Hemingway slept here: the Florida farm that drew America’s greatest writers during the Depression

Rawlings’s Cross Creek Literary Salon During Depression and War

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings bought a 72-acre orange grove in 1928 just as the Great Depression hit. Her timing was bad for farming but perfect for writing.

At Cross Creek, she found her voice telling stories of rural Florida “crackers” and Black neighbors. Soon after, legendary editor Maxwell Perkins took her under his wing.

Their 700 letters built a bond that helped her win the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for “The Yearling.”

During WWII, her books reached soldiers in Armed Services Editions while her home drew visits from Hemingway, Frost, and Hurston.

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings House still stands today, her typewriter waiting on the porch where Florida’s most famous stories were born.

She Turned an Orange Grove into a Literary Hotspot During the Depression

Marjorie and Charles Rawlings bought a 72-acre orange grove near Cross Creek, Florida in 1928 with money she got from her mother. They quit their New York newspaper jobs to write in rural Florida.

They fixed up an old house, but their timing was awful. The stock market crashed in 1929, and orange prices dropped.

Charles got tired of country life and grove work. Money troubles forced Marjorie to stop writing gothic novels and look around for new ideas.

Florida’s Backwoods Became Her Literary Gold Mine

In 1930, Scribner’s Magazine printed her first Florida stories “Cracker Chidlings” and “Jacob’s Ladder. ” These stories caught famous editor Maxwell Perkins’ eye at Scribner’s.

Perkins loved the colorful letters she wrote about Cross Creek life and pushed her to write about local folks. She filled notebooks with notes about her Florida “cracker” neighbors and nearby African Americans.

Readers loved her true-to-life stories about Southern rural life, unlike her earlier gothic attempts.

A Weekly Letter from America’s Greatest Editor Changed Everything

Maxwell Perkins became her guide and supporter, starting nearly 700 letters between them until his death in 1947. Perkins sent weekly feedback while she wrote detailed Cross Creek stories.

He told her to set stories in the nearby Big Scrub area instead of forcing gothic novels. Their letters show both work advice and personal problems.

Perkins noticed her skill at capturing rural Florida culture that other writers missed.

The End of Her Marriage Launched Her Career

Marjorie and Charles split up in 1933 by mutual agreement. He moved back to Rochester while she stayed at Cross Creek.

That year, Scribner’s printed her first novel “South Moon Under,” about Florida moonshiners. The Book of the Month Club picked it, making it sell nationwide.

She became a finalist for the 1934 Pulitzer Prize. The story followed a poor family forced to make moonshine to get by in the Big Scrub.

Famous Writers Flocked to Her Florida Farmhouse

Cross Creek became a meeting place for the biggest writers of the time. Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Margaret Mitchell, Thomas Wolfe, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all stayed there.

Zora Neale Hurston visited often, though Rawlings put her in the tenant house because of racial attitudes then. Writers came for the real Florida feel and Rawlings’s great cooking.

The farmhouse turned into a writer’s hangout that gave her ideas and contacts for her work.

A Boy and His Deer Won Her the Pulitzer Prize

Perkins suggested she write a “boy’s book” set in Florida, which became “The Yearling. ” The novel told the story of a boy and his pet deer, based on the Calvin and Mary Long family.

She called their clearing “Baxter’s Island” in the book. “The Yearling” won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize and sold worldwide.

MGM bought the film rights for the 1946 movie with Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman.

Her Second Husband Ran Hotels While She Wrote Books

In 1941, Rawlings married Norton Baskin, a hotel owner from Ocala, Florida. They bought and fixed up the Castle Warden mansion in St. Augustine as a fancy hotel. They opened despite America joining World War II.

She used money from “The Yearling” to buy a beach cottage at Crescent Beach near St. Augustine. They agreed: “She writes. I run a hotel” to keep their work separate.

Nine Hundred Letters Kept Their Marriage Alive During the War

Norton Baskin joined the American Field Service in 1943 as an ambulance driver in India-Burma. Marjorie wrote him daily letters for almost 18 months during his service.

Her letters told about running the Cross Creek farm and the St. Augustine hotel during wartime.

She also worked as a coastal watcher near her Crescent Beach home. Their wartime letters totaled about 900 between them.

Soldiers Read Her Books in Foxholes Around the World

“South Moon Under,” “The Yearling,” and “Cross Creek” came out in Armed Services Editions for soldiers. These paperbacks went to millions of troops overseas between 1943 and 1947.

Rawlings got lots of letters from servicemen who read her Florida stories. Soldiers thanked her for books that reminded them of home during the war.

Many of these men never read books before finding hers in military camps.

Her Kitchen Stories Became Bestsellers Too

In 1942, she published “Cross Creek,” a memoir about her life with neighbors. The Book of the Month Club chose it, and it sold very well.

That same year, she also put out “Cross Creek Cookery,” a cookbook with recipes and kitchen tales. Both books built on public interest in her country lifestyle and cooking skills.

The “Cross Creek” memoir caused a privacy lawsuit from a neighbor upset about how she wrote about her that lasted from 1943 to 1947.

War Letters Cemented Her Place in American Literature

By 1947, Rawlings had established herself as the premier chronicler of vanishing rural Florida culture.

Her correspondence with servicemen showed how her books connected readers with the American landscape during wartime. Cross Creek became a symbol of literary authenticity and connection to the natural environment.

Her partnership with Maxwell Perkins represented the golden age of American publishing relationships. Her role supporting troops through literature secured her reputation as an important American voice.

Visiting Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings House and Farm Yard, Florida

You can visit Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ home at 18700 S. County Road 325 in Cross Creek for $3 per vehicle.

Guided tours run Thursday through Sunday at 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm, with donations accepted. The house closes August-September for cleaning and reopens October 2nd.

The farmyard with tenant house, barn, and orange grove stays open daily 9am-5pm. Check out November cooking demonstrations in her kitchen where she developed “Cross Creek Cookery.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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