For the similarly named state park in Alabama, see Blue Springs State Park.

Blue Spring State Park
A manatee resting near the surface of clear green water in a spring run, beneath oaks hung with Spanish moss, with a line of white floats strung across the water
A manatee in Blue Spring Run
Blue Spring State Park is located in Florida
Blue Spring State Park
Location within Florida
Blue Spring State Park is located in the United States
Blue Spring State Park
Location within the United States
Map
Interactive map of Blue Spring State Park
LocationVolusia County, Florida, United States
Nearest cityOrange City
Coordinates28°56′53″N 81°20′24″W / 28.94806°N 81.34000°W / 28.94806; -81.34000
Area2,659.05 acres (1,076.08 ha)[1]
EstablishedAugust 14, 1972; 54 years ago (1972-08-14)[1]
Visitors575,769[2] (in FY 2022–23)
Governing bodyFlorida Department of Environmental Protection

Blue Spring State Park is a state park located west of Orange City, Florida, in the United States. The park is a popular tourist destination; available activities include canoeing, scuba diving, kayaking, fishing, camping, hiking, wildlife watching, and swimming. The spring in the park (Volusia Blue Spring) is the largest on the St. Johns River. Due to its relatively warm temperature of 73 °F (23 °C), the spring attracts many Florida manatees during the winter. About 102 million US gallons (390,000 m3) of water flow out of Blue Spring into the St. Johns River every day.[3]

History

Early accounts and settlement

The naturalists John and William Bartram visited Blue Spring in the 18th century.[4] About a century later, Jeffries Wyman described the spring for his 1875 study of the St. Johns shell mounds. He recorded a circular basin 70 to 75 feet (21 to 23 m) across with nearly vertical walls 15 to 18 feet (4.6 to 5.5 m) high, bluish water with a sulfurous smell, and a depth by sounding of about 25 feet (7.6 m). He thought the crater-like basin looked as if the water had burst up from below. Bartram had described a stream of drinkable water entering the run from the ridge. Wyman identified it with a small side channel and noted that its flow had since greatly diminished and the water was no longer fit to drink.[5]

During the British period (1763–1783), Lord Beresford grew indigo and sugarcane on part of what is now the park's northern Starke Tract. In 1803 Spain granted 1,000 acres (400 ha) that took in the spring and the upper half of its run to Francis P. Fatio Jr., who never lived there. Captain John W. Starke bought Fatio's grant in 1851 and planted a citrus grove, which stayed in production until 1985.[6]

Thursby House

Louis P. Thursby, a native of Brooklyn who had served in the Mexican–American War and joined the California Gold Rush, arrived at Blue Spring in 1856. He bought 133 acres (54 ha) from Samuel Parson, the first white settler there, and moved his family into Parson's log cabin.[7] The family owned the lower half of the spring run, and Starke owned the spring and the upper half.[6] Thursby was imprisoned by Union forces during the Civil War. Accounts differ on whether he was held as a suspected Confederate sympathizer or because he owned four or five slaves.[7]

A white three-story frame house with green shutters, a two-level wraparound porch and an exterior staircase, set on a lawn under live oaks hung with Spanish moss
The Thursby House, built in 1872 on a shell midden

By 1868 Thursby was running a steamboat landing on the river, and Blue Spring became a regular mail stop with his wife Mary as postmistress.[8] In 1872 he built a two-story frame house on top of the shell midden at the mouth of the run, presumably because it was the nearest high ground safe from floods.[9] Northern investors platted the land to the east in the 1870s, and Blue Spring Landing became the arrival point for many of the settlers who founded Orange City in 1875. Nine steamboats eventually called there on regular routes, carrying freight, mail, tourists and sportsmen.[8]

Railroads, bottled water and resort

In 1881 a narrow-gauge railroad, the first in the county, was laid from Orange City to the landing. Mules hauled a wooden flatcar of citrus to a pasture on Thursby's land, and the car then rolled downhill to the wharf.[10][7] The line, built partly of midden shell, was extended to New Smyrna in 1887 as the Blue Spring, Orange City and Atlantic Railroad and became part of the Florida East Coast Railway in 1896. Its paved-over bed is now Magnolia Avenue.[10] The Orange City Mineral Spring Company began bottling water from a well on what is now park land in 1891. The well supplied a succession of bottlers until 2003.[6]

Thursby died in 1890. His son John later added a third story to the house, which was rented as rooms to travelers and sportsmen.[4][a] From the 1930s the property was marketed for outdoor recreation. After the Thursbys sold it, Homer Smith ran it as a park and fish camp, followed by Gordon Pierson, who added cabins, boat rentals and concessions. In 1969 Pierson sold the land to Keystone Enterprises, which planned a resort with a campground, pool and bathhouses. The development failed, and the land reverted to the Pierson family.[12][6]

