Troy Springs - The Madison civil war wreck

Troy Springs
Branford, Florida
US Highway 27

Troy Spring is home to a beautiful freshwater spring that feeds the Suwannee River near Branford, Florida.  Johnny and I stopped here on our way to Pensacola to dive the spring and in the Suwannee River, enjoying the crystal clear spring water which ran into the river.  Like most rivers in northern Florida, the Suwannee River is tannin colored water with the clear spring water flowing into it.

The Madison wreck on the bottom of the Troy Spring run is a stern-wheel riverboat built in 1850.  Owned by James M. Tucker, the boat was specially designed to navigate higher up the Suwannee than any other steamer then on the river.  The wreck of the boat remains on the bottom of the spring run to this day.

Troy Springs is quite large, the open spring head drops off from a depth 15 feet around the steps close to the entry point to a maximum of 70 feet.  The spring empties into a shallow, wide spring run and then into the Suwanee River.  There were a bunch of fallen trees at the deeper section of the sink, which are cool to swim around.  The bottom is a mix of rubble, sand and clay.  There was a cave at the deepest section; this was a small, tight side mount entry cave so it was posted for only experienced certified divers to enter.  We did not go inside only down to the bottom and out to the confluence of the Suwannee.

In the shallow spring run lie the remains of the Confederate steamship Madison. This Civil War-era steamboat was scuttled in the spring run in 1863 to keep it from being captured by the union army.  The Madison carried food supplies to the troops as far north as Columbus Georgia.  The wreckage lies in less than ten feet of water, little more remains than some ribs and metal spikes that made up part of the hull. 


 The spring head is usually crystal clear, with visibility of more than 100 feet.  Sometimes during the year, if the Suwanee River floods, tannin, cold water pours into the spring head ruining the visibility.  Like most Florida springs the water temperature is a year round constant 72 degrees.

Clear spring water and tannin water meet

It was an interesting dive location but we only made one trip as there were several other better dives in the area of the northern Florida panhandle.   Troy Spring is now a State Park which offers swimming, open water scuba diving, birding, hiking, picnicking and the rare chance to explore the wreck of a Civil War steamboat!


Ice

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