Transcript Slide 1
The history of water hyacinth management in Florida is inextricably connected to the steamboat traffic on the St Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers and other inland navigable waters of Florida. Water hyacinth was reportedly introduced into the St Johns River near Palatka in the 1880s, and by the turn of the century was interfering with steamboat traffic. Dense hyacinth mats prevented steamers from accessing the docks at Palatka and drifting mats were reported to push steamers off course as they traversed Lake George. Congress authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin removing water hyacinth obstructions from southeastern waters in 1899. By the 1920s, railroads replaced steamboats as the primary mode of transportation in Florida, bringing the age of steamboat transportation to an abrupt end: however, the legacy of water hyacinth grows on in Florida navigable rivers and public lakes. Golden Age of Sternwheeler Steamboats St Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers Palatka - Silver Springs 1870-1920 Principal Steamboats On Line Marion 1871 Okeehumkee 1873 Osceola 1874 Tuscawilla 1875 Water hyacinth introduced into St Johns River near Palatka - 1880s Astatula 1881 Waunita 1882 Eureka 1890 Metamora 1893 Hiawatha 1904 Okahumkee - Ocklawaha River - 1880s Steamer Metamora - Ocklawaha River - 1895 Steamer Osceola Ocklawaha River 1896 Kissimmee Waterfront - Lake Toho - 1890s 1900 - The Golden Age of Water Hyacinth Begins in Florida St Johns River - Abandoned Pilot Boy - Palatka Steamer Metamora on the Ocklawaha River Metamora on the bottom in Palatka - 1880s Steamboat Everglades in water hyacinth- St Johns River - 1898 Steamer Alligator - Palatka - 1899 Hyacinth - Jacksonville RR Yard - Post 1890s Hurricane River bridge Crows Bluff Ferry - St Johns River - 1900 Lake Okeechobee - 1910s City Dock - Lake Toho - 1910s Lake Toho - 1915 Fisheating Creek - 1917 Hickey Creek - 1917 St Johns River - Palatka - 1920s Lake Toho Pier - Kissimmee - 1920s Ocklawaha River loggers 1920s Steamer Lillie - Everglades - 1925 City Dock - Lake Toho - 1925 Tsala Apopka - 1925 Estero River 1926 Green Cove Springs - 1931 St. Johns River - 1931 St Johns River 1931 Lake Harris - Venetian Gardens construction - 1935 Hillsborough River Jammed Canal - 1946 Fishing amongst the hyacinths - 1946 Paddling in hyacinth and lettuce 1947 St Johns River at Deland - 1947 Homosassa Springs 1947 Lake Lochloosa 1949 Suwannee River - 1950 Lake Jackson - Tallahassee - 1951 St Johns River - Tocoi - 1950s Kissimmee Boatacade - 1954 Lake Okeechobee lock - 1961 St Johns River 1962 Water hyacinth and lettuce - Withlacoochee River - Dunnellon - 1963 Apalachicola - 1965 Apalachicola - 1966 Lake Rousseau - 1966 St Johns River - 1968 Water hyacinth and hydrilla at the Highway 44 bridge Withlacoochee River - 1976 Water Hyacinth Control Measures Physical / Mechanical Hyacinth boom Santa Fe Lake 1883 Water hyacinth elevator - Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon - 1922 Lake Okeechobee 1930s Hyacinth rake Hyacinth dredge - 1930s Hyacinth dredge Lake Okeechobee - 1937 Caloosahatchee River at LaBelle - 1939 West Palm Beach Canal - 1939 Hyacinth fence - St Johns River - 1942 Sawboat Destroyer Boat Withlacoochee River at Trails End 1947 Water hyacinth jam on bridge - 1950s Aqua tractor - 1952 Rodman Reservoir Governor Kirk - Bartow - 1964 Hyacinth shredder - 1968 Hyacinth shredder - 1968 Hyacinth chopper - 1968 Water Hyacinth Control Measures Chemical Poison Boat on the St Johns River GFC hyacinth control - 1950s GFC hyacinth control GFC hyacinth control GFC Lake Harper - Columbia County GFC controlling hyacinth - 1968 GFC hyacinth control - 1968 GFC controlling water hyacinth - 1970s GFC / SWFWMD Prevention 1969 Water hyacinth weevil release - 1970s GFC hand removal project Steamer Okahumkee - St Johns River - 1935 Okahumkee Sitting among the hyacinths Hart’s Point, Palatka 1935 Hiawatha 1954 The advent of railroads in 1922 ended the steamboat era in Florida waters - the legacy of water hyacinth grows on.