The Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is a U.S.

National Preserve There are 21 protected areas of the United States designated as national preserves. They were established by an act of Congress to protect areas that have resources often associated with national parks but where certain natural resource-extract ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. It comprises of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s, waterways, and other habitats in northeastern Duval County. Managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

in cooperation with the City of Jacksonville and

Florida State Parks There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists. Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non- ...

, it includes natural and historic areas such as the Fort Caroline National Memorial and the

Kingsley Plantation Kingsley Plantation (also known as the Zephaniah Kingsley Plantation Home and Buildings) is the site of a former estate in Jacksonville, Florida, that was named for its developer and most famous owner, Zephaniah Kingsley, who spent 25 years there. ...

. The preserve was established in 1988 and expanded in 1999 by Preservation Project Jacksonville.

Background

The Fort Caroline National Memorial is located in the Timucuan Preserve, as is the

, the oldest standing plantation in the state. The Preserve is maintained through cooperation by the

, the

Florida Department of Environmental Protection The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is the Florida government agency responsible for environmental protection. History By the mid-1960s, when the federal government was becoming increasingly involved in initiatives desig ...

and the City of Jacksonville Department of Parks and Recreation. It is named for the

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The v ...

Indians who had 35

chiefdoms A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

throughout northern Florida and south Georgia at the time of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

colonization. Archeological excavation by a University of North Florida team has revealed more information about indigenous peoples in the area. On Black Hammock Island, they have discovered remnants of the second-oldest

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

in the United States, dating to 2500 BCE. (There have been slightly older finds in the Savannah River area.)Matt Soergel, "Archaeologists help distinguish Mocama group"
Morris News Service, 25 Oct 2009, accessed 11 May 2010 They also have excavated more recent artifacts contemporary with the

Mocama The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their t ...

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

. In the last 25 years, these Native American people have been recognized as distinct from the Timucua, although they spoke a Timucuan dialect. Their chiefdom extended from the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

to St. Simons Island, Georgia. Archeologists believe they have found evidence of a Spanish mission on the island as well. San Juan del Puerto, one of the oldest Spanish missions in Florida, was established here during the 16th century.

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

brothers were missionaries to the Timucua and

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16t ...

Indians along the coast, whose territory included the

Sea Islands The Sea Islands are a chain of tidal and barrier islands on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Southeastern United States. Numbering over 100, they are located between the mouths of the Santee and St. Johns Rivers along the coast of South Caroli ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and up to the Savannah River. On June 9, 2020, the Preserve gained another 2,500 acres of marshland along the Nassau River from two private land trusts.

Trails

Several trails allow the public to explore the natural habitats protected at the preserve. * Fort Caroline National Memorial ** Hammock Trail ** Spanish Pond * Theodore Roosevelt Area ** Timucuan Trail ** Willie Browne Trail with bird observation platform * Cedar Point ** Cedar Point Loop Trail ** Pinelands Trail * Fort George Island ** Saturiwa Trail * Big Talbot Island State Park ** Shoreline Trail Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve-Spanish Pond.jpg, Sign at Spanish Pond Anolis sagrei-male dewlap display.jpg,

Brown anole The brown anole (''Anolis sagrei''), also known commonly as the Cuban brown anole, or De la Sagra's anole, is a species of lizard in the family Dactyloidae. The species is native to Cuba and the Bahamas. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, ...

at Spanish Pond

References

External links

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Park Service
Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve: Water Resources Management Plan
(November 1996, 160 pages) {{authority control Geography of Jacksonville, Florida Parks in Jacksonville, Florida Protected areas established in 1988 National Park Service areas in Florida National Preserves of the United States National Register of Historic Places in Jacksonville, Florida Arlington, Jacksonville Northside, Jacksonville 1988 establishments in Florida Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Background

Trails

See also

References

External links