a succession of owners, Rawlings bought it in 1928. She connected a two-room building by adding a bathroom in 1933 in the space between them. She later added a second bathroom, windened and screened the front porch, and added a carport. The barn and tenant house were also torn down.
She married Norton Baskin in 1941, and thereafter divided her time between their home in St. Augustine and this one, where she continued writing. The house received electricity in 1944. She died at age 57 in 1953.
Here, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote most of her books, including The Yearling and Cross Creek. Other works of note were Cross Creek Cookery, Jacob's Ladder, Golden Apples, South Moon Under, When the Whippoorwill, The Secret River, and her last book, The Sojourner. Much of her writing was done with a typewriter which sat on the porch, on a large table on a base made from a cabbage palm log.
The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 29, 1970. It is a state historic site, open to the public.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings took the pecan grove here and converted the acreage to orange and grapefruit trees. She and hired hands struggled to make it produce, and most of the citrus trees died from frost by the 1950s.
This home was built in about 1895 by Clyde C. Axline, who sold it to W. Brice in 1910. It has a modified Queen Anne style, with fine details in porch posts, doors, bays, and interior mahogany woodwork. It is a typical early 20th century rural farmstead, with a barn and tenant house.
Mr. Brice was known locally as "Old Boss". Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wrote that the Brices were her closest neighbors.
This sanctuary was dedicated on August 25, 1974.
This area, known as Island Grove, was actually an island in the early days, bordered on the west by Cross Creek, the north by a lake, the south by Orange Lake, and the east by cypress swamps. This settlement was established during the early 1880s, and a major industry was fishing.
The prior Masonic Hall burned down, and was replaced by this one after 1900. It is now the Cross Creek Volunteer Fire Department Substation.
The Kale family owned this before it was acquired by the Boulwares. Musco Boulware acquired it before his marriage to Mamie in 1909. It was later owned by their daughter, Vivian Boulware.
This was the home of Zelma Cason, who was famous for suing Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings for libel.
This church was built before 1900, and some of its original pews are made from tree stumps. This closed as a church in 1972.
Reportedly, this church building was moved here from Citra in about 1906. This conflicts with the fact that there was not a good road from Citra until 1911, and it wasn't paved until the 1920s.
William J. and Maggie Evans married in 1909 and moved to this house in 1915. His father, William, was the postmaster of Island Grove from 1897 until 1914, when William J. took over and served until 1950. Maggie was postmaster for a time in 1950, and later that year their son, Harry T., assumed that office.
This may have been the home of the Lambeth family prior to the purchase by the Evans family. Weeks and Lambeth in 1892 built a moss factory that was able to gin 20 bales of moss per day.
Harry Baker was born in 1871 and in 1904 married Florrie Evans. He was a farmer and worked in Will Crosby's orange groves. The Bakers lived here most of the rest of their lives. She died in 1959 and he died in 1963.
The floor plan of this house is sometimes referred to as a "dog trot", first found in the Carolinas and Georgia in about 1825. This house was built in 1885 by William Du Pre. His son, George Crosby, married Mattie Du Pre in about 1900. He died in 1944 and she died in 1968, and the house passed to their sons, James Chester, William Leslie, and Martin Luther.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
Alachua County, Florida Historical Tour Series: Rochelle, Cross Creek, Island Grove, Hawthorne, Campville, Windsor, by Alachua County Historical Commission (1984)
Discover Florida: A Guide to Unique Sites and Sights, by Robert Tolf (Manatee Books 1982)
Florida Off the Beaten Path, by Diana and Bill Gleasner (The Globe Pequot Press 1993)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Historic Homes of Florida, by Laura Stewart & Susanne Hupp (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1995)