REL 3938 Assignment 4: Silver Springs History and Paradise Park
Before Disney World - before Universal Studios - before any large amusment park in Florida - there was Silver Springs: a small, attraction of "real Florida." However, even though Silver Springs may not be the number one tourist attraction in Florida now, it sure was quite the hot spot before Florida became modernized with factors such as highways and civil rights.
On my way to Silver Springs, I had the luxury of driving south on Interstate 75. Such a luxury is something everyone takes for granted these days since interstates and highways are necessary for transportation. Nevertheless, people where able to travel around Florida void of highway systems. One way to travel was by water - specifically rivers if one wished to go inland. An example of a river that help Floridians and tourists transport was Silver River. This river runs directly into Silver Springs, giving residents and visitors a way to access this tiny treasure without a highway or major roads. Rivers (and other bodies of water) not only allowed people to enter specific places, but marine travel differed from highway travel also by the amount of places one can go. For example on a highway one must get off an a specific exit that will take one to a specific destination. On the other hand, one could stop at many places on a river, or one could enter the gulf and not be limited to only one stop, but rather travel up and down the coast and choose exactly where to explore. So water travel also gave people many different options and opportunities to find many different places. In addition to the benefit of flexibility with choosing destinaitons, If travelers had large boats, they could sleep in these large boats as opposed to a traveler on a highway who must stop and sleep in a hotel or somewhere with a roof and four walls (I am not denying people slept in their cars, but rather I am interested in the change in possibilities of what people could do with traveling on water as opposed to what most people do now with traveling on highways).
Another historical difference between Silver Springs and modern theme parks is a notorious history of segregation. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Silver Springs could not be enjoyed by African Americans the same way it was enjoyed by Caucasians. Most noteablely, African Americans were forced to attend a different park known as "Paradise Park." When we went to Silver Springs, we were unable to find paradise park. I believe the people of Silver Springs were trying not to advertise this racist part of history. Even though every visitor of Silver Springs had the opportunity to swim, take boat tours, and experience the Ross Allen Reptile Institute, there was a clear separation between different skin colors. I do wonder why the people of Silver Springs hide the remnants of Paradise Park so much. Sure racism is not something to be proud of, but people, especially of younger generations should be informed of the unfortunate events of our past so we (we meaning humans) can do our best to not make such terrible and unnecessary mistakes in the future.
As I conclude this blog, I want to note the importance of preserving history. Those who want to rewrite history and withhold information from others may believe they are doing good. However, other people may want to learn mistakes, progress, and lifestyles of previous generations and people. Such information is not only limited things such as transportation and racism, but anything that can help people of today make a better future for ourselves and future generations.
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