Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Historic Site (Hawthorne, Fla.)

Majorie Kinnan Rawlings moved to North Central Florida with her husband, Charles, when she was 32 years of age. Both were journalists in Rochester, New York, and she was becoming discouraged about her career as a writer. Mrs. Rawlings drew inspiration for her writing from the "big scrub" land and its "cracker" inhabitants. In 1933, she published her first novel, "South Moon Under," followed by the "The Yearling" and "Cross Creek." In the course of time, she was divorced from her husband, Charles, and later married Norton Baskin of St. Augustine. Subsequently, she divided her time between Cross Creek and St. Augustine, where Baskin ran a hotel. She willed her home and acreage to the University of Florida; the area has been maintained by the State of Florida since 1971 as a historic site.