Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings wasn’t just an author in Florida. She lived Florida. Her stories are laden with imagery and themes that Floridians know as their own. From South Moon Under to Cross Creek to The Yearling, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939, Rawlings’ books continue to give readers the opportunity to experience Old Florida charm with the turn of every page.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings at her home in Cross Creek (circa 1940s).

Rawlings died in 1953, but she left far more than just her iconic writings as a legacy. She also left her home at Cross Creek, a tiny community packed into a small strip of land between Orange and Lochloosa lakes in southern Alachua County. The area had been settled since the 19th century, but few would have known how to find it until Rawlings’ fame put it on the map.

Excerpt of a Florida Department of Transportation Map showing Cross Creek and vicinity (1990).

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings purchased her Cross Creek home in 1928 and began renovating it in 1930. Historic preservation experts believe the house was originally built in the 1880s as a two-room cabin with a “dogtrot,” or a breezeway running through the house from front to back. Additional bedrooms were built in the 1890s, while a dining room and kitchen were added in the 1920s. The house was not electrified until Rawlings had been living in the house for ten years, and even then the source of power was a Delco generator installed in the nearby pump house.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home at Cross Creek (circa 1980s).

When Rawlings died, she left her home to the Florida Endowment Corporation, now known as the University of Florida Foundation. Since 1970 it has been managed by the Florida Park Service. Thousands of visitors come to the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings house each year to tour the grounds and learn about the life and career of this remarkable Floridian. The house became so popular in the years following the release of the movie Cross Creek in 1983 that state officials closed the site for a year while the foundation was strengthened to handle the added burden.

A barn on the Rawlings property at Cross Creek (1965).

The Florida Photographic Collection contains numerous pictures of Rawlings, Cross Creek, and other places associated with her stories. Some of the rarest photos were taken by agents of MGM Studios in the 1940s as they searched around north and central Florida for settings to use in a film adaptation of The Yearling. This first attempt at turning the prize-winning book into a film faltered, partly due to the onset of World War II. MGM finally released the movie in 1947. Gregory Peck, Claude Jarman, and Jane Wyman starred, and the film won two Oscars for art direction and cinematography. It was nominated for five other Academy Awards.

Farm house scouted by MGM Studios as a possible filming site for a film adaptation of The Yearling (1940). Search the Florida Photographic Collection to find more MGM photos.

On September 29, 1970 (45 years ago this week), the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings home was added to the National Register of Historic Places. If you haven’t been to see it, you owe it to yourself to visit when you’re in the area next. Click here for more information from the Florida Park Service.

Until you’re ready to make the trip, of course, you can always search for photos of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Cross Creek on Florida Memory!

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