Snowy Range Pass

Snowy Range Pass

Monday, March 14, 2016

Four hundred years of world history and a quiet county park

Leaving Old Town, we headed north for our last campground of our trip, The county park just west of Tallahassee, where we will get our 40K chassis service before driving home.

Along the way is the San Marcos De Apalache NationalHistoric site.  This small site is located in the village of St Marks, Fl. The town itself has an interesting history beginning with its formation by an act of Congress to ensure a transportation hub before the railroads arrived.

This historic site has been a part of international and national history for over 400 years.  The first Spanish garrison arrived in 1680 as a defensive position on this small piece of land that overlooks the converging of two rivers and the Gulf of Mexico.  Remnants of the wooden stockade are still visible today.  In 1758, a hurricane landed and destroyed the fortifications  and drowned the entire garrison. In 1759, they attempted to built a stone stockade but soon abandoned it and the Native tribes took over the site as a trading post and meeting place.





As the struggle for control of North American continued between the European countries and the Colonists, the Spanish retook the site 1783.  General Andrew Jackson seized the site in 1819, effectively ending the Spanish role. In 1821 it became a US possession when most of FL was purchased from Spain.









Finally, it was occupied by the Confederate Army during the Civil War.  The Confederates successfully defended it from a Federal naval assault near the end of the war.

Today there is remnants of this four hundred year history to be seen on guided walking paths and in the small museum on site.  There is a short but very interesting film on the history.  Even if history is not on the top of your list, it is a beautiful location to see the two rivers merge at the Gulf.  Definitely worth a visit.









We made our way to  the Coes Landing county park off  route 20 on Lake Talquin. Some of the spots were a bit tight but right along the lake.  It was  close to the dealership for our service the next morning.  We found a level site along the water and enjoyed a quiet night.




8 comments:

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

I love visiting historic sites. We missed St Marks on our recent visit to Florida. Looks like our loss. I love the photos of the tree. Amazing how it can live with such little root.

Wanderin' said...

We search along our travels for different places to visit. Looks like you discovered a pretty interesting one. County park many times are much better than the bigger busier parks. Good find.

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

Really cool history lesson, I have this place on my "Must See" list. :c)

Erin said...

Even with tight sites that looks like a nice place to stay.

Gypsy said...

It looks like a good place to visit. I doubt that I will ever get that far south again though.

Peter said...

We always enjoyed visiting historical sites. Lol and we are kind of living in one now.

Linda said...

Lovely photos, and I love your eagle header photo!

Laura said...

fitting into those nice spots are a reward for having a smaller rig. We are hard-pressed to fit into a Walmart parking lot!