Crystal River Archaeological State Park - Crystal River, Florida

Preserving a group of ancient Indian mounds, the Crystal River Archaeological State Park home to one of the most significant archaeological sites in the United States.

The site was occupied for a span of more than 2,000 years and the first burial mound was built several hundred years before the birth of Christ. Over the centuries that followed, the inhabitants developed their town into a major ceremonial center.

Researchers believe that the mounds and mysterious stone stele or monuments found there were aligned to form a giant astronomical observatory, so that the inhabitants could time the passing of the seasons. Two of the unusual limestone stele can still be seen on the grounds. One of them bears the weathered carving of a human face.

The most stunning aspect of the park, however, is Mound A, a large platform mound overlooking the Crystal River. Wooden stairs lead up the side to the top, where visitors can take in a stunning view of the river and entire archaeological site. Sadly, even though what remains is impressive, only 1/4 or so of the original mound remains. The rest was carried away years ago and used as fill.

To learn more about the park, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/crystalrivermounds.

Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park - Homossassa, Florida

David Levy Yulee was one of the first great business leaders of the fledgling state of Florida. While little remains to commemorate the role of this industrious 19th century leader's role in the development of our state, the picturesque ruins of one of his enterprises have long attracted the attention of visitors to the Gulf Coast north of Tampa.

Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Historic State Park in Homossassa preserves the surviving ruins of a sugar mill built by David Yulee on his 5,100 acre Margarita plantation.

The man who served as Florida's first U.S. senator when the former Spanish colony became a state in 1845 lived on a nearby island in the Homossassa River from which he could supervise his vast holdings. Sugar was then a major export product and the marshes and lowlying swamps along the rivers of Central and South Florida provided ideal for growing sugar cane.

The mill began operating in 1851, served by the labors of 69 slaves who planted and chopped the sugar cane, ran the stalks through the rollers of the cane press and then boiled the juice to make sugar. Packed into hogsheads (large barrels), the sugar was then placed aboard vessels in the Homossassa River for shipment to both American and foreign ports.

The mill operated until the Civil War, when the Union blockade brought the sugar export business to a temporary end. Yulee's house was burned by U.S. sailors, but the mill survived the war only to fall into disuse and eventually crumble into ruins.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/yuleesugarmill.

Blue Springs Recreational Area - Marianna, Florida

Because they were sources of cool, clear water, history often revolved around Florida's beautiful natural springs. Blue Springs near Marianna, for example, have a documented history dating back more than 300 years.

Archaeologically, the spring area was occupied even earlier than that. Early Native American hunters frequented the area around Blue Springs because it was a rich habitat for wildlife, fish and plants. The numerous caves in the vicinity have revealed evidence of having been used as campsites for early hunting parties.

The first written references to the spring date from the 1600s. Spanish missionaries passed what they called Calistoble or Calutoble Spring on their way to establish missions among the Chacato Indians (not to be confused with the Choctaw), who lived in western Jackson and eastern Washington and Holmes Counties. The missions lasted only for a year until the Franciscan friars were driven out in an uprising in 1675. The Spanish sent a military force into the area in 1676 to punish those responsible for the rebellion and to burn the homes and fields of the warring faction of the Chacato.

The spring was visited again in 1693 when it was a campsite on the overland journey of Governor-Designate Don Laureano de Torres de Ayala, who completed the first recorded crossing of the Florida Panhandle from the Apalachicola River to Pensacola Bay. Journals from that expedition describe the crystal clear water of the spring and buffalo grazing in the surrounding area.


In 1818, the spring was a stop on General Andrew Jackson's march from Fort Gadsden on the Apalachicola River to Pensacola. The First Seminole War was then underway, but Jackson's soldiers took time to marvel at the beautiful natural fountain that was by then called "Big Spring" in the account written by the army's topographer.

The first settlers arrived in the area just two years later and the spring became one of the early court sites for Jackson County. William Robinson operated a large plantation there, but in 1845 the property passed into the ownership of his nephew, John Milton, who renamed the farm "Sylvania" and gave the spring the name it bears today.

Milton served as Governor of Florida during the Civil War and a camp for Confederate cavalry was established at the spring. Civil War documents indicate it was occupied for three years.

