Suwannee County just like the rest of the United States. The rural nature of the county meant that there were no widespread shortages of food, as the numerous farmers simply lived off their lands. The coming of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’ s New Deal Programs brought additional work into Suwannee County as new roads, schools, and other public buildings were constructed.
World War II saw the true end of the Great Depression, and Suwannee County’ s citizens went off to war like the rest of the country. Women and children filled in for the fifty to seventy percent of Suwannee County’ s farmhands who enlisted. Rationing was instituted around the country to assist the war effort, and the remaining citizens of Suwannee County worked to defeat the enemy in their own ways. Families waited patiently for news of their loved ones, news that sometimes reported their deaths or status as missing in action. A memorial honoring Suwannee County’ s war dead is located in downtown Live Oak at the aptly named Veterans’ Park.
The postwar economy boomed for Suwannee County in the late 1940s and 1950s. The Suwannee County Hospital was constructed in 1948, the first hospital in the nation constructed under the Hill-Burton Act of 1948. Additional public buildings were completed, including a library, coliseum, recreation center, armory, and several schools, roads, and bridges. One of the bridges, the Hal Adams Bridge to Mayo completed in 1947, was the first suspension bridge in Florida. A new power plant was constructed at Ellaville( formerly Columbus), and telephone and electrical service were provided to the entire county for the first time. US 129 and US 90 were straightened through Live Oak during the 1950s, allowing for better traffic flow at the expense of many of the live oak trees that had graced the downtown area since its founding. In 1952, Norm Protsman of WNER and others founded the Suwannee River Jamboree, North Florida’ s largest and best-known country music show. It continued for several decades with many country stars performing every year. In a sense, it was a precursor to the even larger music festivals such as the Suwannee River Jam held at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park north of Live Oak. The Florida Sheriff’ s Boys’ Ranch was opened in 1957 on the Suwannee River for troubled and abandoned boys from around the state. One of the original patrons was Elvis Presley, who donated a cottage used in one of his movies. The facilities have been gradually expanded to include a gym, school, church, fire department, and various small businesses.
In September of 1964, Hurricane Dora inundated Suwannee County, particularly Live Oak, with rain. Downtown Live Oak suffered major damage as some businesses were covered with several feet of water. President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed County officials via satellite to declare the county a disaster area. Gradually the waters receded, revealing millions of dollars’ worth of damage to homes, businesses, and
government buildings. The level of damage was not exceeded until 2012’ s Tropical Storm Debby.
The landscape of Live Oak and Suwannee County changed after Hurricane Dora, with several businesses moving to higher ground, razing older structures such as the Parshley Building and Governor Cary Hardee’ s home in the process. School classrooms were relocated, and starting in 1965, they were integrated with white and African- American students attending the same schools. The last segregated class to graduate was that of Douglass High School in 1969, at which time total integration was complete within Suwannee County after a peaceful transition. Several large business facilities entered Suwannee County in the 1960s, including the Goldkist( now Pilgrim’ s Pride) chicken processing plant west of Live Oak that opened in 1967.
The 1970s saw increased growth in the county as structures such as a distribution warehouse opened on a 40-acre tract of land near Interstate-10. A new Live Oak City Hall was completed in 1978 several blocks to the east of the original building, which continued to be used by the police and fire departments until newer structures were purchased or constructed. The original structure, completed in
Courthouse, Early 1900s
18 SUWANNEE CHAMBER IMPACT | 2026-2027