: James D. Snyder
: A Visitor's Guide to Jonathan Dickinson State Park
: Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park
: 9781618500298
: 1
: CHF 6.30
:
: Ratgeber
: English
: 96
: kein Kopierschutz
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
This booklet is sponsored by the Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park (JDSP). The park is special because it is an oasis of calm sandwiched between rapidly growing towns--Juniter-Tequesta to the south and Stuart-Hobe Sound to the north. Within these 11,500 acres are a wild and scenic river and the same wildlife that were seen by generations of Native Americans, pioneer growers and railroad builders. And for many, the park is a poignant part of our own family histories. We come here to enjoy, reflect, and remember. Because we hope you will too, this booklet tells the history, the ecology, the activities, and the challenges of maintaining its wild and scenic nature.

CHAPTER ONE


A Microcosm of Florida History


A View That Spans Centuries


Most folks think of South Florida as too “new” to have much history. After all, its oldest building (Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse) is just over 150 years. As recently as a century ago, the entire 250-mile coastal strip from Titusville to Key Biscayne contained barely a thousand people.

But now take another look! Start your visit to Jonathan Dickinson State Park by climbing the tower atop Hobe Mountain and you’ll see why.

Look west and you’ll gaze on much the same undisturbed landscape that ancient Indians did at least 5,000 years ago.

Look east to the ocean and see where Spanish galleons glided on the Gulf Stream on their way to Spain with gold and silver from South America.

Southeast, just beyond your gaze, is Jupiter Inlet, which was entered by Ponce de León in 1513.

Looking south, many of the east-west highways cover the original trails used by Seminole Indians and their U. S. Army pursuers in the mid-nineteenth century.

Look down right below you and imagine an army base with 7,000 men and 400 structures springing up almost overnight in 1942. Then imagine the whole complex just a few years later: a ghost camp of concrete slabs.

The Native American centuries


Several centuries before the Spanish explorer Ponce de León arrived at Jupiter Inlet, Indians were using the trails and river in today’s state park. Because these early Indians (not to be confused with the later Seminoles) left no sign of a written language, it’s difficult to pinpoint how long they lived in any one area or who ruled what domain. A rough sketch would show the large Calusa kingdom based around Estero Bay (near Fort Myers). A second was the Miaymi, who lived around the rim of Lake Okeechobee. Smaller groups – perhaps sub-clans or vassals of the first two – included the Aiys around Indian River Inlet, the Jeaga at Jupiter Inlet and the Tequesta where Miami is today.

The Jeaga of Jupiter Inlet were blessed with an abundance of food, so that the planting of crops was rare. Great schools of fish swam along the beach. Giant loggerhead turtles crawled ashore in summertime and laid delicious eggs. Pools by the inlets teemed with snook and the river exploded with swar