Everglades National Park Gulf Coast Visitors Center

The Everglades is an expansive area of land in south Florida, which consists of 1.5 million acres of wetland. This one of a kind National Park, is also; a World Heritage Site, an International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Importance, and a specially protected wilderness area under the Cartagena Treaty. Nearly flat and surrounded on three sides by rising seas, Everglades National Park is already feeling the effects of a warming climate. Sea-level rise has brought significant changes that are being observed on the landscape, and more are sure to be seen in the years ahead.

Since the park covers such a large area of south Florida, planning is a must. There are three entrances to Everglades National Park and they are not connected, they are accessed through different areas of south Florida. The Gulf Coast Visitor Center serves as the gateway for exploring the Ten Thousand Islands, a maze of mangrove islands and waterways that extends to Flamingo and Florida Bay accessible only by boat in this region. The visitor center offers educational displays, orientation films, informational brochures, and backcountry permits.

(The original Gulf Coast Visitor Center was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in September of 2017. In October of 2022, Hurricane Ian severely damaged the temporary Visitor Contact Station. Gulf Coast Visitor Center and Everglades City entrance are CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.)

Although known for its vast natural landscapes, the Everglades have been home and hunting grounds for many people and groups. Since the emergence of the River of Grass, Native Americans and later on Anglo-American settlers known as “Gladesmen” traversed the wild landscape and came to rely on its abundant natural resources, and explore its mysteries. Developers would make their mark on the land in a different way, by seeking to alter the wetland landscape by draining the land and building roads and canals. In response to the rapid alterations which were affecting the Everglades, Conservation groups like the Florida Federation of Women’s Clubs pioneered efforts to reclaim and save the “River of Grass” from further development.

With the demise of indigenous people in south Florida, and white settlement occurring to the north, increasing migrations of Creek peoples were forced southward for hunting and settling. The Seminole and Miccosukee, tribes affiliated with the Creek federation, were in the area as early as the eighteenth century.

At the end of the nineteenth century the south Florida coast was still largely wilderness, one of the last coastal regions east of the Mississippi to be settled. Only three small communities -- Chokoloskee, Cape Sable and Flamingo -- existed along the coast of what is now Everglades National Park. These isolated locations, far removed from large developed centers, attracted those adjusted to independently living off of the land. The only way to arrive at Flamingo or Chokoloskee was by boat. Supplies were shipped from Key West, Fort Meyers or Tampa and cane syrup, fish, and produce were traded in return. Although the communities were never to become a metropolis, they did have commerce, with some vegetables from Chokoloskee even reaching New York City.

Spanish accounts suggest that the Calusa were the dominant tribe of the region and operated a complex Chiefdom that was comprised of a number of village communities all organized within a chiefly hierarchy. Archaeologists consider this type of complex organization rare for non-agrarian societies. Calusa village communities were concentrated along the south west coast. They depended on fishing, as well as systematic foraging for sustenance. Living among the coastal mangroves of the Florida Gulf Coast, the Calusa utilized the abundance of shells around them to create their built environment. Archaeologists have identified shell mounds, which were piles of empty and discarded shells that had been used as tools after their contents were consumed. The Calusa also built shell formations. These built forms, called “shell works,” were large scale architecture which used ridges, mounds, platforms, and courtyards within their town plans. Their exact social uses are unknown, but it is likely that they were used to divide gathering places from sacred spaces and provide barriers from mosquitoes or ocean tides.

Sandfly Island in the Ten Thousand Islands Archeological District of Everglades National Park is an important cultural site currently impacted by climate change. It consists of 22 acres of prehistoric networks of earth and shell mounds – or middens – that date back to about 3,000 years. In the early 1900s, settlers had a home, tomato farm, and even a store on the island. Today nature has reclaimed most of the island, and few signs of human settlement remain. Water erosion and wind damage over the years have made parts of the Sandfly Island shoreline and its tidal creek banks collapse, further exposing the fragile archaeological site to sea-level rise and increased salinity, which can harm the artifacts. These sites allow scientists to examine human history, but the artifacts may be less useful in the future if they are washed away or too damaged to analyze.

From the Gulf Coast Visitor Center, Sandfly Island is located about a 1.5 mile paddling distance across the open waters of Chokoloskee Bay. It is a trip for experienced kayakers.