Florida's State Song - The Swanee River

The Swanee River is the Florida's State Song. Stephen C. Froster wrote this song in 1851. Foster sold his song to E.P. Christy, a businessman who operated a series of minstrel shows after writing the song.
Foster did choose the term "Swanee" because its two-syllable cadence would fit nicely into the music he had composed. The Swanee River flows in a southerly direction from the Okeefenokee Swamp in Georgia to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. This river separates the Florida panhandle from the rest of the state.