TIMU is one of the largest contiguous salt marsh ecosystems in the United States - over 46,000 acres. With more than 10,000 years of history, it sustained the Mocama Timucua native peoples and their rich history and culture is still being discovered today. Ft. Caroline represents the first European colony established when Jean Ribault set foot on the bluffs over looking the St. Johns River on June 30, 1564 and celebrated the first “Thanksgiving” with Chief Saturiwa and his people. Kingsley Plantation tells the amazing story of Zephaniah and Anna Kingsley. The buildings still stand on the bluff overlooking the Ft. George River. This history would have never been preserved or told had Ft. Caroline and TIMU not been established as a national park by Congressman Charles Bennett. Over a million visitors annually walk through these paths of rich history and culture. I’m so proud and fortunate to have all this in my “backyard.” Some parks have grand canyons and geysers. We have pristine salt marsh with a viewshed unmatched by any other park. Come see it for yourself!
Sincerely,
Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve
Just outside of downtown Jacksonville, this preserve protects 46,000 acres of wetlands, hardwood forests, and coastal dunes along with historic sites and relics from 6,000 years of human habitation. The site is named for and helps preserve the history of the 35 Native American chiefdoms that lived in the region and spoke the Timucua language. The site also contains the remains of a plantation with slave cabins, helping researchers better understand the culture and daily lives of the enslaved people who toiled there. The park also includes a historic beach founded during the Jim Crow era by Florida’s first African-American millionaire, a 1920s-era golf course, and a memorial to France's failed New World colony.
State(s): Florida
Established: 1988
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