Old Folks at Home - (Way Down Upon the) Swanee River

"Old Folks at Home," also known by the words of its first line, "(Way Down Upon the) Swanee River," is a song originally written in 1851 by composer Stephen Foster, to be performed by the New York performing troupe Christy's Minstrels. The name of E.P. Christy, the troupe's leader, appears on early printings of the music as the song's creator, as shown in the illustration; Christy had paid Foster to be credited, something Foster himself had suggested. Though Foster later regretted this, the deal stood. It has been the official state song of Florida since 1935.

According to legend, Foster had most of the lyrics in place but was casting about to give a name to the river of the opening line and asked his brother to suggest one. The first suggestion was "the Yazoo" of Mississippi, which, despite fitting the melody perfectly, Foster rejected. The second suggestion was "the Pee Dee" of the Carolinas, to which Foster said, "Oh pshaw! I won't have that.". His brother then consulted an atlas and called out "Suwannee!". Foster immediately wrote it in (misspelling it "Swannee"), saying "That's it exactly!". Foster himself never saw the Suwanee or even visited Florida, but the popularity of the song singlehandedly started a major tourist movement to Florida to see the river, as travelers from the Northeastern states in particular flocked to the region.