State park

In 1971 the Cousteau television series filmed an episode on manatees, "The Forgotten Mermaids", at Blue Spring. The Florida Park Service credits the film with drawing attention to the spring as a winter refuge and with strongly influencing the state's decision to buy it.[13] On August 14, 1972, the state's Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund made the first purchase for the park: about 300 acres (120 ha) bought from the Pierson family, together with the spring itself.[14] In November the trustees leased the land for 99 years to the Division of Recreation and Parks, then part of the Department of Natural Resources; the lease runs to 2071.[15] At the time of purchase, swimmers had badly eroded and littered the spring run.[16]

The park grew through later purchases in 1974 and 1978, and in 1988 Volusia County deeded about 870 acres (350 ha) to the state. A deed in the park's title history requires French Avenue and its boat ramp to stay open around the clock and free of charge until the state improves them. If the state charges admission or cuts their hours without making those improvements, the property reverts to the county.[17] The Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978 gave legal protection to the manatees at Blue Spring and other refuges.[18]

The Thursby House was a residence until 1981. The park service decided to restore it to its 1915 appearance and opened it as a house museum in 1982. It closed in 1989 and reopened in 2003 with interpretive exhibits.[11] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 11, 2000, as one of the two oldest buildings standing in Volusia County.[19]

Manatee research

Researchers have recorded the life history of individual manatees at Blue Spring since 1978, including births, deaths, and relationships.[20] Manatees migrate to warmer spring water during the colder weather in Florida,[21] and often return to the same spring every year. Manatees are identified by their scar patterns, which they acquire mainly from boat strikes, but also from fishing-line entanglements, cold lesions, and fungal infections.[22] The research data collected, both in person and through live video streaming,[23] comprises one of the world's longest-running and comprehensive manatee databases in existence. Several government agencies partner to maintain a Manatee Individual Photo-Identification System for the Florida manatee.[24][22] Identifications by state park rangers and Save the Manatee Club researchers at Blue Spring have contributed a large number of sightings to this database. During manatee season (November–March), the live video streaming of the spring is made public.[25]

Environmental concerns

The increasing number of human visitors and also manatees has increased the environmental load on the spring's ecosystem. Both humans and manatees are creating water pollution, and as a result, more filamentous algae grow in the spring area.[citation needed]

Another environmental problem is the decrease in the natural water supply to the spring due to the groundwater pumping in the nearby cities. As a result, the output of Volusia Blue Spring has fallen over the last decades.[26]

Recreation

Blue Spring State Park has 51 campsites and six cabins that can be rented. The camping area is pet friendly.

The spring runs a few miles long and features a boardwalk that stretches 1/3 of a mile from the St. Johns River to the headspring. All water-related activities are prohibited during manatee season (mid November–March).[27] Qualified scuba divers can descend into the spring cave in season. Picnicking is a popular pastime, with multiple pavilions available for groups and scattered picnic tables around the entire park. The park also features volleyball courts and a playground, as well as canoeing, kayaking, and fishing. The old Thursby plantation house is being maintained and has historical displays that visitors can explore. Various wildlife besides manatees can be seen also, including alligators, bears, raccoons, and various species of birds. Hontoon Island State Park is a short paddle down the St. Johns River. Foodservice, stores, and a water-activity rental station are available for supplies.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b FDEP 2026, p. 3.
  2. ^ FDEP 2023, p. 6.
  3. ^ "Volusia Blue Spring" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c Brillante & Goodwin 2000, sec. 8, p. 3.
  5. ^ Wyman 1875, p. 23.
  6. ^ a b c d FDEP 2022, p. 62.
  7. ^ a b c Brillante & Goodwin 2000, sec. 8, p. 2.
  8. ^ a b Brillante & Goodwin 2000, sec. 8, pp. 1–2.
  9. ^ Brillante & Goodwin 2000, sec. 8, pp. 2–3.
  10. ^ a b FDEP 2022, p. 59.
  11. ^ a b FDEP 2005, p. 32.
  12. ^ FDEP 2005, p. 53.
  13. ^ FSP History.
  14. ^ FDEP 2022, pp. 2, 62.
  15. ^ FDEP 2022, p. 2, Addendum 1.
  16. ^ FDEP 2022, p. 71.
  17. ^ FDEP 2022, Addendum 1.
  18. ^ FDEP 2005, p. 26.
  19. ^ Brillante & Goodwin 2000, sec. 8, p. 4.
  20. ^ "Manatees at Blue Spring State Park". Florida State Parks. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  21. ^ "Look out, slow down for Florida's migrating manatees". Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  22. ^ a b "Program". Florida Fish And Wildlife Conservation Commission. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  23. ^ "Want to see manatees? Consider a trip to Blue Spring State Park this winter". UF/IFAS Extension Flagler County. January 3, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  24. ^ "Manatee Photo ID as a Tool for Research: The Manatee Individual Photo-Identification System (MIPS)". www.usgs.gov. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
  25. ^ "Webcams". Save the Manatee Club. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  26. ^ "Volusia Blue Spring Restoration Plan" (PDF). Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  27. ^ "Florida State Parks". www.floridastateparks.org. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
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