T IMUCUAN ECOLOGICAL AND HISTORIC PRESERVE HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY October 1996 Daniel W. Stowell National Park Service Southeast Field Area Atlanta, Georgia C ONTENTS Figure Credits List of Figures Foreword Acknowledgments Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Colonial Settlement, 1564-1763 Associated Properties Registration Requirements/Criteria Considerations/Integrity Eligible Properties/Contributing Resources Chapter Three: Plantation Agriculture, 1763-1895 Associated Properties Registration Requirements/Criteria Considerations/Integrity Eligible Properties/Contributing Resources Noneligible Properties/Non-contributing Resources Chapter Four: Recreational Development/Government Ownership, 1874-1996 Associated Properties Registration Requirements/Criteria Considerations/Integrity Eligible Properties/Contributing Resources Non-eligible Properties/Non-contributing Resources Chapter Five: Military Conflict and Defenses, 1562-1898 Associated Properties Registration Requirements/Criteria Considerations/Integrity Eligible Properties/Contributing Resources Noneligible Properties/Non-contributing Resources Unlocated Resources Chapter Six: Research Recommendations Annotated Bibliography Appendix A: Descriptions of Historic Resources Appendix B: Historical Base Maps iii FIGURE CREDITS Cover: Dena Elizabeth Snodgrass Papers, P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History p. 3: University of Florida Department of Landscape Architecture for National Park Service; p. 6, 11: Florida State Photographic Archives; p. 13: Florida Division of Archives, History, and Records Management; p. 16: National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution; p. 32: Collection of Terence H. E. Webb: p. 38: Edith Duncan Johnston, The Houstons of Georgia; p. 46: Dena Elizabeth Snodgrass Papers, P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History: p. 62: Millar Wilson Laboratory for Chemical Research, Jacksonville University; p. 65: Maureen A. Carroll and Jill K. Hanson for National Park Service: p. 67, 68, 69 (fig. 15): Tal Stanfield for National Park Service; p. 69 (fig. 14): Millar Wilson Laboratory for Chemical Research, Jacksonville University; p. 70: Florida State Photographic Archives; p. 71: Tal Stanfield for National Park Service; p. 72: Dena Elizabeth Snodgrass Papers, P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History; p. 73: Daniel W. Stowell; p. 76: Kingsley Plantation Files, National Park Service; p. 77: Florida State Photographic Archives; p. 78: Maureen A. Carroll and Jill K. Hanson for National Park Service: p. 87: Florida State Photographic Archives; p. 92: Dena Elizabeth Snodgrass Papers, P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History; p. 95: Collection of Michael Hughes: p. 102: Millar Wilson Laboratory for Chemical Research, Jacksonville University; p. 108: Maureen A. Carroll and Jill K. Hanson for National Park Service: p. 111, 113: Kingsley Plantation Files, National Park Service; p. 122, 124: Florida State Photographic Archives; p. 143: Florida Publishing Company; p. 146, 149, 153: Tal Stanfield for National Park Service; Appendix B: University of Florida Department of Landscape Architecture for National Park Service. iv F IGURES Figure Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve Figure Plan of St. Augustine, 1660 Figure Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Figure Spanish majolica plate fragment Figure Tilte page of Pareja’s catechism Figure John Carrol Houston Jr. Figure John Houstoun McIntosh and Eliza Bayard McIntosh Figure Charles J. McNeill Figure John F. Rollins Figure Hannah Breck Peters Rollins Figure Ruins of Houston Plantation Figure Kingsley Plantation House Figure Kitchen House Figure Carriage House and Barn Figure Barn Figure Tabby cabins at the Kingsley Plantation circa 1900 Figure Restored Cabin E1 Figure Tabby walls of slave cabin Figure View across slave cabin arc Figure Diagram of slave cabin arc Figure Palmetto Avenue Figure Crypts on Fort George Island Figure Thomson Tabby House Figure Fort George Hotel Figure St. George’s Episcopal Church Figure Rear Admiral Victor Blue v Figure Golfers putting on the lawn of the Fort George Club Figure Stuart-Blue House Figure Floor plans of original Fort George Clubhouse Figure Floor plans of Ribault Clubhouse Figure Timucuan Chief Atore shows Laudonnière the Ribault Column Figure Theodore de Bry’s 1591 engraving of Fort de la Caroline Figure Federal encampment at Yellow Bluff Fort Figure Spanish-American War Battery Figure Ribault Column replica Figure Earthworks at Yellow Bluff Fort vi Foreword We are pleased to add this volume to our growing library of published Historic Resource Studies for park units in the Southeast Field Area. This study was the product of a cooperative agreement with the University of Florida and reflects the labors of the principal