The Matheson History Museum Complex is located in Gainesville, Florida . It includes the Matheson History Museum, the Matheson Library & Archives, the 1867 Matheson House , and the Tison Tool Barn.
112-482: The Matheson History Museum building, formerly an American Legion Hall and officially opened as a museum in 1994, houses the bulk of the museum complex's exhibitions and programs. The front of the building has a gift shop and a recreation of the Matheson Dry Goods Store that used to exist on Alachua Avenue (now University Avenue). Another permanent exhibit was added to the front of the building in 2015 featuring
224-627: A canoe from the Timucua Native American tribe that inhabited North Central Florida The canoe was originally discovered in 2011 by Gainesville resident Bill Cason. Cason was north of Gainesville at Trout Pond when the receded waters from the summer had exposed the canoe. Recognizing the artifact he called the Matheson Museum to report his find. The Matheson collaborated with the Florida Museum of Natural History (FMNH) to recover and preserve
336-459: A contingent of regular army troops south towards St. Augustine. Upon hearing of Mathews' actions, the government became alarmed that he would provoke war with Spain. Secretary of State James Monroe ordered Matthews to return all captured territory to Spanish authorities. After several months of negotiations on the withdrawal of the Americans and compensation for their foraging through the countryside,
448-470: A fort, it was constantly in some form of danger and did face the dangers many other early European colonies had. It was notably devastated in 1586, when English sea captain and sometime pirate Sir Francis Drake plundered and burned the city. Later sometime in 1599 a fire would burn down the Franciscan monastery that was present and the southern part of St. Augustine and a few months later on September 22, 1599,
560-517: A hurricane would hit destroying much of the town. Although St. Augustine faced many hardships the Spanish decided to maintain the town and the colony as a way to counteract English expansion in the Americas and to help protect Spanish ships. Catholic missionaries used St. Augustine as a base of operations to establish over 100 far-flung missions throughout Florida. They converted 26,000 natives by 1655, but
672-554: A large military or civilian population. It became a territory of the United States in 1821. Two decades later, on March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union as the 27th U.S. state. Florida is nicknamed the "Sunshine State" due to its warm climate and days of sunshine. Florida's sunny climate, many beaches, and growth of industries have attracted northern migrants within the United States, international migrants, and vacationers since
784-462: A long groove called a "flute". The spear points would typically be made by chipping a single flake from each side of the point. The point was then tied onto a spear of wood or bone. As the environment changed with the ice age ending around 17–13 Ka BP on short, and around 25–27 Ka BP on the long, many animals migrated overland to take advantage of the new sources of food. Humans following these animals, such as bison, mammoth and mastodon, thus gained
896-537: A much wider geographical distribution, but mostly in the central and southern part of the continent. The haplogroup most commonly associated with Amerindian genetics is Haplogroup Q-M3 . Y-DNA , like ( mtDNA ), differs from other nuclear chromosomes in that the majority of the Y chromosome is unique and does not recombine during meiosis . This allows the historical pattern of mutations to be easily studied. The pattern indicates Indigenous Amerindians experienced two very distinctive genetic episodes: first with
1008-633: A point on or north of Tampa Bay.) Peoples in southern Florida depended on the rich estuarine environment and developed a highly complex society without agriculture. At the time of first European contact in the early 16th century, Florida was inhabited by an estimated 350,000 people belonging to a number of tribes. (Anthropologist Henry F. Dobyns has estimated that as many as 700,000 people lived in Florida in 1492). The Spanish Empire sent Spanish explorers recording nearly one hundred names of groups they encountered, ranging from organized political entities such as
1120-480: A population of 300 while a 1689 census found there was 1,444 people that lived there. Another done in 1736 found 1,409 residents. By 1763 the population of St. Augustine was larger than Williamsburg, Virginia or any other town in the southern British colonies with the exception of Charleston, South Carolina . African slaves used primarily for labor were first introduced to Spanish Florida as early as 1580, when officials asked for permission to import slaves to bolster
1232-536: A revolt in 1656 and an epidemic in 1659 proved devastating. Construction on Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine would begin in 1672 and finish in 1695. Another fort, named Fort Matanzas would be built in 1742 to defend St. Augustine's entrance from the Matanzas Inlet . The total population of St. Augustine during the Spanish period has some degree of uncertainty but several census were taken. A 1675 census found it had
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#17330929782661344-403: A shape as a peninsula. The emergent landmass of Florida was Orange Island , a low-relief island sitting atop the carbonate Florida Platform which emerged about 34 to 28 million years ago. When glaciation locked up the world's water, starting 2.58 million years ago, the sea level dropped precipitously. It was approximately 100 meters (330 ft) lower than present levels. As a result,
