Suwannee County

Suwannee County is named after the world famous Suwannee River. Suwannee County was established in 1858, with the county seat originally being Houston (pronounced - House-ton). In 1868 the county made the decision to move the seat to Live Oak, due to the growing population in Live Oak. The current Suwannee County Courthouse (pictured above) was erected in 1904.

The word "Suwannee" may either be a corruption of the Spanish San Juan ("Saint John") or from the Cherokee sawani ("echo river")- With the rich history of Catholic missionaries in the area, it's popularly believed to be the first. The name 'Suwannee' was made known to the world by the Stephen Foster son "Old Folks at Home" (a.k.a "Way Down Upon the Suwannee River"). It's well known that Foster never actually saw the Suwannee, but the pronunciation fit well into the song he was writing. While the song is what everyone knows, many people know that in the spirit of the Suwannee - there is a county.... Suwannee County, named after the river, was created in 1858. Currently, we boast a population of just over 40,000....an impressive number considering the population in 1990 was under 27,000.

• Live Oak
• Branford
• Wellborn
• Dowling Park
• Houston
• O'Brien
• McAlpin
• Beachville
• Luraville
• Hildreth