investigator, Dr. Daniel W. Stowell. The University’s Department of Landscape Architecture prepared the historical base maps that accompany the report, and Bob Blythe formatted the study for publication. We hope that the study will be a useful tool for park management and others interested in the history and significance of the Preserve’s many cultural resources. Kirk A. Cordell Assistant Director, Cultural Resources National Park Service Southeast Field Area October 1996 vii Acknowledgments Many people have contributed to making the research and writing of this Historic Resources Study both rewarding and enjoyable. I would like to thank the National Park Service staff at Kingsley Plantation- especially Kathy Tilford, Brian Peters, and Roger Clark-for making each of my visits fruitful and fun. Several other National Park Service personnel, both in Jacksonville and Atlanta, aided immensely in the completion of this study. Thanks to Superintendent Suzanne Lewis, Chief Ranger Craig Sheldon, and Ranger Paul Ghioto of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve for their assistance. In the Atlanta office, credit goes to Karen Rehm for getting this project going and to Bob Blythe for seeing it to its completion as well as for the careful reading he gave the draft. Maureen Carroll and Jill Hanson from the Atlanta office provided valuable assistance in measuring and describing many of the buildings included in this report. I also appreciate the assistance of volunteer John Tilford in solving several measurement questions regarding the slave cabin arc. Many individuals have contributed information from their own knowledge of the history of the area included in the Timucuan Preserve. I appreciate the information provided to me by Dena Snodgrass, Terence Webb, Jerald Milanich, and Daniel Schafer. Several other individuals shared primary source materials or information from their own experiences in the area. Thank you to William E. Arnold Jr., Ernest and Betty Houseman, Harriet Gardiner, R. Del Delumyea, Michael Hughes, Rhydon Dennette Jr., Dennis and Madeline Reed, James Crooks, and Chris Oakey. Several libraries and archives have been helpful in my search for materials. I wish especially to thank Bruce Chappell of the P. K. Yonge Library of Florida History for answering innumerable questions and guiding me through the East Florida Papers. Associate Dean David Colburn of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the History Department graciously extended his support to make it possible for me to undertake this study. Thanks also to Eldon Turner and Dave Tegeder of the History Department at the University of Florida and Jane Landers of Vanderbilt University for encouragement, and to office manager Kimberly Yocum for handling the grant paperwork with efficiency, I must thank my sons Samuel and Joseph for forgiving my absences, providing necessary distractions, and helping me to keep it all in perspective. To my wife Miriam goes the greatest thanks for her patience and love and for delivering to me another wonderful distraction, our daughter Rachel, born as this study seemingly neared completion. Daniel W. Stowell ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION On February 16, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed Public Law 100-249, creating the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. The act was designed to “preserve certain wetlands and historic and prehistoric sites in the St. Johns River Valley, Florida.” In addition to the protection of important ecological resources, the legislation also protected an array of cultural resources associated with the rich history of this portion of northeast Florida. The “sites of significant historical interest” specified in the act were: (1) Spanish sixteenth century forts San Gabriel and San Estaban. (2) Spanish eighteenth century fort Dos Hermanas. (3) English eighteenth century forts at Saint Johns Bluff and Fort George Island. (4) Spanish sixteenth and seventeenth century mission San Juan del Puerto. (5) Site of the American Revolutionary War battle of Thomas Creek (6) The Zephaniah Kingsley plantation, with its eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings. (7) The Spanish American War fortification on Saint Johns Bluff. (8) The Confederate fort known as Yellow Bluff Fort State Historic Site. The act also provided for acquisition and preservation of additional properties of ecological or historic interest. In addition, the legislation amended a 1950 act that had provided for the “acquisition, investigation, and preservation” of lands associated with the sixteenth-century French settlement of Fort de la Caroline on Saint Johns Bluff. The Fort Caroline National Memorial was to serve as the “principal interpretive center and administrative facility for the ecological, historic, and prehistoric resources” of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve.