History and Cultural SignsWakulla Beach Hotel |
Wakulla Beach Hotel at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Florida. Published by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS).
featured in
![]() | Florida Pocket Maps | ![]() |
The third Walker, or Wakulla Beach, Hotel
(above) as it appeared around the time the
property was acquired by the Refuge and
(below) part of what remains. (Above: Courtesy
State Archives of Florida; below: Courtesy St.
Marks Refuge files)
30° 9.099' N
6
5
4
Mandalay: site of Aucilla River
St. Marks Lighthouse: site of
Lighthouse, Ft. Williams, and
Spanish Hole/Shipwreck
Mounds Station: site of
Shell Mounds
and Naval
Naval Stores
Stores
Paleo
Indians and
83° 58.769' W
84° 58.769'
83°
10.955' W
84° 9.869' W
St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge History Trail
Wakulla Beach: site of
Wakulla Beach Hotel and
West Goose Creek Seineyards
Seineyard
84°8.892' W
30° 7.797' N
30° 6.316' N
1
Plum Orchard: site of Port Leon
84°8.710' W
84°15.703' W
2
East River: site of CCC and
Salt Works
GPS Coordinates:
84°15.703' W ~ 30° 6.316' N
3
GPS Coordinates:
84° 10.955' W ~ 30° 4.658' N
30° 6.985' N
30° 4.658' N
30° 5.282' N
Fort Williams, in a drawing from Frank Leslie’s
Illustrated Newpaper, February 22, 1862 (detail). (Courtesy State Archives of Florida)
Daisy Walker dreamed of
building a town called East Goose
Creek at Wakulla Beach. She
and her husband, Florida State
Senator Henry N. Walker, Sr.,
built a hotel to attract visitors to
the site. Sleeping rooms and a
dining room were located off of a
long porch to let in cooling sea
breezes.
Around 1920 the Walkers
converted this hotel into their
residence and built a second
hotel located closer to the
beach. Constructed entirely of
cypress, the two-story building
was probably destroyed by a
strong tropical storm that caused
extensive damage in Wakulla
County in September 1928.
Undaunted, the Walkers built a
third, even larger hotel which had
fluted columns formed by pouring
concrete into a mold built around
Along with the hotel
business, Senator Walker ran
cattle on his property. The
“Fence Law,” passed in 1949,
curtailed open range grazing
in Florida. Around this time,
Senator Walker decided to leave
the ranching business and
worked with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to add Wakulla
Beach – the lost town of East
Goose Creek – to the St. Marks
National Wildlife Refuge.
The first and second Walker
Hotels no longer exist. All that
remains of the third hotel is a
foundation at the edge of the
surrounding forest.
Almost any day will find a few anglers
and swimmers enjoying Wakulla Beach
just as they did in Daisy’s day. The
beach area is quite small, but many kayakers put in there to paddle and explore
the shore and bay. (Courtesy St. Marks
Refuge files)
The town was laid out around 1915.
(Courtesy Mays Leroy Gray)
A portion of the foundation and the fluted
pillars from the third hotel can be seen
near the parking area. (Courtesy St.
Marks Refuge files)
pine timbers. The kitchen and dining
room were located on the ground
floor with sleeping rooms on the
second level. Swimming and fishing
in the summer and goose hunting
in the winter attracted guests year
round.
Daisy Walked died in 1935. Even
though the coast still draws visitors,
weather seems to have conspired
against the success of a permanent
town.
The St. Marks Refuge Association, Inc.,
with a matching grant from the National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, produced
the signs and brochures for the St. Marks
National Wildlife Refuge History Trail. The
association is a 501(c)(3) organization that
supports educational, environmental, and
biological programs of St. Marks National
Wildlife Refuge. Visit www.stmarksrefuge.
org for more information.
9/2010