Save Our Springs

EARLY HISTORY

Northeast of the bustling Florida metropolis of Tampa, Florida, lies a quiet, wooded wetland area known as "The Green Swamp." This area of swampy flatlands and sandy ridges stretches across an 850-square-mile area. Many forms of water resources connect to create this complex hydrology.

The springs, rivers, creeks, cypress swamps, the Floridan aquifer under its limestone covering and seasonal rainfall, all play an important role. A change in one form can affect all the rest.

Crystal Springs is located just south of the Green Swamp and about 15 miles north of Tampa. The springs are an essential ingredient in natures intricate design, providing a constant flow of crystal-clear water to the Hillsborough River.

This entire region is rich with history. Prior to the mid 1800's the Seminole Indians hunted and fished along these same river banks. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of human life along the river dating back as far as 10,000 years. The cities of Tampa and Temple Terrace have grown along the banks, originally depending on the river for transportation and a conduit for commerce.

Today the Hillsborough River is responsible for the majority of the local drinking water and is a primary resource for biodiversity and recreation. According to the 1949 Florida Government Handbook, Crystal Springs contributed 41.8 million gallons a day to the river's flow. Today's estimated contribution is somewhere between 24 and 30 million gallons a day.

THE CRYSTAL SPRINGS COLONY

In 1911, records document that A. B. Hawk from Toledo, Ohio, formed The Co-operative Homestead Company. Developing a 24,000 acre tract of land he had purchased in Florida, Hawk offered 10 to 40 acre farms for sale. He advertised that "The Crystal Springs Colony" would provide a way for the "average man" to get a farm home in the finest of climates. In an effort attract potential investors, he promised perpetual access to the springs with their purchase. Hawk described these waters as "A Fountain of Health," a public domain which would forever provide homesteaders with clean water to drink and a swimming hole to enjoy.

On March 23, 1912, a PUBLIC PARKS RESERVATION was declared and recorded on a plat of the 40 acres called Crystal Springs.

One colonist described the springs as a beautiful crystal river, bountifully stocked with fish and shaded by overhanging trees. Another colonist, E. S. Oldham, said he read about Crystal Springs in a magazine while living in Canada. Many families like the Oldhams and the Eikelands came from far away to settle in this new-found oasis. They became a farming co-ooperative, raising cabbage, sweet potatoes and sugar cane.

They even did some experimenting with a miracle plant called dasheen, whose every part was edible, the greens tasting like spinach and the tubers like potatoes. By 1914 the Crystal Springs Colony had grown to approximately 300 people. They were hard working families, living their dream and believing they had found a great new way of life.

BROKEN PROMISES

A B Hawk and Mrs. Hawk row 2 position 2 and 3

According to the land purchase agreement prepared by Hawk, when the colony population reached 100 families, control of the springs would be given to the colonists. When that time came, he refused to turn over the springs and as time went by, his land deals became more and more suspicious. It appears that his own mortgage payments were coming due quicker than he could sell the land, so in 1916 Hawk and his associates decided to form the 'new' Crystal Springs Colony Company. The plan was to have the original Homestead Company give the unallotted lands and outstanding contracts to the new company in exchange for stock. A few months later, Hawk was indicted for mail fraud, but somehow he was able to escape conviction.

By 1920 the colonists discovered that upon making final payment for their land, Hawk explained that he was unable to issue a Warranty Deed. At the same time, he guaranteed that their investment was safe, offering them stock in his new company instead. He promised that the new company would donate to the colony at least 10 acres around the springs for park purposes, including a sufficient portion of the springs to ensure a perpetual water supply. In spite of mounting evidence of fraud, Hawk was able to continue his operation while the colony grew to a population of 2000.

A FLURRY OF PAPER

From 1925 to 1928 a series of transactions took place with agreements, deeds, and powers of attorneys changing hands under a darkening cloud of suspicion. When the mist finally cleared, a group of five Hawk associates, falsely claiming to represent the colony landowners, signed the rights to the springs over to Hawk's new company. The colonists were furious. They filed complaints with the courts in Tampa citing plat maps and the day the springs were dedicated as a public park reservation. In an article published September 27, 1927 in the Plant City Courier, E. S. Oldham, representing the Common Good Society of Crystal Springs, argued that the ownership of the springs rightfully resided with the colonists. He declared, "I would have not bought the land if the springs had not been included." Eventually in 1927, in a surprising development 200 miles away, a federal judge in Jacksonville decided the colonists complaint to be null and void. "It was over with before my mama could get there," said Betty Giles whose family came from Wisconsin to settle in Crystal Springs."The hearing was supposed to be in Tampa."

THINGS GET UGLY

Pipe to the left belongs to water company.

