With recent news coming from Tallahassee regarding constructing golf courses in our State Parks, of which we are still taking comments on here, this week's Florida's Special Places nominee of Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park from Lucy Tobias, is of critical importance:
I am awed to be in the presence of the past.
The silence is deafening. Mid-morning sun warms grassy areas and casts shadows under live oak trees.
Can it be true? Did this place once vibrate with the laughter of children and the sounds of everyday life? Were ceremonies held here that brought Indians from all over the Southeast? The answers are yes, yes and yes.
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park in Tallahassee doesn't need a museum. The area has evidence that Lake Jackson Indians were here - huge artifacts rising right up from the ground.
Mounds. Six earthen mounds in all. Two are easily seen from the parking lot. The tallest one stands 36 feet high with a base that measures 278 feet by 312 feet. If you want to walk it, there are 65 steps to the top.
These mounds were built by hand, one basketful of dirt at a time. It would be like building a cathedral in the Middle Ages - generations of labor dedicated to a task that takes centuries to complete.
From 1100-1500 a vibrant community lived right here. Then one day they disappeared. If I were a mystery writer, Lake Jackson Mounds would attract me like a moth to a light source. Mystery one: Why build the mounds? Mystery two: Why leave?
For full disclosure - I do write non-fiction, Florida stories about a sense of place and this park is Chapter Three: "If the Hills Could Talk" in my book 50 Great Walks in Florida.
Now for the numbers: A park system economic assessment counted 38,067 visitors who came to Lake Jackson in 2009/2010 with a total direct economic impact of $1,864,236. The increased state sales tax revenue was $130,496.55 and 37.3 jobs were generated.
Still, this park was on a list of 53 parks DEP once proposed for closure (23 of the 53 have cultural history ties and are valuable heritage travel destinations).
The Lake Jackson numbers are proof that preserving Florida's past generates income and jobs in the present. Your legislators need to know this. Please tell them soon to both save and spend money to promote Florida's Special Places. The Legislative session starts March 8.
