Old Postcard of the Suawnee River in Florida

This is an old post card of the Suwane(e) River in Florida.  It travels from south Georgia, in the middle, into north central Florida. 

 

Stephen Foster  (1826-1864) used the name in his "OLD FOLKS AT HOME" song.  I read one time, probably in RIPLEY'S BELEIVE IT OR NOT that Stephen Foster had never actually seen the Suwane River.   I don't know if it is mandatory to visit a place before you write a song about it or not.  Like I doubt if Rogers and Hammerstein actually visited the islands of the South Pacific before writing the musical "SOUTH PACIFIC".

Whether Stephen Foster actually visited Suwane River is only one of the controversies with Foster and the Suwane River.  Did he misspell it.  I read that the way he spelled it in the song is more similar to a river in South Carolina.   So, maybe he wasn't referring to the river that is in part of south Georgia and part of north Georgia at all.

I noticed driving through that area there are signs advertising the Stephen Foster Museum.  If he did mean the river in South Carolina, should the museum pack up and move?