Blue Springs is today the center of a beautiful recreational area operated by Jackson County. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jacksonbluespring.

Rainbow Springs State Park - Dunnellon, Florida

Although archaeologists believe that early Native American hunters camped around Rainbow Springs thousands of years before Christ, the beautiful Florida spring is perhaps best known for its more recent history.

A large first magnitude spring, Rainbow Springs is actually the fourth largest spring in Florida. It pours out 490 million gallons of water a day. A naturally beautiful and scenic spot, it was picked during the 1920s as the site for an early Florida amusement park. The park opened in the 1930s and operated for four decades before the new interstate highway system diverted traffic away from U.S. Highway 41 leading to a major reduction in visitors that led to the closing of the park. Before it closed, however, Rainbow Springs drew in hundreds of thousands of tourists who enjoyed such attractions as "submarine boats" and a leaf shaped monorail.

With development spreading rapidly in Florida, local residents ignited a drive to save the springs after the amusement park closed. Thanks to the vision of Florida's governor and cabinet, Rainbow Springs State Park opened its gates to the public in 1995. The park now preserves more than 1,400 of beautiful and historic land surrounding the head spring and the short but highly scenic Rainbow River.

To learn more about this stunning spring and a state park that may well be the best $2 attraction in the South, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/rainbowsprings.

Fort Fanning Historic Park - A Seminole War Fort on the Suwannee

With all the emphasis placed on Civil War history today, it is often forgotten that the Seminole Wars were far more bloody and brutal for Floridians. Fighting literaly took place from one end of the state to the other and the national cemetery at St. Augustine alone contains the remains of more than 1,468 men who died in the confict.

Thirty-one of these men died at an important but little known post on the Suwannee River at present-day Fanning Springs. Named Fort Fanning in honor of Colonel Alexander C.W. Fanning, a hero of the War of 1812 and Second Seminole War, the log stockade overlooked an important crossing of the river.

The fort served as a base of operations for U.S. and Florida Militia troops that tried to suppress the activities of small bands of Native American warriors - Creek and Seminole - that operated from the vast swamps of the lower Suwannee. Raids and fights were a constant part of life in the region for both whites and Indians during the years 1836-1842.

The site of Fort Fanning is preserved today, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the town of Fanning Springs and local concerned citizens. Through a multi-agency partnership, the community is now home to Fort Fanning Historic Park. Located at the original fort site, the park features the reconstructed gates and a section of stockade wall of Fort Fanning, paved walking paths leading through the site and a series of beautiful overlooks that provide great views of the famed Suwannee River.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortfanning.

Kingsley Plantation - A 19th Century Florida connection to Haiti

The recent earthquake devastation in Haiti has brought to mind that one group of early settlers of that unfortunate island nation migrated there from Florida during the 19th century.

Even though he owned slaves, a Florida planter named Zephaniah Kingsley was outraged by what he viewed as unlawful discrimination against free African Americans. As a result, he liberated scores of his slaves and helped them establish a free colony in Haiti, where they could escape the laws of the United States.

One of the more remarkable individuals ever to live in Florida, Kingsley had come to the state when it was still a Spanish colony. Acquiring lands and establishing a large plantation on Fort George Island, he moved into what remains the state's oldest standing plantation house.

Now preserved as part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, a relatively new national park area, the Kingsley Plantation offers a glimpse through time at the days when residents who had lived in Florida under Spanish or English rule tried to adapt to the cession of the territory to the United States in 1821. While Kingsley prospered under American rule, he objected strenuously to the imposition of "black codes," special laws designed to suppress the movement, rights and even the freedom of free people of color.

Kingsley's wife, Anta (Anna), had been born in Africa and was a slave when she encountered her future husband. He freed her and her children in 1803 and they moved into what is now known as the Kingsley House in 1814. The historic structure had been built in 1798.

Zephaniah Kingsley believed that people should be treated according to their abilities, not their color, and engaged in every legal avenue he could think of to oppose the imposition of tightening restrictions on the rights of free African Americans. Finally he decided that his effort was a lost cause.

