The Pineland site complex is located in coastal Lee County, northwest of Fort Myers. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and is a designated County Historical Resource.
The Calusa were once the most powerful people in all of South Florida. For many centuries they accumulated huge shell mounds, engineered canals, and sustained tens of thousands of people from the fish and shellfish found in the rich estuaries west and south of Fort Myers. All that is left of their culture today is a dwindling number of shell mound sites dotting the estuarine landscape between Charlotte Harbor and the Ten Thousand Islands region of the Everglades.
On the Calusa Heritage Trail, visitors can tour an internationally significant site and learn about Calusa culture and their environment. Museum-quality interpretive signs along the Trail provide visitors with detailed information regarding the Calusa Indians who inhabited the Pineland site, their culture and environment, and the history of Southwest Florida after the Calusa left. The trail also features observation platforms atop the site's tallest shell mound, in addition to benches and a boardwalk and bridge over low-lying areas.
The Calusa Heritage Trail was sponsored by Dwight and Susan Sipprelle and funded in part by a Special Category Grant from the Florida Department of State, Office of Cultural and Historical Programs, Division of Historical Resources, and through in-kind services and the efforts of many volunteers. In 2001, the Friends of the Randell Research Center was created as a giving society to support the programs and activities of the RRC through its endowment and operating funds. The Friends organization provides an important component of the financial stability of the Randell Research Center.
The Pineland Site Complex is located on Pine Island in coastal Lee County, northwest of Fort Myers. The site was a Calusa Indian village for over 1,500 years. Enormous shell mounds still overlook the waters of Pine Island Sound. The remains of many centuries of Indian village life blanket the former pastures and citrus groves. Remnants of an ancient canal that reached across Pine Island sweep through the complex. Sand burial mounds stand in the woods. Historic structures representing Florida's early pioneer history also still exist at Pineland. Native plants and animals characteristic of coastal hammocks, pinelands, wetlands, and shell mounds are in abundance.
The RRC provides educational programs for students from grade school through university levels, for teachers and the general public. The learning opportunities include hands-on environmental training and supervised archaeological digs. Students can walk the Calusa Heritage Trail of the Randell Research Center (RRC) with a trained docent or staff member. The Trail provides an exciting opportunity for students to experience 2,000 years of civilization preserved in midden mounds, the Calusa canal, and other features on an internationally regarded archaeological site. Artifacts, tool replicas, and museum quality trail signage also bring the past to life for the students.