What Disney Learned from Florida's First Tourist Attraction

As a Floridian, I hate tourists. There, I've said it.

With their RV's, white legs, and weird accents, they just invade my space and ruin my solitude.

It's a problem native Floridians have had for over 500 years.

The Timucuan Indians had lived in the White Springs area for centuries, enjoying the sacred waters that bubbled from the earth.

Then in 1832, they experienced Florida's first invasion of northerners that arrived in a house on wheels, spoke an incomprehensible language, and didn't have a tan.

Unfortunately for the Timucuan people, these snowbirds didn't go back home to the north for the summer. Instead, they forced them out of their land and took it for themselves.

These invaders from the North weren't looking for a warm place to retire and play bingo, they were looking to find their fortune. These settlers found it in the mineral springs that flowed into the tea-colored Suwannee, and they quickly realized they could make a killing by selling its health benefits. To bring visitors in, they ran advertisements in cities as far away as Philidelphia.

Thus was the beginning of Florida's first tourist trap.

Bathhouse owner Minnie Jackson made sure the only bathers that dipped in the springs were paying bathers, and like Disney, she had the vision to anticipate the paying public's every need.

Whether customers were in need of a doctor's service, modern medical treatment by way of the spring, or refreshments, the bathhouse supplied it all.

But, as with all major tourist draws, favor quickly fades and the crowds move on to the next "happiest place on Earth."

The next "happiest place on Earth" opened in the 1970's, and tourists were bypassing North Florida altogether to see a certain mouse that had taken up residence in Orlando.

Walt Disney wasn't the first person to pair a catchy song that visitors can't get out of their head with an attraction.

It's cheesy, but it works. How many of us know the words to It's a Small World whether we want to or not?

The businessmen in White Springs did just that. They took a popular song about Florida that was written by Stephen Foster, who had never set foot in the Sunshine State, and built a museum and park in his honor.

In 1950, the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center opened its doors. The park entrance sits just feet from the bathhouse.

The Center has evolved to keep up with the times. Not only is it still home to the Stephen Foster museum, it now seeks to preserve Florida's natural and social history. 

Artists displaying primitive skills, such as weaving, blacksmithing, etc., occupy cabins in Craft Square. Here visitors can learn skills that were common to early Floridians, and buy the artists' wares as well.

The Stephen Foster Folk Center creatively weaves Florida's history and Stephen Foster together in a peaceful setting on the banks of the Suwannee.

I bring my out-of-state visitors here often when I want to show them a bit of real Florida. To me, the park seems logical. But until my friends brought it up, I had never thought of it being odd that a whole park was dedicated to a man who had never even been to Florida.

I say how much weirder is a park that's centered around a talking mouse?

Inside the museum, moving dioramas, personal items, and videos effectively tell the story of Stephen Foster's life and his songs.

As a pianist, I find the rare and antique pianos the most interesting. A few were owned and/or played by Foster himself, a few were donated by philanthropic Floridians.

Like all good tourist attractions, weird and famous go hand in hand.

You'll never see a weirder piano than the von Janko, and the Steinway grand piano has the pleasure of once being owned by Andrew Carnegie.

Nature lovers will love everything the Suwannee River Basin has to offer. From riding rapids, to horseback riding, no outdoorsperson will be bored here.

For a bit of Florida culture, a visit to the State park is entertaining, as well as informative.

The Stephen Foster Folk Center's goal is educate the public about Stephen Foster and Florida's past, as well as folk arts.

In addition to the museum, visitors can enjoy the world's largest carillon tower, and see Craft Square where artists demonstrate various crafts. Blacksmithing, leatherworking, spinning and weaving, and pottery are just a few of the skills local artists demonstrate for the public.

The Center hosts monthly special events that are extremely popular. Each month features something different, and no event is repeated during the year.

Here are just a few events hosted by Stephen Foster Folk Center:

Florida has so much to offer tourists, but so many visitors assume the only thing to do here is go to the beach and visit the mega theme parks.

A meandering river, interesting history, and even Class III rapids are what visitors can experience just in White Springs alone.

There's many more towns and cities across Florida that have just as much, if not more, things to see and do.

So if you're headed to Florida to soak up rays or ride rides, at least be a good tourist and make time to visit the real Florida.