Giving 50 of his slaves their legal freedom, he moved them along with Anta (Anna) and two of her children to Haiti, where he established a new colony at his own expense. Their families remain in the island nation to this day.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/kingsley.

Battle of Ocheesee - Calhoun and Liberty Counties, Florida

From either Torreya State Park in Liberty County or Ocheesee Landing across the Apalachicola River in Gadsden County, it is possible to obtain a good view of the site of one of the most important battles of the First Seminole War.

The Battle of Ocheesee, Florida, was fought December 15-20, 1817, between a force of hundreds of Seminole and Creek warriors and a small force of U.S. troops escorting a flotilla of supply boats up the Apalachicola River.

The warriors were flush from dramatic victories over U.S. and allied Indian forces at Scott's Massacre (November 30, 1817) and the Battle of Blunt's Town (December 13, 1817) and hoped to surprise, halt and possibly even capture the supply vessels then slowly making their way up the river to Fort Scott in what is now Decatur County, Georgia. Taking up positions on both banks of the river, they ambushed the vessels on December 15, 1817, killing 2 soldiers and wounding another 13.

The fighting became so severe that the soldiers could not even show their heads above the bulwarks of their boats to fire back without risking death or serious injury. Pinned down and unable to move, Major Peter Muhlenburg was forced to drop anchor in mid-stream. Heavy firing continued for days until on November 19th, a specially fitted boat arrived from Fort Scott carrying materials that the soldiers were able to better fortify the supply boats. Slowly, in the days that followed, they were able to again make progress and break free of the attack.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/ocheese1.

Letchworth-Love Mounds - North Florida

A park just off U.S. 90 between Tallahassee and Monticello may be the home of the largest surviving Indian mound in Florida.

Letchworth-Love Mounds Archaeological State Park is a relatively new state park that preserves the site of a major Native American chiefdom thought to date from the Weeden Island Period. Artifacts discovered in the park have been dated to the years 300 - 900 A.D.

The mounds marked the capital of an important chiefdom that thrived in the swamps and wetlands around beautiful Lake Miccosukee, a noteworthy body of water just west of Monticello. Researchers believe that the site once included as many as 15 mounds, but only four remain today. Of these, one is the magnificent mound once known as the Miccosukee Indian Mound. It rises 46 feet into the air and is 300 feet across the base. At the time of its use, it was probably even much taller.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/letchworth.

Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park - Jacksonville, Florida

At Dame's Point point on the north shore of the St. Johns River, an all but forgotten Florida state park preserves the earthwork remains of Yellow Bluff Fort, built by Southern forces in 1862 to defend Jacksonville from Union attack.

Yellow Bluff Fort Historic State Park was established in the 1950s, but remains largely undeveloped. A monument and a few corroded iron cannon dot the grounds, which consist of a few acres surrounding the earthen battery built by Confederate troops in September of 1862. The important east coast ports of Fernandina and St. Augustine had fallen that month, but the South determined to wage a stronger fight for control of Jacksonville and the vital St. Johns River. Major fortifications were built on St. Johns Bluff near today's Fort Caroline National Memorial and at Yellow Bluff, which commanded a sweeping bend of the St. Johns and an important anchorage.

Although Southern engineers planned to place seven pieces of heavy artillery at Yellow Bluff, the fort was armed only with light field pieces when the Union attack on the St. Johns was launched in early October. Although the garrison at St. Johns Bluff threw back the initial attacks, the commander there evacuated his works before the main Union attack could place. The controversial move gave Federal forces control of the important position and rendered the unfinished fort at Yellow Bluff untenable. The site was evacuated by Confederate forces and the U.S. flag was raised over the earthworks on October 5, 1862. Held by Union troops off and on for the rest of the war, it was used as a camp and signal station.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/yellowblufffort.

Montiano's Georgia Campaign: Part Four

Having successfully driven back the advance troops of the Spanish at the Battle of Gully Hole Creek, General James Oglethorpe followed them up the Military Road across St. Simons Island.

As the Spanish fell back on reinforcements sent out by Florida Governor Don Manuel de Montiano, Oglethorpe put his Highlanders, rangers, Indian allies and three companies from the 42nd Regiment of Foot into position along the edge of a wooded area that overlooked a wide expanse of marsh. Montiano's soldiers would have to cross the marsh to resume their advance on Fort Frederica.