Once the land was declared free and clear, Hawk could sell the springs and pay off his debts. "That's when all the trouble started," said colonist Victor Eikeland. "He sold it, but nobody knew how he sold it. The springs were supposed to belong to the landowners, but somehow he sold them too." Adding to an already volatile situation, a man named Waters leased the spring and with it the right to bottle the water. He then constructed a fence around the springs to protect what he considered to be "his" property. For the first time, the colonists were actually being denied access to their source of water. In the 1927 newspaper article entitled "Crystal Springs Society may destroy fence again," Colonist Oldham said the fence at the spring had been torn down on advice from their attorney and would probably be torn down again.

The protest continued until finally in 1929, the springs were sold to private owners in New York, one of whom was financier Otto Kahn. The oldtimers will tell you the story of how colonist Kenneth Burke was murdered over the ownership dispute. Legend has it that he was pushed in front of a train on his way to New York with proof that the sale was illegal.

ALTERING MOTHER NATURE

Over the years, the physical contours of the springs have changed as well. Once in the late 1920s and again in the early 1940s, local residents say the spring was dynamited to enlarge the swimming hole. The more recent blast actually stopped the flow of the springs for several days.

Frantically, construction crews worked with bulldozers and drag lines to restore the flow. Once they recovered from this near catastrophe, a dam was built to control the level of the pool they had created. Through it all, the springs remained open to the public.

In 1944 Mabry and Crowder from Tampa purchased the spring and in 1975 sold it to the Thomas family, the current owner of the spring. By this time many original colonists had moved away, but those who stayed kept the stories alive of the time when their precious springs were taken away.

THE THOMAS FAMILY

For 20 years, the Thomas Family maintained the spring and kept it open to the public while developing a lucrative deal to sell water and truck it to the Zephyrhills bottling facility.

However, when Perrier/Nestle purchased the Zephyrhills Water Company in 1987, things began to change. To accommodate Perrier's increasing demand for water, Bob Thomas suggested they install a PVC pipe in the heart of the spring to pump water underground to the bottling plant. By the early 1990s, Perrier's plans for the spring broadened to include larger steel pipes and pumps to upgrade their operation.

In 1996, Robert Thomas, President of Crystal Springs Recreation Preserve, shocked the community by locking the gate and closing the spring to the public. He justified this action in a public announcement saying he planned to conduct scientific research. The residents feel the more believable reason was to keep Perrier's abuse from public view. This closure prompted outrage and a united community effort to "Save Our Springs." People still insist the spring was stolen from its rightful owners and is now being exploited at environmentally dangerous levels. Residents fear future generations may never know again the beauty and joy of the springs they call home.

In the fall of 1998, oldtimers gathered in Crystal Springs to reminisce about the times they spent at the Colony. They believe that the spring should be returned to the people to enjoy the way it was meant to be. Future web site space will be devoted to their stories.

A CHRONOLOGY OF DOCUMENTS

View The Deed Document
Acrobat PDF

View the Platt

Rancher cited for letting
too much water be taken

The state of Florida denys that the Hillsborough River was ever navigatable?

Click Here—Decide for yourself.

The following documents are recorded at the Dade City Courthouse

1911 J. P. Renfroe conveyed property described as SW quarter of the NW quarter of Section 35, Township 26S, Range 21East, to R. W. Burke
1911 Two months later, R. W. Burke and wife, Elizabeth, conveyed a warranty deed to A. B. Hawk, but stayed as partners
1911 R. W. Burke, Elizabeth, and Hawk conveyed a warranty deed to The Co-operative Homestead Company
1912 Legal plat recorded with springs as common good land
1913 The Co-operative Homestead Company gave Power of Attorney to J. B. Muller.
1925 Crystal Springs Colony, with Hawk as president and L. L. Halford as secretary, formed an agreement with W. J. Wilson in the amount of $243,000.
1926 A group of five members of Common Good Society of Crystal Springs, claiming to represent the citizens of the community, gave all rights to spring to Co-operative Homestead Company.
1926 W. J. Wilson signed a twenty-year lease with Edward Waters for water rights
1926 Crystal Springs Colony Company with Hawk as President registered a certificate saying all free and clear.
1927 Waters, representing the Crystal Springs Colony Company, received the judgement against the colonists. Their claim was null and void.
1928 Waters signed agreement (assumed to be water rights) with Meinhardt.
1928 On the same day Crystal Springs Colony Company, with Hawk as president, conveyed a warranty deed to Meinhardt
1929 Meinhardt conveyed a warranty deed to Paskill Corporation
1944 Paskill Corporation conveyed a warranty deed to Crowder and Maybry
1975 The Bob Thomas family purchases the property known as Crystal Springs.