Topsail Hill Preserve State Park History
Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is named for the tallest dune in the Preserve. When viewed from the Gulf the tallest dune resembles a ship’s Topsail.
The preserve was purchased in 1992 and the RV resort was added in 1998. Funds to buy this property came from the Conservation Acquisition of Recreation Lands (CARL) program, also known as Forever Florida. In total Topsail Hill Preserve encompasses 1,637 acres. Topsail was purchased because of it’s unique natural ecosystems, 14 in all including freshwater coastal dune lakes, wet prairies, scrub, pine flatwoods, marshes, cypress domes, seepage slopes and 3.2 miles of sparkling white sand beaches. In fact Topsail Hill is the most intact coastal ecosystem in Florida.
When Europeans entered the area they started logging and gathering turpentine from pine trees. There was a little settlement here called the “Quarters” which was a turpentine camp. Turpentine was very important for ship maintenance in the days when ships where the main means of transportation. Turpentining is hard labor. A deep V or cat face is cut into the side of a tree to induce the flow of sap where it is the gathered in a pot hung from a nail in the tree. The sap is then boiled and the evaporative turpentine collected. Many of these trees with the cat faces still evident are found in the preserve.
The preserve was purchased in 1992 and the RV resort was added in 1998. Funds to buy this property came from the Conservation Acquisition of Recreation Lands (CARL) program, also known as Forever Florida. In total Topsail Hill Preserve encompasses 1,637 acres. Topsail was purchased because of it’s unique natural ecosystems, 14 in all including freshwater coastal dune lakes, wet prairies, scrub, pine flatwoods, marshes, cypress domes, seepage slopes and 3.2 miles of sparkling white sand beaches. In fact Topsail Hill is the most intact coastal ecosystem in Florida.
When Europeans entered the area they started logging and gathering turpentine from pine trees. There was a little settlement here called the “Quarters” which was a turpentine camp. Turpentine was very important for ship maintenance in the days when ships where the main means of transportation. Turpentining is hard labor. A deep V or cat face is cut into the side of a tree to induce the flow of sap where it is the gathered in a pot hung from a nail in the tree. The sap is then boiled and the evaporative turpentine collected. Many of these trees with the cat faces still evident are found in the preserve.
