Wakulla Springs
The Lodge at Wakulla Springs
Edward Ball's 1937 lodge in Wakulla Springs State Park, with Tennessee marble floors and a 70-foot soda-fountain bar.
- Built
- 1937built 1935-1937 as a hotel for Edward Ball; opened 1937
- Style
- Mediterranean Revival
- Architect
- Marsh & Saxelbye (Jacksonville)
- Type
- Lodge
- Rooms
- 27
- Credentials
- Historic Hotels of America member; Inside a National Register historic district
The story
Financier Edward Ball bought the springs and lodge site from the Christy brothers in 1931, began building the two-story hotel in 1935 and opened it in 1937, overseeing the design himself with the Jacksonville firm Marsh & Saxelbye. He imported Tennessee marble for floors, stairs and a 70-foot soda-fountain bar, used local ‘dead-head’ cypress, and installed an Art Deco elevator with walnut marquetry; the lobby’s cypress ceiling is painted with wildlife scenes. The original wooden roof was replaced with a fireproof slate roof after a fire during the lodge’s use as a military training facility in World War II. The springs were a film location for Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
Good to know
- Breakfast: available
- Elevator
- No pets
- Address: 550 Wakulla Park Drive, Wakulla Springs, FL 32327
Sources (4)
Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.