Cross Creek, a Literary Retreat
in Florida=s Cracker Heartland

By Murray D. Laurie

The white frame Cracker house with its cypress-shingled roof that was the home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in Cross Creek, Florida, was added to from time to time as need and her unsteady income permitted.  Sitting on the open porch on a summer day, the sound of the electric fan in the bedroom forms a background hum, but the palm fans on the deerhide chair are reminders of the early days when there was no electricity. The old outhouse remains, but Rawlings rejoiced in the indoor bathroom she added with the proceeds of the sale of one of her first magazine stories.

When Marjorie Rawlings, reared in Washington, DC, came to the  rural Florida village near Gainesville in 1928, during the Depression, she found not only the sense of place she yearned for, but a bounteous source of material for her writing. Her home in Cross Creek, which became a magnet for her friends and admirers even before the movie of the same name, starring Mary Steenburgen, came out in 1984, draws more than 30,000 visitors a year.

Despite her sophisticated tastes and her love of spirited conversation, she embraced the song of the cardinals and mockingbirds in her garden, the scent of her own orange blossoms, and her down-to-earth, stubborn and surprisingly complicated neighbors, whom she wrote about in her best selling book, "Cross Creek."  The birds still sing from the wire fence surrounding the tomato plants and bean bushes, the orange trees still perfume the air, and the neighbors still keep a wary eye out for what goes on at "Miz Rawlings" place. 

When she died in 1953, Marjorie Rawlings left her property to the University of Florida, but for the past twenty years the 70-acre farm and orange grove, as well as the house, have been managed by the Florida Park Service as a historic site. Capable house guides, dressed as 1930s housewives in calico dresses, aprons and no-nonsense shoes and socks, lead small groups (no more than 10 at a time) from room to room, unraveling the story of her life, her struggles with her literary gift and a strong streak of willful perfectionism, and the inspiration she drew from her "small place of enchantment."

There is something touchingly authentic in the battered volumes on the open bookshelves, the limp frocks hanging in the improvised closet, the yellow cat asleep on the daybed, the gaudy linoleum covering the bathroom floor, the sheets of paper torn from her old Royal typewriter and wadded up on the round table on the screened verandah, the mashed out cigarette in the glass ashtray.

This was a working farm and oranges were the main crop. Marjorie Rawlings proudly sent crates of citrus to friends up north some years, but at other times, early frost and severe freezes spelt disaster. Without a growing reputation as a writer, and the income from her novels, "South Moon Under, Golden Apples," and especially "The Yearling," which earned her the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1939, she would surely not have been able to hold on to her place at Cross Creek.

The old grove is now kept up by volunteers, who also plant and harvest the vegetables in the kitchen garden and pick oranges when they are ripe and sweet. The park rangers look after the flocks of chickens and ducks, which roam around the grounds, much to the delight of young visitors.

Marjorie Rawlings was a superb cook and her recipes, as well as her wit and humor, spill over in her "Cross Creek Cookery." It=s too hot to cook on the wood stove in the kitchen in the summer, but chances are that visitors during the winter months will smell enticing aromas when the staff  take turns whipping up some of the recipes in her excellent cook book. The pantry is full of vintage cooking gear and canned goods,   and an old ice-box stands on the back porch. By all reports, Mrs. Rawlings took her cooking seriously and was most highly pleased to be complimented on her cuisine.

She was proud too, of  her "young grove" across the dusty (now paved) road that passed in front of her house. She removed many of the old pecan trees that grew there when she bought the farm in 1928, and planted navel oranges, sweet and highly prized on the market. These citrus trees have not survived the many freezes that have virtually wiped out all the groves in northern Florida, and the young grove has become a hammock once more, dense with native trees, vines and ferns. If you want to see what Cross Creek looked like before the first settlers came, take the 15-minute stroll along the pathway through the hammock, a secret place of ancient magic.

Those who seek out Cross Creek will find more than simply "a bend in a country road." They will sense the deep well of inspiration that nourished the spirit of a gifted writer, the nostalgic enchantment of the house itself which has withstood sun and rain and wind for more than 100 years, and the half-wild flavor of the backwoods country of old Florida.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Historic Site is located about 15 miles south of Gainesville. The grounds and trail are open daily 9-5 with no fee. Public tours of the house are given Thursday through Saturday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and each hour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for children 6-12. Children under 5 are admitted free. Each tour is limited to 10 people and the house is closed in August and September. For more information contact the MKR State Historic Site, Route 3, Box 92, Hawthorne, FL 32640. (352) 466-3672. 

The website of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society http://web.english.ufl.edu/rawlings/  will lead to maps, directions, photos, virtual tours, links, and a wealth of information about Cross Creek.  For other area attractions, try http://www.state.fl.us/gvl/