With his men in position, Oglethorpe went back down the road to hurry forward additional troops. During his absence, however, Spanish troops could be heard approaching the marsh. As the Highlanders and other English soldiers prepared for battle, the Spanish stormed onto the marsh yelling their battle cries.

Unnerved by the attack, the men of the 42nd Regiment of Foot retreated, but the Highlanders, rangers and Indians withstood the initial assault and fought the larger Spanish force to a standoff. Running low on ammunition, Montiano's men finally withdrew before Oglethorpe could reform his regulars and return them to action.

The English later claimed that the marsh ran red with the blood of Spanish soldiers and named the engagement the Battle of Bloody Marsh. Although casualties were actually lighter than sustained in the fight earlier in the day at Gully Hole Creek, the battle forever ended Spain's hopes of reclaiming Georgia and permanently established the northern line of Florida at the St. Mary's River.

After attempting several other minor movements, Montiano gave up and withdrew his army of 5,000 men to his ships. A subsequent attempt to capture an English fort on Cumberland Island failed and the Spanish finally sailed back to St. Augustine. Oglethorpe, through bold action and the hard fighting of a single company of Highlanders, had defeated a much larger Spanish force. Montiano's Georgia Campaign was over.

To learn more about the Battle of Bloody Marsh, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/bloodymarsh.

Montiano's Georgia Campaign: Part Three

Once ashore on St. Simons Island, the Spanish troops from Florida occupied the ruins of Fort St. Simons, repaired the fortification and mounted cannon of their own. Then, on July 7, 1742, an advance force was sent up the Military Road carved across the island by the English, to establish a fortified line near Fort Frederica.

These troops, numbering only around 200, encountered English pickets as they approached the swath of open marsh surrounding Gully Hole Creek near today's Christ Church. The pickets alerted General James Oglethorpe at nearby Fort Frederica and he began to rush troops to the scene.

Fortunately for the English, the first of Oglethorpe's commands to reach the scene was the Independent Company of Highlanders from Darien, Georgia. A unit of hard-fighting Scottish Highlanders, they stormed into the intensifying fight and actually won the Battle of Gully Hole Creek before the rest of Oglethorpe's troops could come up.

Leaving 12 soldiers dead on the field and losing another 10 as prisoners of war, the Spanish withdrew back down the island to meet reinforcements being sent forward by Governor Don Manuel de Montiano. The withdrawal was the first in a series of blows that would forever end Spain's hopes of reclaiming its lost lands in Georgia.

To learn more about the Battle of Gully Hole Creek, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/gullyholecreek.

Montiano's Georgia Campaign - Part Two

This is Part Two of a series on a military campaign launched from St. Augustine in 1742. To read Part One, please click here.

The Spanish finally launched their campaign to retaliate for Oglethorpe's attacks on St. Augustine in the summer of 1742. Sailing north with an impressive fleet and an army of nearly 5,000 men, Governor Don Manuel de Montiano arrived off St. Simons and Jekyll Islands.

Ashore on St. Simons Island, General James Oglethorpe and his English troops prepared for battle as well as they could. The primary defense for St. Simons Sound, the entrance to the harbor and mouth of the Frederica River, by which the important post of Fort Frederica could be reached, was Fort St. Simons. Built on the southern point of St. Simons Island, the fort mounted a number of 18-pounder cannon positioned to sweep the sound.

It took some time for weather conditions to favor an attempt by the Spanish fleet to run past the guns of Fort St. Simons, but on July 5. 1742, the winds turned. With a strong gale blowing, Montiano led his fleet into St. Simons Sound.

The battle was fierce, as the cannon from the ships exchanged fire with the guns of Fort St. Simons, but despite its firepower, the fort was unable to stop the passage of the Spanish fleet. More fighting took place between Spanish soldiers and sailors and the men aboard English vessels, but Oglethorpe quickly realized he could not hope to prevail in the unequal contest and withdrew back up the river to Fort Frederica.

With the Spanish fleet now in the harbor, the general also realized that Fort St. Simons would likely fall to a land attack, so to avoid the losses such a battle would incur, he ordered the garrison to withdraw to the main post at Frederica. The cannon were spiked and as much damage as possible done to the works. The English then pulled back up the island's Military Road to the much stronger defenses of Fort Frederica.

