Georgia Southern & Florida Railway

In 1902 the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway bought the property of the Atlantic, Valdosta and Western Railway between Valdosta and Jacksonville. It also owned the Macon and Birmingham Railroad and the Hawkinsville and Florida Southern Railway. In 1917 the railroad reported owning 392 miles of line consisting of 285 miles from Macon to Palatka and 107 miles from Valdosta to Grand Crossing, near Jacksonville. The line's nickname was the Suwanee River Route. It crossed the stream, made famous by an 1850s Stephen Foster song, at White Springs, Florida. A second Suwanee crossing, at Fargo, Georgia, came with the acquisition of the Atlantic, Valdosta and Western. Today the Georgia Southern and Florida Railway remains officially in existence as a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern. It no longer extends to Palatka, ending at Lake City instead. The Norfolk Southern main line is now the former Atlantic, Valdosta and Western to Jacksonville.

Cordele, Georgia · United States