During the Civil War, the Pensacola & Georgia Railroad served as a vital route for parts of North Florida, and earthworks were built where it crossed the Suwannee River west of Live Oak, to deter Union attacks; these earthworks still exist as part of the Suwannee River State Park, one of Florida's first State parks.  In order to ease the supply problem into other parts of the Confederacy, the Confederate government decided to create a north–south railroad link into Georgia through Live Oak. The railroad junction was completed in early 1865, too late to help the Confederacy, but it opened up the interior of the county to settlement after the Civil War. 