The Museum

The museum was established to honor the pioneering families of Sumter County. The collection of antique farm equipment comes from local families who began ranching and farming in the early 1800s.  For generations this equipment was used to plant and harvest food for the state of Florida and for supporting beef cattle production. Some unique items include equipment to boil cane for syrup.  Old wash pots were used to wash cloths that were then strung out on lines to dry.  Manual farm equipment was instrumental in production using horses and mules.  You will find the horse-drawn buggies to bring back fond memories  of the crisp fresh air as it blew through your hair while riding through open pastures.

A Little History

Florida is home to some of the largest ranches in the nation. These large ranches date back to the settlement of this country in the 1800s. The subtropical nature of the environment with available forages year round is conducive to large cattle enterprises. Some of the most progressive cattle operations in the nation are found on these large ranches that incorporate advanced genetics and healthcare. The Florida ranching industry is one of the more progressive in the nation. Florida has the largest ranches in the nation in terms of cattle numbers including the largest, the Deseret Ranch with 50,000 mother cows and the third largest, the Lykes Brothers Ranch with 17,000 cows. Central Florida was the early center of cattle production but Disney, The Villages and general development has pushed the industry to the south.

Florida calves are healthy and thrive in the western feedlots. Central Florida is considered ‘cow country” of Florida ranching with a culture that reflects its early roots as the center of “Cowboy” activity. As recently as the 1950s, guns were worn into town and horses rode into the bars for the cowboy to acquire a drink! The state has a very colorful cowboy history that Remington traveled to paint in the 1800s.

The recent population explosion has left many of these ranches facing developmental pressure. We intend to remind them of their roots as the finest ranches in the middle of Florida cattle country.

The future for the cattle industry is very bullish with a world population approaching nine billion by 2045. Furthermore, 350 million will enter middle class demanding meat in their diet in just five years. This is occurring at a time when beef consumption in the United States is on a steady increase.

Wildlife on Jumper Creek Ranch

The rolling landscape of Jumper Creek Ranch includes ponds, a free-flowing forested creek, wetlands, a native range with hammocks, and improved pastures. This topography makes for a retreat for a menagerie of wildlife in a part of Florida undergoing a rapid transition to accommodate the influx of migrants.

Animals and flora in this oasis appear to be in a sustainable balance with the ranching operation and the surrounding development. Two flocks of Osceola Turkeys range over the ranch roosting in the hammocks that grace the creek. In the spring, the baby chicks will trail their mothers, and in the gobbler season, the Toms will strut their fans in an attempt to impress the hens. When approached, one can sense the sentinel turkey has its keen eyesight on the intruder. A healthy population of songbirds inhabits the ranch, including Bluebirds that nest in the provided boxes. The birds feed on the seeds and insects of the open areas. The edge along the tree line provides cover from predators such as the Red-Tail Hawk.

The Turkey Buzzards with their redhead and white beak, a common sight at the ranch, are opportunistic carrion feeders and are no threat to the calves. However, the Black Buzzard is a severe problem in some areas. The magnificent Bald Eagle has taken up residence at the ranch. The Cattle Egret, a native of Africa, feeds close to the cows picking off ticks and flies. In addition, they feed off the invasive Army Worms during haying season. The curved billed Limpkins visit the fields looking for insects. A pair of native Sand Hill Cranes roost and nest in the ponds, raising a chick each year. Before nesting season, the youngster will be chased off to start a new bonding pair. The persistent bugling of the cranes provides solace that you are in the middle of paradise! In addition, migrant cranes visit from the north during the winter. The Iron Head Wood Stork has been feeding in the creek and marsh.

Bobcats, foxes, and coyotes make the ranch home, apparently keeping in balance with the food source, or otherwise, they would migrate out. To date, there is no evidence they are a threat to the young calves. Raccoons, Opossum, and Armadillos make the ranch their home. The game cameras pick up visits by the mammals to the creek water. The Sherman Fox Squirrel inhabits the upland Live Oak hammocks, while the Gray Squirrel favors the forested areas on the creek's edge. The Fox Squirrel poses a statue-like presentation, wondering who is invading their home, then up the Oak Tree.

Occasionally the White Tail Deer and Black Bear will transit through. Feral hogs frequent the ranch, being pushed off surrounding native areas by development. Game cameras show the hogs are well fed. To date, the hogs are frequenting the hammocks. However, their strong stout digging for insects could disrupt the balanced ecology and damage the pastures and hayfields. A population of hogs is detrimental to nesting birds such as the turkeys.

Bats fly from the established nesting boxes at dusk, relying on echolocation high-frequency sound waves to navigate and locate prey. A single bat can consume hundreds of insects in a single night. Maternity season lasts from April through August, when bats breed and raise their young.

A healthy population of snakes, including the Eastern Diamondback, Indigo, King, Hognose, Black, Coral, and Chicken snake, keeps the tiny creatures in check. The protected Gopher Tortoises has a dispersion of burrows throughout the uplands of the ranch, providing refuge and shelter for the snakes and other critters. The Softshell Turtle, American Alligator, and Otters frequent the ponds.

Modern History of the Ranch

The parcels of land that comprise Jumper Creek Ranch were platted as Sumter Farms subdivision in the boom times of the 1920s. The Great Depression led to the dispersion of the subdivision into manageable tracts that fit the economic times.

Like most of Florida, Sumter County was the breadbasket of vegetable farming but prone to flooding. To drain the low-lying land for agriculture, Jumper Creek Canal and other local canals channeled the water to the Jumper Creek segment of the Withlacoochee River that flows north into the Gulf of Mexico. Jumper Creek was given the protective status as a State Cultural Resource in 1990.

Chief Jumper of the Seminole Indians is the namesake of the creek. Chief Jumper wanted peace with the settlers, but Osceola displaced Jumper and led the Seminoles into the Great Seminole War. Jumper Creek flows through the ranch bisecting it east to west. The original creek bed remnants still flow with water during the hurricanes. The hurricane of 1958 overflowed US 301, allowing for catching fish on the highway.

The dirt road that bisected the ranch was paved in 1920 and designated US 301, referred to as Tobacco Road, was the main thoroughfare of Central Florida traffic until construction of I75 in 1965. The bustling Carstens Fruit Stand next door that served the visiting Yankees was closed after traffic moved to I75.

During World War II, Patton's Third Army air wing occupied the Franklin Ranch and was headquartered in the Lizzy two-story house still standing to the immediate East of Jumper Creek Ranch. The army parked the bombers, camouflaged under the massive Live Oak trees. The steel landing mats that covered the temporary runways made their way to Jumper Creek Ranch as siding to the cow-pens. Recent drilling of a well uncovered Mustard gas, no doubt one of the depot dumps of the airfield.

The main house on the ranch was built in 1940 by the Hudson’s and sold in 1950 with 10 acres to the Prather's, Sumter County Times newspaper editor. Ann R Fields moved to the Hudson place in 1952 that started the Jumper Creek Ranch which is now into its eighth decade. In 1952, the still-standing barn was built to house chickens.

In more recent times, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States, The Villages, is expanding south toward Sumterville 10 miles from the ranch, increasing traffic on US 301. Growth from the West is putting additional pressure to develop the last remaining large tracts of unfettered land in Sumter County, the heart of Central Florida. Fifteen miles to the north of the ranch, planning is ongoing for the Sunshine Turnpike/I75 to connect to the SunCoast parkway from Tampa. The extension accommodates West coast development and relieves the significant increase in traffic occurring on Interstate 75, placing even more pressure on the development of this water recharge area of "Old" Florida.