Unearthing Florida: Fort King

In 1827 the U.S. Army built a fort near Ocala to keep the Seminole Indians within specified reservations. The garrison, which became known as Fort King, played a major

The Second Seminole War stemmed from President Andrew Jackson’s policy of ...

Unearthing Florida: Rosario

In 1992 University of West Florida archaeologists discovered the remains of the Rosario, an early, 18th century Spanish fragata that sank in Pensacola Bay over 300 years ago.

The “Rosario” was a large, 50-gun frigate that was built of mahogany and ...

Unearthing Florida: Downtown Forts

Starting in the 1750s, there were three main forts built along the waterfront in what is now downtown Pensacola.

The first fort, San Miguel de Panzacola, was a small wooden garrison built by the Spanish about 1755. All that we ...

Unearthing Florida: Geroges Valentine

On October 13, 1904 the three-masted ship Georges Valentine set sail from Pensacola carrying a load of lumber destined for Buenos Aires. A few days later the vessel encountered a violent storm in the Straits of Florida.

After three consecutive days ...

Unearthing Florida: 1733 Spanish Plate Fleet

Shipping riches of gold, silver, and exotic resources from the New World across the Atlantic was often dangerous for Spanish sailing fleets centuries ago: especially during hurricane season.

In July of 1733 the New Spain fleet, made up of four armed ...

Smith-McDowell House

The Smith-McDowell House is one of the finest ante-bellum constructions in western North Carolina and Asheville's oldest brick residence. Situated on a portion of a land grant issued to Colonel Daniel Smith after the Revolutionary War, the c. 1840 Smith-McDowell ...

Southern Railway Passenger Depot (Biltmore Depot)

The village of Best, named for owner of the Western North Carolina Railroad, William J. Best, was the location of Asheville's first railway station with its initiation October 3, 1880. Railway passengers traveling to Asheville and surrounding areas used the ...

Unearthing Florida: Chattahoochee Landing Mounds

For Native Americans, rivers were highways, and along the Apalachicola River, one site that served as a major hub of activity was the Chattahoochee Landing.

The Chattahoochee Landing site sits strategically at the junction of two major rivers that form ...

Unearthing Florida: Negro Fort

During the War of 1812, the British built a military base in Florida on the eastern bank of the Apalachicola River that became a sanctuary for runaway slaves. The U.S. government called it “Negro Fort.”

After losing the war, the British ...

Unearthing Florida: Apalachicola River

Flowing over 100 miles from the northern state line to the Gulf of Mexico meanders one of the most important waterways in Florida’s history: the Apalachicola River.

The Apalachicola River basin within Florida covers more area than the state of Connecticut ...