Many of the older residents of High Springs can probably tell you about the “Big Blow,” the hurricane-spawned tornado that swept through and destroyed much of the town in 1896. They can also tell you how the discovery of phosphate led to a mini Gold Rush in the area, and how the arrival of the railroad in 1884 turned High Springs into something out of the Wild West for a time.

But these fascinating stories from High Springs past are largely unknown among the town’s younger and newer residents. So a group of students from High Springs Community School is now gathering as much history about their town as possible, hoping to preserve it for future generations.

With the help of a grant from the Alachua County Public Schools Foundation, media specialist Judith Weaver and teachers Cindy Gallop and Brian Moody are working with a group of eighth-graders this year to develop a calendar, an historical walking tour and a Power Point presentation based on High Springs history.

“We’re at a tipping point in High Springs’ history because we’re growing so fast,” said Weaver. “They need to know the town’s history so they can protect it.”

Gallop’s own family has a long and significant history in High Springs. Her paternal grandfather Bill Westmoreland was the town’s first city manager from 1922 to 1925, and once owned the land on which Camp Kulaqua now sits. She herself was chosen ‘Tobacco Queen’ in 1971 during the annual High Springs festival that is now known as Pioneer Days.  

“I want students to know why High Springs came into existence, to know about its families and traditions,” she said. “A lot of wonderful stories are going to die out if we don’t preserve them.”

The teachers and students recently spent a day visiting important historical sites and recording what they saw and heard. Among the stops was historic St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, which was built in 1886 out of timber from pine trees toppled during the Big Blow. They visited the Priest Theater and learned how segregation affected citizen’s daily lives. They walked the train tracks that once had such a huge impact on High Springs. And they took pictures of ‘Big Dan,’ a 2600 year old cypress tree in Camp Kulaqua and the 4^th-oldest tree in Florida.  “It was pretty neat,” said student Austen Everett, who is a High Springs native. “I learned stuff about the town that I didn’t know.”

During the tour of downtown High Springs, Austen spent a few moments taking a rubbing from a brick outside the former railroad station. The brick bears the name of his grandfather Aren Wyndell Everett, a longtime educator in High Springs.

“My family has been here a long time, we’re still here, and I want to stay here too,” he said.

In coming months Austen and his classmates will also be taking oral histories from some of the town’s residents and searching libraries and the Internet for more books and documents about High Springs.

“We want them to learn how to conduct research,” said Weaver. “We’re encouraging them to understand how they can find information, teaching them to use their ingenuity to learn about their history.”

Weaver says they’ll also be working with other teachers at the school as the project progresses, tying in literature, social studies, graphic arts, technology and other subjects in a multidisciplinary approach.

“Yes, this project is about history, but it’s also about preparing students to be successful in the 21^st century,” she said.

Student Jessica Gooden lived in High Springs for just a year when she was about three years old, but her family moved back to town about eight months ago. She says she enjoys hearing about the town’s history, especially stories of the railroad and shootouts on Main Street. But she realizes that the project has a deeper meaning.

“My grandpa always says that in order to know your future, you’ve got to know your past,” she said.

Residents who have documents or other information that may be of use to the students as they are working on this project are encouraged to call Judith Weaver at High Springs Community School at (386) 454-1958.