Philippe Park was acquired in 1948, making it the oldest park in the county. This historically rich park bears the name of Count Odet Philippe who introduced citrus culture to Florida. The existing park property was part of the original Philippe plantation from which several citrus trees still remain. An Indian mound listed in the […]

From this historical marker: “This Indian mound is all that remains of a late Weeden Island period community, probably settled about AD 1000 and inhabited for several hundred years. Excavations conducted in 1879 by S. T. Walker for the Smithsonian Institution indicated this was a temple mound. A nearby burial mound, excavated in 1903 by Clarence […]

The Thursby Mound is located in Blue Spring State Park.The Thursby Mound (named for landowners in the 19th Century) has produced some of Volusia County’s most interesting archaeological finds. Of these, several toylike pottery effigies of squash, gourds, acorns, and animals are remarkable. The mound itself also is special; it is a truncated cone about 12 […]

The first inhabitants of the island were the Timucuan Indians. Snails gathered from the shallows of the St. Johns River were a staple food of these people. Through the years, the discarded shells accumulated to form large mounds on the island, one of which may be viewed on the park’s nature trail. Three remarkable artifacts […]

Remnants of St. Johns-period habitation can be found throughout the northern end of the Tomoka State Park peninsula, especially along the shorelines. Portions of once-extensive oyster middens remain here–a strategic point of land surrounded by rich lagoons and protected from hurricanes by an eastern barrier island. Documented in 1605 by Spanish diplomat Alvaro Mexia, a […]

For 1,600 years, beginning around 200 B.C., these 14 acres were an imposing prehistoric ceremonial center for Florida’s Native Americans. These people traveled great distances to the complex to bury their dead with ceremony and to participate in trade activities. It is estimated that 7,500 Indians might have visited the complex annually. This six-mound complex, […]

The museum houses interpretative exhibits depicting 12,000 years of Native American occupation. Over 6,000 artifacts of stone, bone, clay and shell are here, as well as the finest collection of Fort Walton Period ceramics in the Southeastern United States. Exhibits depict the four prehistoric cultural time periods whose artifacts have been recovered in the Northwest […]

The site’s history began in 1528 when Panfilo de Narvaez arrived with 300 men. Having traveled overland from Tampa, Narvaez impressed by the area located at the confluence of the Wakulla and St. Marks rivers, built and launched the first ships made by white men in the New World. In 1539, Hernando de Soto, along […]