St. Marks River | |
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![]() St. Marks River viewed from U.S. Highway 98. | |
![]() St. Marks River watershed | |
Location | |
Country | United States |
State | Florida |
Counties | Leon, Jefferson, Wakulla |
District | NWFWMD |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Tallahassee Hills |
• location | Capitola, Florida |
• coordinates | 30°28′40″N84°06′01″W / 30.47778°N 84.10028°W |
Mouth | Apalachee Bay |
• location | Port Leon, Florida |
• coordinates | 30°4′53″N84°11′31″W / 30.08139°N 84.19194°W |
Length | 36 mi (58 km) |
Basin size | 1,150 sq mi (3,000 km2) |
Discharge | |
• average | 1,122 cu ft/s (31.8 m3/s) |
Discharge | |
• location | St. Marks River Rise |
• average | 433 cu ft/s (12.3 m3/s) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | East River |
• right | Lafayette Creek, Wakulla River |
The St. Marks River is a river in the Big Bend region of Florida. It has been classified by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as an Outstanding Florida Water, and is the easternmost river within the Northwest Florida Water Management District. [1]
The St. Marks River begins in eastern Leon County, Florida and flows 36 miles (58 km) through Leon and Wakulla counties into Apalachee Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. It has a drainage basin of 1,150 square miles (3,000 km2) [1] in size. It has one significant tributary, the Wakulla River.
A few miles south of its source the St. Marks passes under a natural bridge at Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park and then disappears underground to become a subterranean river for about one-half mile. The river emerges at the St. Marks River Rise, a first magnitude spring with a discharge of 433cf/s, [1] to pass over a stretch of rocks, forming rapids.
The incorporated town of St. Marks is located at the juncture of the Wakulla and St. Marks Rivers. To the north is the community of Newport. Between St. Marks and Newport is a small industrial area serviced by barge.
The San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park and St. Marks lighthouse are located near the mouth of the river, while the City of Tallahassee's Sam O. Purdom Generating Plant is located on the river in St. Marks.
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Wakulla County is a county located in the Big Bend region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,764. Its county seat is Crawfordville.
St. Marks is a city in Wakulla County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Tallahassee metropolitan area. The population was 293 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 319.
The Florida Panhandle is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a salient roughly 200 miles long, bordered by Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. It is defined by its southern culture and rural geography relative to the rest of Florida, as well as closer cultural links to French-influenced Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Its major communities include Pensacola, Navarre, Destin, Panama City Beach, and Tallahassee.
Newport is a small unincorporated community in Wakulla County, Florida, United States of America, situated where U.S. Highway 98 meets State Road 267.
The Little Manatee River flows 51 miles (82 km), from east of Fort Lonesome, Florida South of Hwy 674 and Earl Reynolds Rd In Hillsborough County through southern Hillsborough County, Florida including towns such as Sun City, Florida, and Gulf City, Florida and northern Manatee County, Florida into Tampa Bay. It has a drainage basin of 222 square miles (570 km2). It flows along the Little Manatee River State Park for part of its route. Portions of the river Such as Hayes Bayou and Mills Bayou have been designated as an Outstanding Florida Water and are part of the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve.
The Tallahassee Railroad, headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, was one of the first two railroads in Florida, starting operations in 1836 or 1837. It did not successfully use steam locomotives until 1855, with trains being pulled by mules for more than 20 years. The principal source of traffic on the railroad for many years was carrying cotton bales from Tallahassee to seaports on the St. Marks River.
The Forgotten Coast refers to a largely untouched and uninhabited area of coastline in the panhandle of the US state of Florida. The term, also a trademark, was first used in 1992, but the Forgotten Coast's exact location is not agreed upon.
The Ochlockonee River is a fast running river, except where it has been dammed to form Lake Talquin in Florida, originating in Georgia and flowing for 206 miles (332 km) before terminating in Florida.
Apalachee Province was the area in the Panhandle of the present-day U.S. state of Florida inhabited by the Native American peoples known as the Apalachee at the time of European contact. The southernmost extent of the Mississippian culture, the Apalachee lived in what is now Leon County, Wakulla County and Jefferson County. The name was in use during the early period of European exploration. During Spanish colonization, the Apalachee Province became one of the four major provinces in the Spanish mission system, the others being the Timucua Province,, the Mocama Province and the Guale Province.
The Withlacoochee River or Crooked River is a river in central Florida, in the United States. It originates in the Green Swamp, east of Polk City, flowing west, then north, then northwest and finally west again before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico near Yankeetown. The river is 141 miles (227 km) long and has a drainage basin of 1,170 square miles (3,000 km2).
Port Leon, Florida, was a river port town located in what is now Wakulla County, Florida. The town existed for only about six years in the first half of the 19th century. Port Leon is classified as an "extinct city" by the State Library and Archives of Florida, and only remnants can be found today.
The Econfina River is a minor river draining part of the Big Bend region of Florida, U.S.A. into Apalachee Bay. The river rises in San Pedro Bay near the boundary between Madison and Taylor counties, and flows 44 miles (71 km) through Taylor County to Apalachee Bay. It has a watershed of 239 square miles (620 km2).
The Big Bend of Florida, United States, is an informally-named geographic region of North Florida where the Florida Panhandle transitions to the Florida Peninsula south and east of Tallahassee. The region is known for its vast woodlands and marshlands and its low population density relative to much of the state. The area is home to the largest single spring in the United States, the Alapaha Rise, and the longest surveyed underwater cave in the United States, the 32-mile (51 km) Wakulla-Leon Sinks cave system.
The Manatee River is a 36-mile-long (58 km) river in Manatee County, Florida. The river forms in the northeastern corner of Manatee County and flows into the Gulf of Mexico at the southern edge of Tampa Bay.
The Myakka River is a river in southwestern Florida. It arises near the Hardee-Manatee county line and flows southwest and then southeast through Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties to Charlotte Harbor, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. The river is 72 miles (116 km) long and has a drainage basin of 602 square miles, of which 314.7 square miles (815 km2) lies in Sarasota county. The last 20 miles (32 km) of the river is tidal and brackish.
The Blackwater River of Florida is a 56.6-mile-long (91.1 km) river rising in southern Alabama and flowing through the Florida Panhandle to the Gulf of Mexico. The river enters Florida in Okaloosa County and flows through Santa Rosa County to Blackwater Bay, an arm of Pensacola Bay. The river passes through Blackwater River State Forest and Blackwater River State Park. Milton, the county seat of Santa Rosa County, is located on the river.
The Chipola River is a tributary of the Apalachicola River in western Florida. It is part of the ACF River Basin watershed.
The Wakulla River is an 11-mile-long (18 km) river in Wakulla County, Florida. It carries the outflow from Wakulla Springs, site of the Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park, to the St. Marks River 3 miles (5 km) north of the Gulf of Mexico. Its drainage basin extends northwest into Leon County, including Munson Slough, and may extend as far north as the Georgia border.
The Sopchoppy River is a minor river in the Florida Big Bend. A tributary of the Ochlockonee River, it is approximately 46 miles (74 km) in length and nearly entirely within Wakulla County, with only a small part of its East Branch entering Leon County.