T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park History
Prehistoric and Indian Occupations:
The Woodland stage is the third major stage of cultural development in eastern North America. This stage, the first evidence of habitation, is marked by population increases along the coast, probably because sea levels stabilized around 400 B.C. More burial mounds were constructed and trade networks increased.
The Weeden Island people (ca.A.D. 500-2000) exploited shellfish, fish, deer and nuts as primary food resources. The Mississippian culture ( A.D. 1200-1700) developed in the Apalachicola River around A.D. 1000. Contacts between the Weeden Island culture and the emerging Mississippian groups brought new ideas, however, coastal groups seem to have continued a subsistence strategy. There is no definitive archaeological or historic evidence about Indian groups at the spit when Europeans arrived.
European Exploration and Settlement:
St. Joseph Bay appears to have been reported first by Spaniards from Pensacola in 1699 who reported seeing the prow of a shipwreck. Named San Joseph de Vallardes in honor of Comte de Moctezuma, the bay was occupied by 1701 in order to prevent the French from interrupting the Spanish supply route to Pensacola.
A garrison placed on the mainland at the mouth of the bay supported hunting, farming and a small lookout station on the spit. The British led and instigated Indian raids against Spanish settlements and ranches between 1702-1704. Spanish and Indians captured and enslaved by the British were taken to Charleston. Hispanic troops looking for survivors in 1705 found the area abandoned and decided against establishing another outpost.
The French attempted to build Fort Creve Couer on the mainland in 1718 but the Spanish at Pensacola demanded they leave Spanish territory. Although the French attempted to burn their unfinished fort, it was not destroyed and later was occupied by Spanish troops from San Marcos.
In early 1719 France, England and Austria were pitted against Spain, French troops from Mobile captured Pensacola. Soon after, the Spanish Presidio San Jose, a fortified settlement was built at the tip of this peninsula. By the end of the year more than 1200 soldiers and convicts from Cuba, Veracruz and Mexico city along with their superiors, wives, children and servants were living in and around the fort. Abandoned in 1723, its remaining buildings were dismantled and used to build a presidio at Pensacola.
American Period:
Established in 1835, St. Joseph vied with Apalachicola as a shipping port. In 1839 a lighthouse began operating at the tip of the spit and guided local shipping. By 1840, Apalachicola outcompeted St. Joseph as a commercial port and the crippling yellow fever epidemic in 1841 doomed the early settlement. In 1844, buildings not transported to Apalachicola were destroyed by a mighty hurricane. The lighthouse ceased operation in 1847 and was leveled by another hurricane in 1851. An August hurricane of 1851 forced the grounding of the S.S. Florida on the east side of the tip. Only the metal firebox remains in the bay waters.
In the early 20th Century a bathhouse was constructed at Eagle Harbor by T. H. Stone so that tourists from the mainland could change clothes for swimming and sailing. Fish camps arose on the east side of the peninsula and a house for local bar pilots was built near the tip. The peninsula was used for gunnery and bombing practice during WWII. After the Korean War, the U. S. Army Reserve took over the remaining military lands for training exercises in 1962 and 1963.
A large camp area and bulldozed roads are still evident within the Wilderness Preserve. In 1967, as a result of local citizen and political interest, the site was dedicated as the T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.
Please remember that all sites are protected and may not be disturbed.
The Woodland stage is the third major stage of cultural development in eastern North America. This stage, the first evidence of habitation, is marked by population increases along the coast, probably because sea levels stabilized around 400 B.C. More burial mounds were constructed and trade networks increased.
The Weeden Island people (ca.A.D. 500-2000) exploited shellfish, fish, deer and nuts as primary food resources. The Mississippian culture ( A.D. 1200-1700) developed in the Apalachicola River around A.D. 1000. Contacts between the Weeden Island culture and the emerging Mississippian groups brought new ideas, however, coastal groups seem to have continued a subsistence strategy. There is no definitive archaeological or historic evidence about Indian groups at the spit when Europeans arrived.
European Exploration and Settlement:
St. Joseph Bay appears to have been reported first by Spaniards from Pensacola in 1699 who reported seeing the prow of a shipwreck. Named San Joseph de Vallardes in honor of Comte de Moctezuma, the bay was occupied by 1701 in order to prevent the French from interrupting the Spanish supply route to Pensacola.
A garrison placed on the mainland at the mouth of the bay supported hunting, farming and a small lookout station on the spit. The British led and instigated Indian raids against Spanish settlements and ranches between 1702-1704. Spanish and Indians captured and enslaved by the British were taken to Charleston. Hispanic troops looking for survivors in 1705 found the area abandoned and decided against establishing another outpost.
The French attempted to build Fort Creve Couer on the mainland in 1718 but the Spanish at Pensacola demanded they leave Spanish territory. Although the French attempted to burn their unfinished fort, it was not destroyed and later was occupied by Spanish troops from San Marcos.
In early 1719 France, England and Austria were pitted against Spain, French troops from Mobile captured Pensacola. Soon after, the Spanish Presidio San Jose, a fortified settlement was built at the tip of this peninsula. By the end of the year more than 1200 soldiers and convicts from Cuba, Veracruz and Mexico city along with their superiors, wives, children and servants were living in and around the fort. Abandoned in 1723, its remaining buildings were dismantled and used to build a presidio at Pensacola.
American Period:
Established in 1835, St. Joseph vied with Apalachicola as a shipping port. In 1839 a lighthouse began operating at the tip of the spit and guided local shipping. By 1840, Apalachicola outcompeted St. Joseph as a commercial port and the crippling yellow fever epidemic in 1841 doomed the early settlement. In 1844, buildings not transported to Apalachicola were destroyed by a mighty hurricane. The lighthouse ceased operation in 1847 and was leveled by another hurricane in 1851. An August hurricane of 1851 forced the grounding of the S.S. Florida on the east side of the tip. Only the metal firebox remains in the bay waters.
In the early 20th Century a bathhouse was constructed at Eagle Harbor by T. H. Stone so that tourists from the mainland could change clothes for swimming and sailing. Fish camps arose on the east side of the peninsula and a house for local bar pilots was built near the tip. The peninsula was used for gunnery and bombing practice during WWII. After the Korean War, the U. S. Army Reserve took over the remaining military lands for training exercises in 1962 and 1963.
A large camp area and bulldozed roads are still evident within the Wilderness Preserve. In 1967, as a result of local citizen and political interest, the site was dedicated as the T. H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.
Please remember that all sites are protected and may not be disturbed.
