PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — In the town of Welaka, fishing is king, golf carts are standard, and orange trees still pepper the yards.
But change is coming.
County Road 309, just outside of Welaka is hilly and trees line the side of it.
What you can’t see from the road is a large clearing of land.
Entities that are connected to Bass Pro Shops own this land that’s been recently cleared.
Bass Pro Shops, a mega retailer, has this small Florida town buzzing.
"We really don’t want a lot of people coming down," Marcy Hahn smiled as she walked her dog along a Welaka road covered with trees that drip Spanish moss.
The town has a population of about 700.
Hahn says she knows of many houses that have been recently purchased.
"Along that strip of coastline," she said, "he’s bought a lot of homes."
“He” is the owner of Bass Pro Shops. He has also owned the Floridian Sports Club for 40 years. It’s a nearby inn on the St. Johns River.
An executive with Bass Pro Shops confirms the company has bought land, that an expansion of the resort is a possibility, but that specific plans have not been set.
According to county records, Bass Pro Shops even bought an island in the St. Johns River by Welaka for $995,000 in 2021. It's called Turkey Island.
Bass Pro Shops has high-end resorts around the country such as one in Missouri. A very nice tent there runs about $500 a night. A cabin for four runs about $4,000 a night.
St. Johns Riverkeeper Lisa Rinaman said, "I’ve been to some of the Bass Pro Shops resorts in Missouri. know it’s for people who live the outdoors and love the water."
According to Putnam County records, entities connected to Bass Pro Shops has bought land along the river near the owner’s lodge. In the last year or so, the company. has made more than 200 land purchases, ranging from hundreds of acres to a quarter acre.
"We don’t’ know what the plans are," Rinaman said, "but we have high hopes of celebrating and protecting the St. Johns River."
And Hahn is watching and hoping too.
"We want this sleepy little town to be a sleepy little town," she said.