Chapter Eighteen
Highlands Hammock
As the Sebring Chamber of Commerce is planning an event to observe the 50th anniversary of the dedication of Highlands Hammock to public use as a park it might be appropriate to review the beginnings of the efforts to preserve the area. There can be no more authentic or accurate account than the one by Alexander Blair presented “at a meeting of representatives of Emergency Conservation Work and National Park Service,” March 30. 1936. It should refresh the memories of those who were in Highlands County at the time and inform those who came later.
In this brief resume of the Hammock History no attempt is made to do justice to all that has transpired or to mention by name those who have done so much, in various ways, for the Hammock before it reached the present stage of its development.
About six years ago a small group from Avon Park and Sebring organized the Tropical Florida Parks Association with the purpose of acquiring “Hooker Hammock” (as it was then called) which was privately owned, and of preserving it as a natural forest for the benefit of the public. By a curious coincidence Mrs. Margaret Shippen Roebling (Mrs. John A. Roebling) was taking the only airplane trip she had ever made, with her son. Mr. Donald Roebling, and saw the luxurious vegetation of the Hammock, while flying above it, en route to Sebring and at that time conceived the idea that the Hammock should be conserved, without knowledge of what had already been started. When invited by the Tropical Florida Parks Association, which was then soliciting funds to become one of the subscribers she was, therefore, quite ready to cooperate and offered a donation which was adequate to purchase the greater part of the land (some of the lands being offered as a gift by their owners). This enabled the other subscriptions raised, amounting to nearly $ 10,000.00, to be used during the first two years for the expenses of a curator and a small maintenance force.
Owing to the financial stress existing it was soon obvious that the Trustees of the Tropical Florida Parks Association cold not raise sufficient funds to carry out the necessary work in opening up the Hammock, nor to maintain it. At this point Mr. and Mrs. John A Roebling volunteered their assistance. They made funds available as required for opening up and making accessible the important points of interest in the Hammock proper, by the construction of roads and trails. (By the Hammock proper, wherever the term is used in this report, is meant the 500 acres lying within the heart of the Hammock property, comprising typical hammock growth). They made available funds which, in cooperation with those furnished by the County Commissioners, resulted in a paved road being constructed by the Commissioners from Lake Jackson up to the Hammock property, on the right-of-way existing (which at that time was laid out through the center of the Hammock). Recognizing that such a road, if carried straight through, could be a violation of the spirit of the Hammock it was necessary to build this on a new right-of-way around the north edge of the Hammock proper to the northwest corner of the property at the Hardee County line.
Since Mr. and Mrs. Roebling had been so greatly impressed during their trip through Florida by the havoc and destruction to vegetation wrought by forest fires they provided funds for the protection of the Hammock from outside woods fires by means of fire breaks around an area of approximately 1300 acres (that is 4 half-sections) which was then enclosed by a wire and concrete post fence built to prevent damage due to cattle, hogs, etc. They made possible the further protection against fire and the safeguarding of the plant life by means of a water control system, which was designed to prevent damage due to erosion during storm periods, and in times of drought was to furnish a supply of water to the interior pond areas that would otherwise have been dry during the winter season, infinite care being taken to avoid disturbing ground water conditions so that no plant life would be injuriously affected thereby.
This water control system included the building of a main dam in Charlie Bowlegs Creek at the north line of the Hammock and also a number of smaller secondary dams in the tributary drainage ditch to break the continuity of flow in order to prevent erosion of the bottom and banks of the ditches. It also necessitated piping a stream of water into the Hammock proper from a constantly flowing stream in the higher lands to the east, (now the Botanical Garden and Arboretum property) sufficient to allow for normal evaporation loss from the ponds in the dry season. In all of this water control work there has been a limited amount of money available, necessitating great economy and even severity in design of such features as secondary dams and pipe lines. Limited funds also governed the work which was done on the County Road which it is now recognized should, in certain areas, ultimately be vacated and rerouted completely around the property so as to cut off through-traffic, which may be detrimental to the best interests of such a natural forest park. All work in the Hammock was done with a limited number of men over a period of about five years, serving as a project that would assist the County and the State in dealing with the unemployment problems, but without financial aid from any governmental sources.
All construction work in the Hammock was done with a view to disturbing as little as possible the natural wild beauty of the plant life; man-made improvements were introduced only where essential and with a view to harmonizing with their natural surroundings. The principle was established by the Roebling family that nothing exotic should be introduced into the Hammock proper (which was complete in itself), also that no structure be erected within it which would conflict with its natural beauty, and that the Hammock remain always a preserve for wild animal life.
Believing that “Hooker Hammock” did not carry a true significance, the Trustees, after the death of Mrs. Margaret Shippen Roebling and desiring to comply with her wishes that the Hammock be renamed “Highlands,” reorganized in February 1932 under the name of Highlands Hammock, Inc. Some months after Mrs. Roebling died the Trustees on March 13, 1931, held a service dedicating Highlands Hammock to the public. A bronze tablet was placed by the Trustees on a rock which now stands under one of the finest oak trees, as a fitting tribute to her memory. This tree was one of the three restored by tree surgery by Mr. Donald Roebling in memory of his mother.