I will continue with more on Montiano's campaign in the next post. Until then, you can read more on Fort St. Simons by visiting www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortstsimons.

Montiano's Georgia Campaign - A Turning Point in Florida History

One of the least known yet most important events in Florida history took place primary across the line in Georgia.

In 1742, Spanish Governor Don Manuel de Montiano launched a campaign against the English in Georgia and the Carolinas from his capital of St. Augustine, Florida. Montiano was outraged over an attack on St. Augustine carried out two years earlier by English General James Oglethorpe, the founder of the Georgia colony. The attack failed when Oglethorpe's army was unable to take the power fort of Castillo de San Marcos.

The unusually named War of Jenkins' Ear was then raging between England and Spain (it took its name from the severed ear of an English sea captain who had been captured by the Spanish), but Spain was equally outraged by England's blatant planting of the Georgia colony on lands claimed by the Spanish since the 1500s.

Anticipating a move against his new colony even before the outbreak of fighting in the Americas, General Oglethorpe had built a military town named Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island in 1736. A powerful fortress on the Frederica River which formed the landward coast of the island, Frederica controlled the inland passage up the Georgia coast. To further protect the island, Oglethorpe had built Fort St. Simons on the site of today's St. Simons Lighthouse. Armed with 18-pounder cannon, it was designed to prevent Spanish ships from entering St. Simons Sound.

In addition, as he had moved down the coast against St. Augustine, Oglethorpe built other forts on Cumberland, Amelia and Fort George Islands. These would provide early warning of a Spanish move up the coast. As Montiano would learn, the English had built at least the appearance of a strong defense.

Over the coming days I will post on some of the surviving sites associated with Montiano's Georgia Campaign and look closer at the dramatic effects of English victory in the fighting that was come. Be sure to check back regularly. Until the next post, you can read more about Montiano's base of operations at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staugustine1 and Oglethorpe's base at www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortfrederica.

Battle of Marianna Anniversary is This Weekend

Reenactments, a parade, special observances and even a bluegrass festival are being staged in Marianna this weekend to commemorate the 145th Anniversary of the Battle of Marianna.

The little known but bloody Civil War encounter took place on September 27, 1864, when Union troops attacked the Northwest Florida city at the culmination of the deepest Federal penetration of Confederate Florida during the entire war. When the attack on the city took place, it was resisted by a force of several hundred Southern regulars, militia, volunteers, home guards and walking wounded. A severe fight followed that was called by some participants the most violent they saw during the war in any battle, regardless of size. By the time it was over, 25% of Marianna's male population had been either killed, wounded or captured. On the Union side, the 2nd Maine Cavalry had suffered its bloodiest day of the Civil War.

The battlefield is marked today by interpretive signs, monuments and tombstones. If you are interested in learning more, please consider the book: The Battle of Marianna, Florida. It is available through www.amazon.com. You can also learn more by visiting www.battleofmarianna.com. If you are interested in a schedule for this weekend's events, please click here.

The Fountain of Youth - St. Augustine, Florida

Ok, admittedly its a bit of a stretch, but a popular tourist attraction in St. Augustine has billed itself as Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth for more than 100 years. Millions of tourists have visited the grounds through the years.

What is not a stretch, however, is that this 15 acre park contains some of the most significant historic sites in the United States. While no one knows for sure the precise site of Juan Ponce de Leon's landing in 1539, an old tradition holds that it took place at the Fountain of Youth Park and that he sampled the water from a small spring there. The spring is now enclosed in a picturesque stone building that also features a life-size recreation of Ponce de Leon coming ashore in Florida.

While the legend may or may not be true, archaeologists have uncovered another fact that makes the park one of the most unique in America. Excavations near the waterfront have revealed the remains of the original fort and village built by Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565 when he arrived and founded St. Augustine. These archaeological remains represent the founding moments of the oldest city in the United States.

Archaeologists have also discovered the site of the original Mission Nombre de Dios on the grounds. It was the oldest permanent Christian site in the continental United States.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fountainofyouth.