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Club to preserve links to Homosassa's past

Group members want to document their city's history before more memories and landmarks are lost.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT
Published May 9, 2006

HOMOSASSA - The sugar mill stands like a stone-encrusted sentinel on the winding path into the very heart of old Homosassa.

The structure hints that much happened in this seemingly sleepy little fishing village in generations past.

But the markers at the Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park and the bold blue "Welcome to Historic Homosassa" sign on the road in are the only visible links to that history.

The Homosassa Civic Club wants to change that.

Club members are in the beginning stages of identifying, documenting and preserving their community's history.

More than a dozen gathered in the civic club Monday along with other interested residents to talk about their next steps. Their focus was finding a way to capture the details of Homosassa's history before more memories slip away and more structures fall prey to bulldozers.

"We're trying to make people aware of the rich history of Homosassa," said Diane Toto, president of the civic club. "We're trying to identify everything that is here standing, what used to be here and is worth a historical mention, and the things that are in danger."

Toto's goal for Monday's meeting was to establish a list of the places and features, then assign members the task of documenting their historical significance.

Already the group has had one minor victory: Retired Postmaster Carlis Harman has been pushing to save a stretch of 9-foot-wide sidewalk built in Homosassa Springs during the real estate boom of the mid 1920s. In large sections of the town, the sidewalk was the only thing built before a bust came a few years later and investors were not able to follow through with developing their properties.

Just last week the county's Historical Resources Advisory Board agreed that the sidewalk near Aquaduct and Ohio streets is historically significant. While the sidewalk may need to be altered slightly to comply with rules about access for the disabled and to avoid cutting down old trees, the county has agreed to keep it largely intact, according to Mary Craven, tourism development manager for the county.

Club members shared stories of the old-line families and of their own childhood memories. They talked about gathering oral histories from many residents in the community. They debated a while about whether to include the areas centered around U.S. 19 and eastward, the area known as Homosassa Springs, and the area on the north side of the river in their historical research.

They talked about the various names people have used for the area, from Homosassa to Old Town to Old Homosassa.

They divvied up the research, with local artist Kevin Jenkins taking on the history of the railroad. Some tracks of that line still exist on his property.

Susan Strawbridge from the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park is gathering information about the spring that forms the headwaters of the river, the feature that drew many settlers and visitors to the region in the early 1900s.

Others were exploring the rich history of fish houses, the fishing guide industry and the other industrial uses that once existed in the town.

Toto emphasized that the committee members would have to dig deep and find detailed information about each site they wanted to recognize. Those details will have to be documented to show others why areas need to be saved or recognized and to provide the proof that will be needed to attract grant dollars in the future.

"It's not going to be an easy thing," Jenkins said. Memories are not always accurate, he said, and neither are all the historical resources available.

The group called another meeting for 10 a.m. June 19 to review some of the initial research and continue the process.

Toto said the project might result in historic markers for a walking or driving tour, updated information to add to Homosassa's history book and perhaps even a museum down the road.

She said the work will preserve history for the residents, draw in visitors and help local businesses in the long run.

"Everybody together has the pieces of this puzzle," she said. "And it will benefit everybody."

--Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com

[Last modified May 9, 2006, 00:41:15]