1456-604: A shared threat. Thus, a majority of Florida residents were Loyalists , and both East and West Florida declined to send representatives to any sessions of the Continental Congress . Governor Patrick Tonyn raised four black militia units to protect East Florida. Enslaved blacks who fought for the British Crown were promised freedom. However, due to the passing of stricter slave codes and the efforts of slave owners, few of those who fought were granted their freedom. During
1568-946: A single animal species: the bison (an early cousin of the American bison ). The earliest known of these bison-oriented hunting traditions is the Folsom tradition . Folsom peoples traveled in small family groups for most of the year, returning yearly to the same springs and other favored locations on higher ground. There they would camp for a few days, perhaps erecting a temporary shelter, making and/or repairing some stone tools, or processing some meat, then moving on. Paleo-Indians were not numerous, and population densities were quite low. Paleo-Indians are generally classified by lithic reduction or lithic core "styles" and by regional adaptations. Lithic technology fluted spear points, like other spear points, are collectively called projectile points . The projectiles are constructed from chipped stones that have
1680-489: A variety of flora. Paleo-Indian groups were efficient hunters and carried a variety of tools. These included highly efficient fluted-style spear points, as well as microblades used for butchering and hide processing. Projectile points and hammerstones made from many sources are found traded or moved to new locations. Stone tools were traded and/or left behind from North Dakota and Northwest Territories , to Montana and Wyoming . Trade routes also have been found from
1792-485: A variety of topics in local and Florida history. Florida history The history of Florida can be traced to when the first Paleo-Indians began to inhabit the peninsula as early as 14,000 years ago. They left behind artifacts and archeological evidence. Florida's written history begins with the arrival of Europeans; the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León in 1513 made the first textual records. The state received its name from that conquistador , who called
1904-511: Is likely that the peoples living in those areas at the time of first European contact were direct descendants of the inhabitants of the areas in late Archaic and Woodland times. The cultures of the Florida panhandle and the north and central Gulf coast of the Florida peninsula were strongly influenced by the Mississippian culture , producing two local variants known as the Pensacola culture and
2016-510: Is now Orlando. The paleo-Indian culture was replaced by, or evolved into, the Early Archaic culture . With an increase in population and more water available, the people occupied many more locations, as evidenced by numerous artifacts. Archaeologists have learned much about the Early Archaic people of Florida from the discoveries made at Windover Pond . The Early Archaic period evolved into
2128-489: Is the oldest continuously inhabited European settlement in any U.S. state. It is second oldest only to San Juan, Puerto Rico , in the United States' current territory. From this base of operations, the Spanish began building Catholic missions . All colonial cities were founded near the mouths of rivers. St. Augustine was founded where the Matanzas Inlet permitted access to the Matanzas River . Other cities were founded on
2240-495: Is usually given credit for being the first European to sight Florida in 1513, but he may have had predecessors. Florida and much of the nearby coast is depicted in the Cantino planisphere , an early world map which was surreptitiously copied in 1502 from the most current Portuguese sailing charts and smuggled into Italy a decade before Ponce sailed north from Puerto Rico on his voyage of exploration. Ponce de León may not have even been
2352-760: The American Revolutionary War , Florida Loyalists fighting for the English Crown participated in raids against the Patriot forces in South Carolina and Georgia. Continental forces attempted to invade East Florida early in the conflict, but they were defeated on May 17, 1777, at the Battle of Thomas Creek in today's Nassau County when American Colonel John Baker surrendered to the British. Another American incursion into
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#17330929782662464-617: The Apalachee , with a population of around 50,000, to villages with no known political affiliation. There were an estimated 150,000 speakers of dialects of the Timucua language , but the Timucua were organized as groups of villages and did not share a common culture. Other tribes in Florida at the time of first contact included the Ais , Calusa , Jaega , Mayaimi , Tequesta , and Tocobaga . The populations of all of these tribes decreased markedly during
2576-466: The Bering Strait from North Asia into the Americas over a land bridge ( Beringia ). This bridge existed from 45,000 to 12,000 BCE (47,000–14,000 BP ). Small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large herbivores far into Alaska . From c. 16,500 – c. 13,500 BCE ( c. 18,500 – c. 15,500 BP), ice-free corridors developed along