During the carrying out of this program of gradual development the State Forester, after several visits, became keenly interested and conceived the idea that Highlands Hammock could fittingly be made the nucleus of a State Park. Believing that a State Park might properly incorporate other features than those found in the Hammock, the State Forester, with others, created enthusiasm in the formation of a Botanical Garden and Arboretum Association, and around the interest of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs to sponsor such a project in property adjacent to and closely tying in to Highlands Hammock. This Botanical Garden and Arboretum Association was organized in April 1934, chiefly under the direction of certain members of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs and by certain members of the Trustees of Highlands Hammock, Inc., with technical cooperation from noted botanists, landscape architects and others interested.
Consultation with Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted resulted in evolution of the idea for its development by the technical staff of the Florida Botanical Garden and Arboretum Association, and all these individuals and the groups named succeeded in securing Federal cooperation in this scheme through Emergency Conservation Work under the National Park Service.
The property selected as the nucleus of the Botanical Garden and Arboretum was then owned by Highlands Hammock. Inc., and was a section of land lying to the east of and adjacent to the Hammock. This was immediately deeded to the State of Florida in the name of the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund. By the suggestion of Mr. Olmsted and at the request of the Florida Botanical Garden and Arboretum Association, Highlands Hammock, Inc., deeded a further piece of property to the State for Botanical Garden and Arboretum purposes, consisting of a tongue-shaped strip of land which at that time lay inside the fenced area of Highlands Hammock, Inc., bounded on the west by Charlie Bowlegs Creek, on the south by the new road which was known as the County Road and on the north by the Highlands Hammock fence. A C.C.C. camp began work on this Botanical Garden and Arboretum project under the direction of ECW and the State Forester in June 1934.
During these negotiations and while work was being carried on in the Botanical Garden and Arboretum the final construction work in Highlands Hammock was completed, a total of about $ 400,000 in all having been made available for purchase, construction and maintenance by members of the Roebling family. At the annual meeting of Highlands Hammock, Inc., on February 18. 1935, Mr. Roebling’s responsibility for the upkeep of Highlands Hammock was formally relinquished by him and a sum of money was given to Highlands Hammock, Inc., to be used toward the maintenance costs during the next few years, with the understanding that the Hammock would, at an early date, be taken over by the State of Florida as a State Park and that these funds would be made available to the State, to be used solely for maintenance purposes, in conjunction with monies to be appropriated by the State Legislature also for that purpose. These Trust funds were placed in the hands of a group of Trustees of Highlands Hammock with the State represented by certain members of the Florida Board of Forestry. The Florida Board of Forestry, an agency of the State, accepted the deed from Highlands Hammock, Inc., in July 1935, in accordance with the Act which, owing to the efforts of many interested, was unanimously passed by the State Legislature and approved June 4, 1935.
At the request of the Florida Board of Forestry the Board of Trustees of Highlands Hammock, Inc., has continued in existence, and in order that this Board might be more truly representative of all parts of the state, the number of Trustees was increased from 25 Trustees, as originally constituted to a total of 45, thus affording reasonable geographical representation to different parts of the state, with the purpose of widening the interest and use of the Park and securing greater support in legislative matters concerning it.
Highlands Hammock State Park is under the administration of the Florida Board of Forestry and operates under the direction of its park representative of the Board, the State Forester and the Director of the Florida Park Service. The Trustees of Highlands Hammock, Inc., have been requested by the Florida Board of Forestry to function in an advisory capacity so as to ensure wise and proper use of the Hammock and to retain responsibility for some of its useful activities, such as the conducting of Sunday Vesper Services throughout the winter season. These Vesper Services have become widely known largely because of the high quality of speakers who have participated in them during the past four seasons and the number of people attending these services has gradually increased.
In carrying out the original idea of the State Forester, to which reference has already been made, of creating a State Forest Park considerably greater in magnitude than either of the two projects referred to in the foregoing, it was proposed that an encircling tract of about 50,000 acres (made available chiefly by delinquency of taxes) would serve to protect both these valuable properties. The idea of this park was acceptable to the Florida Forest Service and it was understood that it should be known as DeSoto State Forest Park, the property serving the public in a recreational manner. The acquisition of some of the lands in question has been completed by the consent of the owners, and with their cooperation.
It was recognized that there are problems common to all these three projects and because of their intimate relations, one to another, that the creation of an organization which would have power to consider and administer the related interests of all three projects in cooperation with and under the direction of the Florida Board of Forestry. In the meantime steps have been taken leading to the creation of a committee that shall be representative in its character of all three, being composed of Trustees selected by each respective body, given power to deal with the problems of each. It is suggested that the control of the ECW funds and manpower might now be placed in the hands of the joint committee and that ultimately the whole park, composed of these three units, should function under one general directing organization and accept policies which would be for the best interests of the State and of all concerned.
ALEXANDER BLAIR
Civil and Construction Engineer.
(This article is reprinted from Bulletin Number Twenty Seven.
Sebring Historical Society, October 1979. Pages 827-831.)