Timucuan Ecological & Historical Preserve

The Timucuan Ecological and
Historic Preserve in Jacksonville, Florida opened in 1988 and
contains 46,000 acres of critical wetlands habitat and other
privately held parcels of land. The Fort Caroline National Memorial
is located there as well as the Kingsley Plantation, that is the
oldest in the state; and was named after the Timucuan Indians that
had 35 chiefdoms in the northern Florida and southern Georgia area
when the Spanish colonization began. There have been numerous
archaeological excavations in the preserve by the University of
North Florida, revealing a lot of information about these indigenous
tribes, and on Black Hammond Island, the remains of the second
oldest pottery in this nation has been discovered that dates back to
2500 BCE. The school has also excavated artifacts that were used by
the Mocama chiefdom, found more recently and during the last quarter
century, the tribe has been found to be quite distinct from the
Timucua, even though they spoke the same dialect. The archaeologists
have also found some evidence that a Spanish mission had been
located here since San Juan de Puerto, one of the oldest missions
that came to Florida, had been settled during the 16th century.
Fort Caroline National Memorial
Fort
Caroline in Jacksonville, Florida was the first French settlement in
the nation, began in 1564, under the leadership of Rene Gouliane de
Laudonniere, original started to become a refuge for the Hugenots,
but lasted only a year since the Spanish were worried that it would
become a haven for pirates or privateers that would constantly
harass or steal their treasure ships as they headed to Europe,
laden with gold and silver from their conquests. It is now the Fort
Caroline National Memorial, and contains a marvelous old fort mound
that shows the visitor what the fort looked something like almost
five centuries ago. The French came here after being organized by
Protestant leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny and they were led by
the Norman navigator, Jean Ribault that would land on the May River
side in February 1562. They would then head north to Port Royal
Sound, known as Parris Island, South Carolina today.