2688-603: The Board of Trade that "it has been a practice for a good while past, for negroes to run away from their Masters, and get into the Indian towns, from whence it proved very difficult to get them back". When British colonial officials in Florida pressed the Seminole to return runaway slaves, they replied that they had "merely given hungry people food, and invited the slaveholders to catch the runaways themselves". In 1763 , Spain traded Florida to
2800-469: The British Columbia Interior to the coast of California . The glaciers that covered the northern half of the continent began to gradually melt, exposing new land for occupation around 17,500–14,500 years ago. At the same time as this was occurring, worldwide extinctions among the large mammals began. In North America, camelids and equids eventually died off, the latter not to reappear on
2912-725: The Calusa before heading back to Puerto Rico. From 1513 onward, the land became known as La Florida . After 1630, and throughout the 18th century, Tegesta (after the Tequesta tribe) was an alternate name of choice for the Florida peninsula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de Laet 's History of the New World . Further Spanish attempts to explore and colonize Florida were disastrous. Ponce de León returned to
3024-610: The Creek people who absorbed other groups, developed as a distinct tribe in Florida during the 18th century through the process of ethnogenesis . They have three federally recognized tribes: the largest is the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma , formed of descendants since removal in the 1830s; others are the smaller Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida . Spanish conqueror and explorer Juan Ponce de León
3136-685: The Florida land boom of the 1920s . A diverse population, urbanization, and a diverse economy would develop in Florida throughout the 20th century. In 2014, Florida with over 19 million people, surpassed New York and became the third most populous state in the U.S. The economy of Florida has changed over its history, starting with natural resource exploitation in logging, mining, fishing, and sponge diving ; as well as cattle ranching , farming, and citrus growing . The tourism, real estate, trade, banking, and retirement destination businesses would develop as economic sectors later on. The foundation of Florida
3248-603: The Fort Walton culture . Continuity in cultural history suggests that the peoples of those areas were also descended from the inhabitants of the Archaic period. In the panhandle and the northern part of the peninsula, people adopted cultivation of maize. Its cultivation was restricted or absent among the tribes who lived south of the Timucuan -speaking people (i.e., south of a line approximately from present-day Daytona Beach, Florida to
3360-501: The Gulf of Venezuela to the high mountains and valleys. The population using them were hunter-gatherers that seemed to remain within a certain circumscribed territory. El Jobo points were probably the earliest, going back to c. 14,200 – c. 12,980 BP and they were used for hunting large mammals. In contrast, the fish-tail points, dating to c. 11,000 B.P. in Patagonia , had
3472-659: The King's Road connecting St. Augustine to Georgia . The road crossed the St. Johns River at a narrow point, which the Seminole called Wacca Pilatka and the British named "Cow Ford", both names ostensibly reflecting the fact that cattle were brought across the river there. The British government gave land grants to officers and soldiers who had fought in the French and Indian War in order to encourage settlement. In order to induce settlers to move to
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3584-616: The Kingdom of Great Britain for control of Havana , Cuba, which had been captured by the British during the Seven Years' War . It was part of a large expansion of British territory following the country's victory in the Seven Years' War . Almost the entire Spanish population left, taking along most of the remaining indigenous population to Cuba. The British divided the territory into East Florida and West Florida . The British soon constructed
3696-799: The Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets . An alternative proposed scenario involves migration, either on foot or using boats , down the Pacific coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would have been submerged by a sea-level rise of more than a hundred meters following the end of the Last Glacial Period . The time range of the peopling of the Americas remains a source of substantial debate. Conventional estimates have it that humans reached North America at some point between 15,000 and 20,000 years ago. However, some groups of humans may have reached South America as early as 25,000 years ago. One of
3808-759: The Mobile District of West Florida to the Mississippi Territory in May 1812. The surrender of Spanish forces at Mobile in April 1813 officially established American control over the area, which was eventually divided between the states of Alabama and Mississippi . In March 1812, a small independent band of Americans took control of Amelia Island on the Atlantic coast. They declared that they were now an independent republic free from Spanish rule in what would become known as
3920-629: The Pacific coast and valleys of North America . This allowed land animals, followed by humans, to migrate south into the interior of the continent. The people went on foot or used boats along the coastline. The dates and routes of the peopling of the Americas remain subjects of ongoing debate. It is likely there were three waves of ancient settlers from the Bering Sea to the America continent. Stone tools , particularly projectile points and scrapers , are
