Falling Creek Falls Park is a cooperative venture between the Suwannee River Water Management District and the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners, with the land acquired through the Preservation 2000 land acquisition program to protect major water resources in the Suwannee Valley Region and the park managed by Columbia County. Falling Creek, a tributary of the Suwannee River, originates north of Lake City, flows for several miles through the falls area, then goes underground about 1/4 mile below the falls before returning to the surface and entering the Suwannee north of White Springs. It is an intermittent stream fed mainly by rain and groundwater when the water table is high, so its water level can change quickly and it is often dry. Settlers moved into the Falling Creek and Winfield area in the early 1850s, and the first settlers arrived by wagon train from South Carolina, including the families of Thomas D. Dicks, the Reverend W. J. Greene, Richard Mole, and others. James Winfield Dicks, son of Thomas Dicks, founded Winfield Station on the Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad and built a mercantile store that also served as a post office. When the area was settled, Columbia County had a population of 4,646 people, including 2,069 slaves. The histories of Falling Creek and Winfield became closely linked. At the end of the Civil War, L. W. Rivers and a Mr. Reed established a sawmill on Falling Creek. By the 1890s, the naval stores industry brought further growth, and Winfield gained a large turpentine distillery, two more general stores, a cotton gin, and a gristmill. A building now across from the kiosk is believed to have served as a general store or commissary and was moved there from Winfield. Falling Creek Church, located nearby, was established in 1855 and is listed on the National Historic Register. Thomas Dicks acquired the church property in 1855 for $.50 an acre from the Florida Internal Improvement Trust Fund. A log church first stood there and served the community until 1885, when the present church building was constructed of local materials. It has two front doors, one for men and one for women, reflecting the custom of seating men and women on opposite sides of the church. The church remains in use and is open to the public every day. A one-room schoolhouse was built on the site in 1887 and remained in use until the mid 1930s, though the school building no longer stands.