- City of Hawkinsville (shipwreck)
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City of Hawkinsville (shipwreck)
Suwannee River, looking in the direction of the City of Hawkinsville
Location: Dixie County, Florida, USA Nearest city: Old Town, Florida Coordinates: 29°36′26″N 82°58′15″W / 29.60722°N 82.97083°WCoordinates: 29°36′26″N 82°58′15″W / 29.60722°N 82.97083°W Governing body: Florida Department of Environmental Protection NRHP Reference#: 01000533 FUAP #: 3 Significant dates Added to NRHP: May 31, 2001 Designated FUAP: 1992 The City of Hawkinsville was a paddle steamer constructed in Georgia in 1886. Sold in 1900 to a Tampa, Florida company, it delivered cargo and lumber along the Suwannee River. Eventually rendered obsolete by the advent of railroads in the region, it was abandoned in the middle of the Suwannee in 1922.
It became the third Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve when it opened to the public in 1992. This was followed on May 31, 2001 by its addition to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as CITY OF HAWKINSVILLE (shipwreck).[1] It is located in Dixie County, 100 yards south of the Old Town railroad trestle (which is part of the Nature Coast Trail State Park).
Contents
History
Georgia
In 1886, the Hawkinsville (Georgia) Deepwater Boat Lines had the wooden-hulled City of Hawkinsville built for them in Abbeville, Georgia.
After 14 years of service, they sold it to the Gulf Transportation Company of Tampa.
Florida
The largest (141 feet long by 30 feet wide) steamboat stationed on the Suwannee, The City of Hawkinsville transported lumber and supplies from Branford to Cedar Key for the next two decades. Some of the supplies would include construction materials for the railroads that would end the need for the steamboat itself.
By 1922, only able to be run at a loss, the ship's captain sank the City of Hawkinsville in the Suwannee, on May 19. It was the last steamboat to ply the river.
Today
The wreck of the steamboat has become part of the river's ecosystem, and was added to the Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve system in 1992. Most of it is remarkably intact, and rests on a ledge in the middle of the Suwannee, able to be seen from the river's surface. However, diving is only allowed for those with advanced open water certification, and venturing within the wreck itself is not permitted.
Admission and hours
There is no entrance fee to view the City Of Hawkinsville above or below the water, and it is open year-round.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
External links
- Dixie County listings at National Register of Historic Places
- Dixie County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
- City of Hawkinsville at Florida's Underwater Archaeological Preserves
- City of Hawkinsville at Florida's Shipwrecks - 300 Years of Maritime History
- Museums in the Sea City of Hawkinsville
Categories:- Archaeological sites in Florida
- Protected areas of Dixie County, Florida
- National Register of Historic Places in Florida
- Shipwrecks in rivers
- Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places
- Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserves
- Florida Registered Historic Places building and structure stubs
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