4032-540: The Patriot War . The revolt was organized by General George Mathews of the U.S. Army, who had been authorized to secretly negotiate with the Spanish governor for American acquisition of East Florida. Instead, Mathews organized a group of frontiersmen in Georgia, who arrived at the Spanish town of Fernandina and demanded the surrender of all of Amelia Island. Upon declaring the island a republic, he led his volunteers along with
4144-462: The Province of Carolina , raided throughout Florida. They burned villages, wounded many of the inhabitants and carried captives back to Charles Towne to be sold into slavery . Most of the villages in Florida were abandoned, and the survivors sought refuge at St. Augustine or in isolated spots around the state. Many tribes became extinct during this period and by the end of the 18th century. Some of
4256-704: The first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix paleo- comes from the Ancient Greek adjective: παλαιός , romanized : palaiós , lit. 'old; ancient'. The term Paleo-Indians applies specifically to the lithic period in the Western Hemisphere and is distinct from the term Paleolithic . Traditional theories suggest that big-animal hunters crossed
4368-556: The giant beaver , steppe wisent , giant muskox , mastodon , woolly mammoth and ancient reindeer . The Clovis culture , appearing around 11,500 BCE ( c. 13,500 BP) in North America, is one of the most notable Paleo-Indian archaeological cultures. It has been disputed whether the Clovis culture were specialist big-game hunters or employed a mixed foraging strategy that included smaller terrestrial game, aquatic animals, and
4480-536: The "Free and Independent Republic of West Florida" on September 23. (None of it was within what is today the state of Florida.) Their flag was the original " Bonnie Blue Flag ", a single white star on a blue field. On October 27, 1810, most of the Republic of West Florida was annexed by proclamation of President James Madison , who claimed that the region was included in the Louisiana Purchase and incorporated it into
4592-530: The 16th century, as well as entry of new Native American groups migrating from elsewhere in the South, and free black people and fugitive slaves, who in the 19th century became allied with the Native Americans as Black Seminoles . Florida was under colonial rule by Spain from the 16th century to the 19th century, and briefly by Great Britain during the 18th century (1763–1783). Neither Spain nor Britain maintained
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4704-538: The 1817–1818 campaign against the Seminole Indians by Andrew Jackson that became known later as the First Seminole War . Jackson took temporary control of Pensacola in 1818, and though he withdrew due to Spanish objections, the United States continued to effectively control much of West Florida. According to Secretary of State John Quincy Adams , this was necessary because Florida had become "a derelict open to
4816-458: The Americas becoming extinct towards the end of the Paleoindian period as part of the Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions . The potential role of human hunting in the extinctions has been the subject of much controversy. From 8000 to 7000 BCE (10,000–9,000 BP) the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and lithic technology advances, resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle during
4928-928: The Americas suggest that Clovis (thus the "Paleo-Indians") time range should be re-examined. In particular, sites such as Cooper's Ferry in Idaho, Cactus Hill in Virginia , Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania , Bear Spirit Mountain in West Virginia , Catamarca and Salta in Argentina , Pilauco and Monte Verde in Chile , Topper in South Carolina , and Quintana Roo in Mexico have generated early dates for wide-ranging Paleo-Indian occupation. Some sites significantly predate
5040-430: The Americas. Due to the evidence that Paleoindians hunted now extinct megafauna (large animals), and that following a period of overlap, most large animals across the Americas became extinct as part of the Late Pleistocene megafauna extinctions , it has been argued by many authors that hunting by Paleoindians was an important factor in the extinctions, though this suggestion is controversial, with other authors placing
5152-516: The Apalachee eventually reached Louisiana, where they survived as a distinct group for at least another century. The Spanish evacuated the few surviving members of the Florida tribes to Cuba in 1763 when Spain transferred the territory of Florida to the British Empire following the latter's victory against France in the Seven Years' War . In the aftermath, the Seminole , originally an offshoot of
5264-594: The Bahamas at that time. He went ashore on Florida's east coast during the Spanish Easter feast, Pascua Florida , on April 7 and named the land La Pascua de la Florida. After briefly exploring the land south of present-day St. Augustine , the expedition sailed south to the bottom of the Florida peninsula, through the Florida Keys , and up the west coast as far north as Charlotte Harbor , where they briefly skirmished with
5376-529: The British North American colonies. They settled in a buffer community north of St. Augustine, called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose , the first settlement made of free black people in North America. During this period, the British (including their North American colonies) repeatedly attacked Spanish Florida, especially in 1702 and again in 1740, when a large force under James Oglethorpe sailed south from Georgia and besieged St. Augustine , but
