When I came to Sarasota, I moved to Shell Beach and noticed the ridges and mounds. Florida is understudied archaeologically. There is great antiquity here but misguided assumptions means few have taken up the challenges of unlocking the past for this peninsula. And as we go through the archaeo-history, my wife Edith will be joining us – the past was not just men and neither is the future.
In 1867, John Webb, from New York, established a homestead at what is now called Historic Spanish Point in Osprey. While farming, he uncovered ancient human skeletons on the property. Webb had a background in science and knew right away he had found something important.
Dr. Aleš Hrdlička came to study the skulls of Osprey and Vero, on the east coast – it was that important. Dr. Hrdlička’s conclusions put a damper on other finds of ancient human remains, including J.E. Moore’s find by Phillippi Creek. Took until the 1970s, with the finds at Little Salt Spring and Warm Mineral Springs for archaeologists to recognize the antiquity of Native Americans in the region.
Wealthy land developer, Bertha Palmer, based in Chicago, purchased the Spanish Point homestead land from John Webb in 1910. She was made aware of the rich history of the site and she and her descendants protected it for future generations.
Charles Ringling might have had trouble imagining the rich history of the region. Around the same time the Ringlings came to Sarasota, Aleš Hrdlička of the Smithsonian Institution negated the antiquity of people in Florida; he was wrong. Archaeological research over the last several decades confirm the Indigenous view: there is great antiquity to Native American history across the peninsula, including Sarasota/Manatee. Preserving the material legacy of the ancients expands our view of history, and our future.
