288 
FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY—THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. 
In 1907-8 this peat was exploited by the Florida Peat Fuel & 
Construction Co., of Jacksonville, of which Mr. Robert Ranson 
was the leading spirit. Canals were dug through the marsh from 
the creek to the dry land, where the necessary buildings and 
machinery for the manufacture of peat fuel and fertilizer filler 
were erected. The creek being navigable, the product was shipped 
by water to Jacksonville. Operations were suspended when the 
main building was partly destroyed by fire in August, 1908. 
CRESCENT LAKE. 
(plate 28) 
Crescent Lake (formerly known as Dunn’s Lake), which forms 
part of the boundary between Putnam and St. Johns Counties, is 
about 12 miles long and 3 or 4 wide, and connected by Dunn’s 
Creek, a navigable stream, with the St. Johns River a few miles 
above (south of) Palatka. Its also forms part of the boundary 
between the lake region and the East Florida flatwoods. The 
east side of the lake is bordered by a flat, damp, sandy region, 
uninhabited for miles, while on the west side, at least at Crescent 
City, the typical high pine land of the lake region rises abruptly 
from its shores. (The small lake just west of Crescent City 
is said to be about 50 feet higher than Crescent Lake, though 
scarcely half a mile from it.) 
Just about opposite Crescent City, on the St. Johns County 
side, there begins a marsh a few hundred feet wide, which is said 
to extend southward along the lake for several miles. The vege¬ 
tation is mostly herbaceous, and the trees and shrubs are not 
abundant enough to seriously interfere with dredging operations 
(as can be seen from the accompanying illustration). The follow¬ 
ing plants were observed there on May 15, 1909. 
TREES 
Tax odium imbricarium (pond cy¬ 
press) 
Pinus EHiottii (slash pine) (near 
lake) 
SHRUBS 
Myrica cerifera (myrtle) 
CephaJanthus occidentalis (button 
bush) 
