Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

(Redirected from Timucuan Preserve) Wetlands in Florida (US) managed by the National Park Service

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
Salt marsh at Timucuan
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Location	Jacksonville, Florida, United States
Nearest city	Jacksonville, Florida
Coordinates	30°27′16″N 81°27′00″W / 30.45445°N 81.44988°W / 30.45445; -81.44988
Area	46,000 acres (190 km)
Established	February 16, 1988
Visitors	1,102,223 (in 2022)
Governing body	National Park Service in cooperation with other agencies
Website	Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Location	13165 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Jacksonville, Florida
Area	46,000 acres (19,000 ha)
NRHP reference No.	01000283
Added to NRHP	February 16, 1988

The Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is a U.S. National Preserve in Jacksonville, Florida. It comprises 46,000 acres (19,000 ha) of wetlands, waterways, and other habitats in northeastern Duval County. Managed by the National Park Service in cooperation with the City of Jacksonville and Florida State Parks, it includes natural and historic areas such as the Fort Caroline National Memorial and the Kingsley Plantation.

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 Kingsley Plantation, the oldest standing plantation in the state. The Preserve is maintained through cooperation by the National Park Service, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the City of Jacksonville Department of Parks and Recreation, which partner to support the Timucuan Parks Foundation. It is named for the Timucua Indians who had 35 chiefdoms throughout northern Florida and south Georgia at the time of Spanish 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 in the United States, dating to 2500 BCE. (There have been slightly older finds in the Savannah River area.)

They also have excavated more recent artifacts contemporary with the Mocama chiefdom. 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 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 brothers were missionaries to the Timucua and Guale Indians along the coast, whose territory included the Sea Islands in Georgia 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

Sign at Spanish Pond
Brown anole at Spanish Pond

Visitor Center

The Timucuan Preserve Visitor Center is located near the Fort Caroline National Monument. An exhibit called “Where the Waters Meet: The Ecology and History of the Timucuan Preserve” presents several panels of diagrams, illustrations, timelines, and information. The free exhibit collection includes artifacts as well as replicas of tools, weapons, and the materials used to create them, such as shells and tree fibers.

The Preserve hosts “Artist in Residence” programs annually, allowing local artists to live at the Kingsley Plantation for two- to six-week periods, during which time the artist(s) create original works of art influenced by the area. Some of these works are then displayed in the visitor center at the end of the residency.

Community events hosted by the Preserve include “Artist in Residence,” Pop-Up Ranger talks, group hikes, and Junior Ranger activities.

References

"Annual Park Ranking Report for Recreation Visits in: 2022". Retrieved July 25, 2023.
"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Matt Soergel, "Archaeologists help distinguish Mocama group", Morris News Service, 25 Oct 2009, accessed 11 May 2010
"Land Trust sells 2,500 acres of Nassau River marsh to National Park Service". WJXT. June 9, 2020. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
"Plan Your Visit". National Park Service.
"Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve HIKING TRAILS". National Park Planner.
"Spanish Pond". National Park Service.
"Bird Platform". National Park Service.
"Saturiwa Trail". National Park Service.
"Timucuan Preserve Visitor Center - Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Timucuan Preserve Visitor.
"Artist In Residence - Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
"Artist In Residence - Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
"Be A Junior Ranger - Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.

External links

Media related to Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve at Wikimedia Commons

Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, National Park Service
Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve: Water Resources Management Plan (November 1996, 160 pages)

Protected areas of Florida

Federal level

National parks	Biscayne Dry Tortugas Everglades
National memorials	De Soto Fort Caroline
National monuments	Castillo de San Marcos Fort Matanzas
National seashores	Canaveral Gulf Islands
National forests	Apalachicola Choctawhatchee Ocala Osceola
National wildlife refuges	Archie Carr Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Caloosahatchee Cedar Keys Chassahowitzka Crocodile Lake Crystal River Egmont Key Florida Panther Great White Heron Hobe Sound Island Bay J.N. 'Ding' Darling Key West Lake Wales Ridge Lake Woodruff Lower Suwannee Matlacha Pass Merritt Island National Key Deer Okefenokee Passage Key Pelican Island Pine Island Pinellas St. Johns St. Marks St. Vincent Ten Thousand Islands
Other national protected areas	Big Cypress National Preserve Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
National Marine Sanctuaries	Florida Keys Key Largo (1975–1990) Looe Key (1981–1990)
National Estuarine Research Reserves	Apalachicola NERR Guana Tolomato Matanzas NERR Rookery Bay NERR
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Loxahatchee River Wekiva River

