1. The history of water hyacinth management in Florida is inextricably connected to the steamboat traffic on the St Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers and other inland navigable waters of Florida.
Water hyacinth was reportedly introduced into the St Johns River near Palatka in the 1880s, and by the turn of the century was interfering with steamboat traffic.
Dense hyacinth mats prevented steamers from accessing the docks at Palatka and drifting mats were reported to push steamers off course as they traversed Lake George.
Congress authorized the US Army Corps of Engineers to begin removing water hyacinth obstructions from southeastern waters in 1899.
By the 1920s, railroads replaced steamboats as the primary mode of transportation in Florida, bringing the age of steamboat transportation to an abrupt end: however, the legacy of water hyacinth grows on in Florida navigable rivers and public lakes.

2. Golden Age of Sternwheeler Steamboats St Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers
Palatka - Silver Springs
Principal Steamboats On Line
Marion
Okeehumkee
Osceola
Tuscawilla
Water hyacinth introduced into St Johns River near Palatka s
Astatula
Waunita
Eureka
Metamora
Hiawatha

3. Okahumkee - Ocklawaha River - 1880s

4. Steamer Metamora - Ocklawaha River - 1895

5. Steamer
Osceola
Ocklawaha River
1896

6. Kissimmee Waterfront - Lake Toho - 1890s

7. 1900 - The Golden Age of Water Hyacinth Begins in Florida

8. St Johns River - Abandoned Pilot Boy - Palatka

9. Steamer Metamora on the Ocklawaha River

10. Metamora on the bottom in Palatka - 1880s

11. Steamboat Everglades in water hyacinth- St Johns River - 1898

12. Steamer Alligator - Palatka - 1899

14. Hyacinth - Jacksonville RR Yard - Post 1890s Hurricane

15. River bridge

16. Crows Bluff Ferry - St Johns River - 1900

17. Lake Okeechobee s

18. City Dock - Lake Toho s

19. Lake Toho

21. Fisheating Creek

22. Hickey Creek

23. St Johns River - Palatka - 1920s

24. Lake Toho Pier - Kissimmee - 1920s

25. Ocklawaha River
loggers
1920s

27. Steamer Lillie - Everglades - 1925

28. City Dock - Lake Toho

29. Tsala Apopka

30. Estero River
1926

31. Green Cove Springs

32. St. Johns River

33. St Johns River
1931

34. Lake Harris - Venetian Gardens construction - 1935

35. Hillsborough River

36. Jammed Canal

37. Fishing amongst the hyacinths - 1946

38. Paddling in hyacinth and lettuce
1947

39. St Johns River at Deland - 1947

40. Homosassa Springs
1947

41. Lake Lochloosa
1949

42. Suwannee River

43. Lake Jackson - Tallahassee - 1951

44. St Johns River - Tocoi - 1950s

45. Kissimmee Boatacade

46. Lake Okeechobee lock

47. St Johns River
1962

48. Water hyacinth and lettuce - Withlacoochee River - Dunnellon - 1963

49. Apalachicola

50. Apalachicola

51. Lake Rousseau

52. St Johns River

53. Water hyacinth and hydrilla at the Highway 44 bridge
Withlacoochee River

54. Water Hyacinth Control Measures
Physical / Mechanical

55. Hyacinth boom

56. Santa Fe
Lake
1883

57. Water hyacinth elevator - Withlacoochee River at Dunnellon - 1922

58. Lake Okeechobee
1930s

59. Hyacinth rake

60. Hyacinth dredge s

61. Hyacinth dredge

62. Lake Okeechobee

63. Caloosahatchee River at LaBelle - 1939

64. West Palm Beach Canal

65. Hyacinth fence - St Johns River - 1942

66. Sawboat

67. Withlacoochee River at Trails End
Destroyer Boat
Withlacoochee River at Trails End
1947

68. Water hyacinth jam on bridge - 1950s

69. Aqua tractor

70. Rodman Reservoir

71. Governor Kirk - Bartow - 1964

72. Hyacinth shredder

73. Hyacinth shredder

74. Hyacinth chopper

75. Water Hyacinth Control Measures
Chemical

76. Poison Boat on the St Johns River

78. GFC hyacinth control - 1950s

79. GFC hyacinth control

80. GFC hyacinth control

81. GFC Lake Harper - Columbia County

82. GFC controlling hyacinth - 1968

83. GFC hyacinth control

84. GFC controlling water hyacinth - 1970s

85. GFC / SWFWMD
Prevention
1969

86. Water hyacinth weevil release - 1970s

87. GFC hand removal project

88. Steamer Okahumkee - St Johns River - 1935

89. Sitting among the hyacinths
Okahumkee
Sitting among the hyacinths
Hart’s Point,
Palatka
1935

90. Hiawatha
1954
The advent of railroads in 1922 ended the steamboat era in Florida waters - the legacy of water hyacinth grows on.