At Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, docents in 1940s dress take you through the living and working space of this Pulitzer-winning novelist beloved by regional historians for her accurate depictions of rural North Florida.
Resources
Overview
Location: Cross Creek
Lat-Lon: 29.480152,-82.16003
Fees: $3 per vehicle; guided tours $2-3 per person
Open: Grounds open 9-5 daily. House tours Oct-Jul, Thu-Sun, at 10, 11, 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Leashed pets welcome. Pets must be carried on house tours.
Location
Along CR 325 between Grove Park and Island Grove in Cross Creek.
Details
Costumed guides explain what life was like in Cross Creek when Marjorie sat on the front porch and typed the drafts of her novels, including The Yearling, which became an Oscar-winning film.
Set in what remains of her original orange grove, this dogtrot Cracker home offers some quirks specific to its northern resident, including the “liquor cabinet” with firewater on top and firewood on the bottom, as well as her use of inverted mixing bowls as decorative fixtures for lights. Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy, and many other legends stayed in Marjorie’s guest room.
In addition to the tour, the grounds include nature walks into the woods along Orange Lake and a nature trail through the forest that grew up in Marjorie’s old orange grove across the street from her home, as well as simply wandering through the yard to watch the chickens peck at corn. The parking area is shared with a park providing access to Orange Lake, with a boat ramp and bank fishing as well as restrooms and picnic pavilions.