History of High Springs

One of the springs in the area – sadly, no longer flowing at more than a trickle – was located at the top of a hill, and this is what gave the town of High Springs its current name (I wrote about the spring and its current situation here), although the town wasn’t officially named High Springs until 1892. Prior to that, non-Native settlements in this area apparently went by a variety of names, including Santaffey (Santa Fe), Fairmount, and Orion. High Springs of today is known for its antique shops, restaurants, and unique natural environment filled with rivers, springs, and forests, leading to its motto of “Enjoy our Good Nature.” However, in days gone by, while the environment played an important role in providing natural resources to the town, the railroad was the true lifeblood of the community.

In the late 1800s, High Springs went through a boom period. Discovery of phosphate in the area, the extensive availability of pine and cypress to be logged, and its location along two planned railroad routes made it an important nexus for the railroad industry. The Savannah, Florida, and Western Railroad line was the first of many railroad companies to arrive in High Springs in 1884, although the most important was the arrival of the Plant System. The Plant System settled upon High Springs as the location for its district headquarters in 1895, and began construction of a roundhouse, offices, telegraph station, two-story district hospital and more. High Springs became the center of steam rail for north central Florida. Unfortunately for High Springs, by the mid-1940s, diesel was the new power on the rails, and the High Springs rail yards – designed for steam engine maintenance – slowly dwindled. By the end of the twentieth century, as rail traffic in general declined, the rail yards of High Springs faded into the brush. The rails were finally removed in February 2015. The following pictures were all taken in High Springs.

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company Engine No. 801 in 190~ (source)

Main Street, High Springs, 190~ (source)

Man identified as Gus Anderson, 19~ (source)

Railroad depot, 190~ (source)

Willards' General Merchandise Store, 191~ (source)

Downtown High Springs 1916 (source)

No identifying data (source)

Downtown High Springs in the 191~ (source)

Woman identified as Edna Johns Miller, 1916 (source)

Local children, 1916 (source)

Row of workers' homes, 1916 (source)

Coal Locomotive Engine, 1948 (source)

Both images show aerial views of the High Springs rail yards, including the roundhouse in the upper left quadrant, in 1949 and 1955. You can see how the roundhouse and rail yards have deteriorated in just that short period of time. (Sources here and here)

For more information, check out the full text of the Architectural and Historical Survey of High Springs published in 1990. To take a look at my explorations of the abandoned railroad of High Springs, click here, here, and here. Lastly, my exploration of the old spring that gave High Springs its name can be viewed here.