State level

Parks	Amelia Island Anastasia Avalon Bahia Honda Bald Point Big Lagoon Big Shoals Big Talbot Island Bill Baggs Cape Florida Bulow Creek Caladesi Island Camp Helen Cayo Costa Collier–Seminole Colt Creek Curry Hammock Delnor-Wiggins Pass Devil's Millhopper Don Pedro Island Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson Eden Gardens Egmont Key Falling Waters Faver-Dykes Florida Caverns Fort Clinch Fort Cooper Fort George Island Fort Pierce Inlet Fred Gannon Rocky Bayou Gasparilla Island George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier Grayton Beach Henderson Beach Highlands Hammock Honeymoon Island Hontoon Island Hugh Taylor Birch John D. MacArthur Beach John Pennekamp Coral Reef Jonathan Dickinson Little Talbot Island Long Key Lovers Key Mike Roess Gold Head Branch North Peninsula O'Leno Oscar Scherer Perdido Key Price's Scrub Sebastian Inlet Skyway Fishing Pier St. Andrews St. George Island St. Marks River St. Joseph Peninsula Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Stump Pass Beach Tomoka Torreya Windley Key Fossil Reef
Botanical garden parks	Alfred B. Maclay Gardens Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Lignumvitae Key Ravine Gardens Washington Oaks
Lakes, rivers and springs parks	Deer Lake Lake Griffin Lake June in Winter Scrub Lake Kissimmee Lake Louisa Lake Manatee Lake Talquin Alafia River Blackwater River Dunns Creek Econfina River Hillsborough River Little Manatee River Myakka River Ochlockonee River Oleta River Suwannee River Three Rivers Blue Spring De Leon Springs Edward Ball Wakulla Springs Fanning Springs Homosassa Springs Wildlife Ichetucknee Springs Lafayette Blue Springs Madison Blue Spring Manatee Springs Ponce de Leon Springs Rainbow Springs Silver Springs Troy Spring Weeki Wachee Springs Wekiwa Springs Werner-Boyce Salt Springs Wes Skiles Peacock Springs
Recreation areas	Dead Lakes Gamble Rogers Memorial
Museums, historic sites, and archaeological sites	Addison Blockhouse Cedar Key Museum Constitution Convention Museum Forest Capital Museum John Gorrie Museum Ybor City Museum The Barnacle Bulow Plantation Ruins Dade Battlefield DeSoto Site Dudley Farm Fort Foster Fort Mose Fort Zachary Taylor Gamble Plantation Indian Key Koreshan Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Homestead Natural Bridge Battlefield Olustee Battlefield Orman House Paynes Creek San Marcos de Apalache Yellow Bluff Fort Yulee Sugar Mill Ruins Crystal River Lake Jackson Mounds Letchworth-Love Mounds Madira Bickel Mound Mound Key San Pedro Underwater
Preserves and reserves	Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Anclote Key Cedar Key Scrub Charlotte Harbor Crystal River Disney Wilderness Estero Bay Green Cay Wetlands Fakahatchee Strand Hal Scott Kissimmee Prairie Lower Wekiva River Paynes Prairie Pumpkin Hill Creek River Rise Rock Springs Run San Felasco Hammock Savannas Seabranch St. Lucie Inlet St. Sebastian River Tarkiln Bayou Topsail Hill Tosohatchee Waccasassa Bay Yellow River Marsh
State trails	Blackwater Heritage Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Gainesville-Hawthorne General James A. Van Fleet Jacksonville-Baldwin Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway Nature Coast Palatka-Lake Butler Palatka-to-St. Augustine Tallahassee-St. Marks Historic Railroad Withlacoochee
State forests	Belmore Big Shoals Blackwater River Carl Duval Moore Cary Charles H. Bronson Cottage Hill Deep Creek Etoniah Creek Four Creeks Goethe Holopaw Indian Lake Jennings John M. Bethea Lake George Lake Talquin Lake Wales Ridge Little Big Econ Matanzas Myakka Okaloacoochee Slough Picayune Strand Pine Log Point Washington Ralph E. Simmons Memorial Ross Prairie Seminole Tate's Hell Tiger Bay Twin Rivers Wakulla Watson Island Welaka Withlacoochee

Local level

Preserves and reserves	Boyd Hill Gumbo Limbo Moccasin Lake

v t e National Preserves of the United States
Aniakchak Bering Land Bridge Big Cypress Big Thicket Craters of the Moon Denali Gates of the Arctic Glacier Bay Great Sand Dunes Katmai Lake Clark Little River Canyon Mojave New River Gorge Noatak Oregon Caves Tallgrass Prairie Timucuan Valles Caldera Wrangell–St. Elias Yukon–Charley Rivers

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
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