Mud Lake Canal - Misplaced Pages

United States historic place

Significant dates

Mud Lake Canal
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark

Aerial photo showing the canal route, 1984
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Location	Monroe County, Florida United States
Nearest city	Flamingo
Coordinates	25°10′26″N 80°56′17″W / 25.17389°N 80.93806°W / 25.17389; -80.93806
Area	46.7 acres (18.9 ha)
Built	c. 1200-1400 CE
NRHP reference No.	06000979
Added to NRHP	September 20, 2006
Designated NHL	September 20, 2006

The Mud Lake Canal is a prehistoric long-distance canoe canal near Flamingo, Florida, U.S. It is located at Cape Sable, in the Everglades National Park. At 3.9 miles (6.3 km), it is the longest of Florida's known prehistoric canals, believed to form a part of a sheltered travel route between the Florida Keys and the Ten Thousand Islands. On September 20, 2006, it was designated a National Historic Landmark and added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Description

Mud Lake Canal is about 3.9 miles (6.3 km) in length, and varies in width between roughly 10 and 30 feet (3.0 and 9.1 m). Its dug depth is about 2 feet (0.61 m), although there are variations due to topography. Portions of the canal are significantly overgrown, but it is typically with plant life that differs from the surrounding area. Its route is crossed five times by the 20th-century Homestead Canal, and by both old and modern alignments of the Ingraham Highway. The canal's northwestern end is at the southwestern outlet of Mud Lake, north-northwest of Flamingo. It runs generally southeasterly, with long straight sections interrupted by bends, mainly on account of the local topography. A major bend sends the canal around the Bear Lake Mounds, another major prehistoric site in the area. It appears to end in a network of streams on the shore of Snake Bight, east of Flamingo. In some places along the canal route are small shell middens.

Early white settlers first brought existence of the canal to the attention of Smithsonian archaeologist Aleš Hrdlička in 1918. In 1921, a botanist discovered and described it, and an engineer working on construction of the Homestead Canal also described it the following year. It has been a subject of recurring archaeological interest since then, most significantly since the area became part of Everglades National Park.

References

^ "Mud Lake Canal". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
^ Weekly List Of Actions Taken On Properties: 9/25/06 through 9/29/06
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ "NHL nomination for Mud Lake Canal" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved January 17, 2018.

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Everglades National Park
National Historic Landmarks	Mud Lake Canal
Historic districts	Bear Lake Mounds Archeological District Monroe Lake Archeological District Shark River Slough Archeological District Ten Thousand Islands Archeological District
NRHP properties	Anhinga Trail Cane Patch Nike Missile Site HM-69 Rookery Mound Ted Smallwood Store Turner River Site
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Everglades National Park

v t e Significant waterways of Florida
Larger rivers	Alapaha Apalachicola Aucilla Blackwater Caloosahatchee Chattahoochee Chipola Choctawhatchee Econlockhatchee Escambia Hillsborough Indian River Kissimmee Myakka Ochlockonee Ocklawaha Pea Peace Perdido Santa Fe St. Johns St. Marys Suwannee Withlacoochee (North) Withlacoochee (South) Yellow
Lakes	Apopka Crescent Blue Cypress East Tohopekaliga George Harney Harris Iamonia Istokpoga Jackson Jesup Kissimmee Manatee Miccosukee Monroe Okeechobee Poinsett Rodman Rousseau Seminole Talquin Tohopekaliga Tsala Apopka Ward Washington Weir
Smaller rivers	Alafia Alapahoochee Anclote Braden Carrabelle Chassahowitzka Crooked Crystal Dead East East Bay Eau Gallie Econfina Estero Homosassa Hontoon Dead Ichetucknee Imperial Little (Biscayne Bay) Little (Ochlockonee) Little Econlockhatchee Little Manatee Little Wekiva Loxahatchee Manatee Matanzas Miami New (Broward) New (Carabelle) New (Santa Fe) Oleta Orange Pithlachascotee Rainbow Ribault Shark Silver Sopchoppy St. Lucie St. Marks St. Sebastian Steinhatchee Tomoka Trout Waccasassa Wacissa Wakulla Weeki Wachee Wekiva
Creeks and streams	Billy's Black Blackwater (Hillsborough) Blackwater (Lake) Crane Cross Econfina Fisheating Myakkahatchee Orange Pottsburg Shingle Snapper Turkey
Canals	Canaveral Barge Canal Cross Florida Barge Canal Haulover Canal Hillsboro Canal Miami Canal Mud Lake Canal St. Johns-Indian River Barge Canal St. Lucie Canal Tamiami Canal Tampa Bypass Canal
See also	Coastal waters of Florida Everglades Intracoastal Waterway Indian River Lagoon List of Florida rivers List of major springs in Florida Okeechobee Waterway Okefenokee Swamp Outstanding Florida Waters Paynes Prairie

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Florida
Lists by county	Alachua Baker Bay Bradford Brevard Broward Calhoun Charlotte Citrus Clay Collier Columbia DeSoto Dixie Duval Escambia Flagler Franklin Gadsden Gilchrist Glades Gulf Hamilton Hardee Hendry Hernando Highlands Hillsborough Holmes Indian River Jackson Jefferson Lake Lee Leon Levy Liberty Madison Manatee Marion Martin Miami-Dade Monroe Nassau Okaloosa Okeechobee Orange Osceola Palm Beach Pasco Pinellas Polk Putnam Santa Rosa Sarasota Seminole St. Johns St. Lucie Sumter Suwannee Taylor Union Volusia Wakulla Walton Washington
Lists by city	Miami Tampa
Other lists	Black Public Schools Bridges Multiple Property Submissions National Historic Landmarks Woman's clubhouses
Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property

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Description

See also

References