This historic site was the home of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the author of many major literary works, including The Yearling, which received the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the novels South Moon Under, and Golden Apples, and her memoir, Cross Creek. She was elected to the National Academy of Arts and Letters.

The Rawlings house also is a notable example of the Cracker (descendents of pioneer settlers) style of architecture, derived from a variety of influences to suit the climate and available technology of the rural South.

The National Historic Landmark designation is the highest such recognition accorded by our nation to historic properties determined to be of exceptional value in representing or illustrating an important theme, event or person in the history of the nation. National Historic Landmarks can be actual sites where significant historic events occurred, places where prominent Americans worked or sites that represent the ideas that shaped our nation. Fewer than 2,500 historic places carry the title of National Historic Landmark.

A visit to this estate as truly a step back into time - old Florida. You can see the pasture where the Jersey Cow, Dora, called home; the old grove, now kept up by volunteers who also plant and harvest the vegetables in the kitchen garden; the original pump house and the main farmhouse. The barn has been reconstructed but is authentic to the period - complete with buggy.

Drive around this peaceful area, stop and see Cross Creek itself where it crosses the road a little west of the park (towards Gainesville). Experience what Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings experienced - the feeling is still here even though the road is paved and there's a bit more traffic now.

Websites: www.floridastateparks.org/marjoriekinnanrawlings
              www.travellady.com/Issues/Issue65/65G-crosscreek.htm

"Cross Creek belongs to the wind and the rain, to the sun and the seasons, to the cosmic secrecy of seed, and beyond all, to time." - So ends Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' book Cross Creek.

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