Discover Dunnellon
Dunnellon's Boomtown identity comes from the phosphate industry that rapidly changed the area around the end of the nineteenth century. Mines supplied a trade network using both the Withlacoochee River and rail transport. The city takes its name from railroad figure John F. Dunn, underscoring how closely transport and development were connected.
More about Dunnellon
The Atlantic Coast Line depot, built in 1908, handled more than mineral traffic. Produce, timber and passengers also moved through Dunnellon, and military transport added another role during World War II. As the early mining boom weakened, other uses of the river landscape became more important.
Nearby Rainbow Springs tells a separate tourism story. Its former private attraction included constructed waterfalls and animal exhibits, features designed to present a tropical spectacle. Changing highways and competition contributed to its decline before state acquisition in 1990. The surviving garden features are therefore cultural artifacts as well as scenery. The city's industrial past and the springs' attraction history reveal two different economies built around the same regional landscape.
Sources
- City of Dunnellon: History: https://www.dunnellon.org/visitors/history-of-dunnellon
- Florida State Parks: History of Rainbow Springs: https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/history-rainbow-springs
