marjorie kinnan rawlings historic state park

The house is full of Rawlings own furniture which makes the tour even more meaningful. Volunteer led tour was excellent. Chickens were roaming around, the staff was making marmalade on the wood fired stove and the anecdotes were delightful. Loved that it is way off the beaten path in rural Florida. $3 to park and $3 for house tour.

It was easy to imagine Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings living on this small farm in central Florida. I was hard to imagine, however, what it must have been like in the summer with the heat and humidity and bugs, but one can try. You don't have to have read her books to enjoy this site which allows you to see the old Florida, the farming Florida that existed before the high-rises and the condos. The house itself is authentic and little changed since she lived there. It includes her original furnishings, which are fun to see. The tour guide had many amusing stories to tell, especially about her acquisition of booze during prohibition. We also enjoyed a picnic in the nearby park and the two 15 minute walks into the scrub. And, if they are ripe, you are allowed to pick an orange or two for consumption. They were excellent.

The only way to tour Marjorie Rawlings home is by taking the Guided Tour offered at specific times on certain days. Her home is the best part about the park. All of the furnishings in the house were hers. Our tour guide provided us with so many points of interest during the tour that made it become an experience not just a house tour.

We visited here with family from Gainesville. Although we did not take the tour, we thoroughly enjoyed walking the grounds and picking fresh oranges! The caretaker/tour guide invited us to as many oranges as we could take and even provided us with a "picker" to pull them from the tops of the trees. The property is beautiful and we would not hesitate to return and join in a tour of the house.

We were late in getting there but the guide took the time to tell us all about Marjorie and her times. Made our later trip to St Augustine more meaningful too

I visited this incredible place when it was cold and messy in the Northeast. The lure of great food and sunshine took me south and I found myself in Micanopy eating pie and then not long afterward walking through this superior historic site. The guides were fabulous. I felt like a writer.

Yesterday, my DH surprised me with a trip to Cross Creek to visit the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park. What a wonderful day we had. The weather was perfect, sunny and bright. The house and orchard were of particular interest to me as a writer, and I found the volunteers who assist with the tours at the site knowledgeable and gracious. They had a treasure trove of stories to share. One volunteer was working on a batch of orange marmalade on the wood stove in the kitchen. The ladies were incredible in the details they knew and shared with the visitors. They kept the entire group, ranging in age from 2 to seventy enraptured. What a wonderful day, suitable for all family.

This is a must do if you are in this area.....lots of history....very nice staff.....beautiful old home......

Great place to visit. Learned a lot about Rawlings and we were able to take a few oranges and tangerines from her heavily laden trees. Also enjoyed the farm buildings near the farm. The whole park is like stepping back in time!

My wife and I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon at the MKR Historic Park in Cross Creek, Florida. It certainly looks like the state has taken very good care of her house since the ownership passed into their hands. The grounds and building are much like they were in Margorie's time. The guide, Rob was very knowledgable and certainly well informed and it was a joy to listen to someone who was that passionate about his well studied subject. I would not hesitate to recommend this guided tour to anyone interested in the history of an area and literature. She must have been quite the lady. University grad, in 1918 at the Univercity of. Wisconsin. And the rest I'll let Rob tell you about. He's far more entertaining then I.

Visiting this serene and earthy historic site is one of those "stop and smell the roses" kind of activities. Whether traveling through or planning an outing for the family, the Rawlings farm is certainly worth some time and a little money. The park offers parking, a boat ramp (lake nearby), picnic areas, and the Rawlings estate. Down the road is the Yearling, a quaint old-time restaurant serving catfish and gator, among other things (somewhat pricey, but the backwoods Florida experience is authentic - very friendly and laid-back). If you want to know what life was like 75-100 years ago in North Central Florida, this is the place for adults and children to learn about it. There is plenty of room for roaming around, a few ducks and chickens to watch, and perhaps some fresh bread baking in the old wood stove to sample. Cost is $3/car to visit the old farm, $3/person to tour the farmhouse, and $$ (any amount) to donate to the preservation expenses. Sometime, either on your way somewhere else or for a day trip, make it a point to visit this place. You may also want to read Rawling's book "The Yearling" and watch the movie "Cross Creek.".

We visited on a January Saturday, when -- according to the website -- no guided tours of the house were scheduled. In fact, a tour was just starting when we arrived. It lasted one wonderful, enriching hour. Our guide (I think his name was Rick) was in love with Rawlings's work, knew it intimately, and shared his enthusiasm. He also knew a lot about growing oranges and Florida history. If you have already read The Yearling or Cross Creek, or watched the films, as we have, you will be enchanted by a visit like ours. If not, you'll be running to buy the books or DVDs. To top it off, the staff sent us home with oranges grown right there. Thanks to them for a wonderful day!

I must admit I had never even heard of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings before we arrived in Florida where I spent the latter half of 2014. Thankfully, our landlady had placed a copy of Rawlings' Pulitzer Price-winning novel "The Yearling" strategically in our Gainesville temporary home. So on our last weekend in Gainesville, my wife, my daughter and I finally visited Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, and we were just blown away. The place looks pretty much the way it did when the author, a globally admired star writer at the time but largely forgotten now, was still living there from 1928 until her death in 1953. As we found out during the course of our wonderfully inspirational tour, everything in the house war still original (everything but the dining table whom Rawlings had bequeathed to someone in her will). This is due to the fact that Rawlings' second husband, Norton Baskin, whom she married in 1941, kept all her belongings in storage, were they were preserved for posterity, while the house was used by the University of Florida in the years following the writer's death.I don't want to give away the whole fascinating story of Rawlings' life and the history of the place. You should definitely take the time and go there to find out for yourself. The knowledgeable guides will not only tell you about Rawlings and the marvellous place without which none of her great works would habe been written the way they were written but also about the citrus trees in the garden which bear delicious and extremely fruits that have not been grown commercially for decades and which also bear witness (sorry, I couldn't resist) to a bygone era of horticulture. If you are nice your guide may let you pick a few samples.It's a truly magical place that made us want to read all of Rawlings' books!If you are in the area and care about literature even just a tiny bit, you mustn't miss out on this.The facilities, and a playground, are outside Rawlings' estate, by the parking lot.

Wow! Old Florida and a significant piece of literary history came from this quaint little place. Home sits in an orange grove, easy access from the parking lot, short wait for the tour, knowledgeable tour guides, and when the tour is finished you may stay as long as you like. It's located adjacent to a tree shaded park so you may picnic or let the kids play on the playground. Also has a lake with boat access.

I was in Gainesville and decided to drive here for a visit. I strolled through the grounds with its citrus trees and chickens. I took the house tour. Very interesting seeing all the dated furniture and appliances. And the old car beside the house. This was a trip back in time.