5488-569: The British authorities in St. Augustine. Their descendants survive to this day, as does the name New Smyrna. In 1767, the British moved the northern boundary of West Florida to a line extending from the mouth of the Yazoo River east to the Chattahoochee River (32° 28′ north latitude), consisting of approximately the lower third of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama . During this time, Creek Indians migrated into Florida and formed
5600-523: The Charlotte Harbor area in 1521 with equipment and settlers to start a colony, but was soon driven off by hostile Calusa, and de León died in Cuba from wounds received in the fighting. Pánfilo de Narváez 's expedition explored Florida's west coast in 1528, but his violent demands for gold and food led to hostile relations with the Tocobaga and other native groups. Facing starvation and unable to find his support ships, Narváez attempted return to Mexico via rafts, but all were lost at sea and only four members of
5712-469: The Early Archaic period in some regions. Sites in Alaska (eastern Beringia) exhibit some of the earliest evidence of Paleo-Indians, followed by archaeological sites in northern British Columbia , western Alberta and the Old Crow Flats region of the Yukon territory. The Paleo-Indians would eventually flourish all over the Americas. These peoples were spread over a wide geographical area; thus there were regional variations in lifestyles. However, all
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#17330929782665824-425: The Florida peninsula not only emerged, but had a land area about twice what it is today. Florida also had a drier and cooler climate than in more recent times. There were few flowing rivers or wetlands . Paleo-Indians entered what is now Florida at least 14,000 years ago, during the last glacial period . With lower sea levels, the Florida peninsula was much wider, and the climate was cooler and much drier than in
5936-431: The John Mason Tison Jr. or were donated by the community. Through these donations the number of tools total close to 1200 objects. The second floor of the barn is currently used for storage purposes. Located directly behind the museum and maintained jointly by the Matheson History Museum and the City of Gainesville, Sweetwater Park is free and open to the public. Purchased by the museum in the summer of 2014, this building
6048-415: The Matheson family, from which the museum takes its name, this house was built in 1867 and is the third oldest house in Gainesville (the Bailey House was completed in 1854 and the Haile Homestead in 1856). It was home to James Douglas Matheson and his wife, Augusta Florida Steele Matheson, daughter of Florida pioneer Augustus Steele, founder of Hillsborough County and Cedar Key. Their son, Christopher Matheson,
6160-560: The Middle Archaic period around 5000 BC. People started living in villages near wetlands and along the coast at favored sites that were likely occupied for multiple generations. The Late Archaic period started about 3000 BC, when Florida's climate had reached current conditions and the sea had risen close to its present level. People commonly occupied both fresh and saltwater wetlands. Large shell middens accumulated during this period. Many people lived in large villages with purpose-built earthwork mounds , such as at Horr's Island , which had
6272-531: The Seminole tribe. When representatives from thirteen North American colonies declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, many Floridians condemned the action. East and West Florida were backwater outposts whose populations included a large percentage of British military personnel and their families. There was little trade in or out of the colonies, so they were largely unaffected by the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765 and other taxes and policies which brought other British colonies together in common interest against
6384-442: The Spanish-allied Apalachee Indians (the Apalachee massacre ) opened Florida up to slave raids , which reached to the Florida Keys and decimated the native population. The Yamasee War of 1715–1717 in the Carolinas resulted in numerous Indian refugees, such as the Yamasee, moving south to Florida. In 1719, the French captured the Spanish settlement at Pensacola. The border between the British colony of Georgia and Spanish Florida
6496-403: The United States government to remove the Indians from their lands in Florida. Many settlers in Florida developed plantation agriculture, similar to other areas of the Deep South. To the consternation of new landowners, the Seminoles harbored and integrated runaway black slaves, and clashes between whites and Indians grew with the influx of new settlers. Paleo-Indians Paleo-Indians were
6608-468: The United States on March 30, 1822. The U.S. merged East Florida and West Florida (although the majority of West Florida was annexed to Territory of Orleans and Mississippi Territory ), and established a new capital in Tallahassee , conveniently located halfway between the East Florida capital of St. Augustine and the West Florida capital of Pensacola. The boundaries of Florida's first two counties, Escambia and St. Johns , approximately coincided with
6720-444: The United States. The transfer was negotiated as part of the Adams–Onís Treaty , which also settled several boundary disputes between Spanish colonies and the U.S. in exchange for American payment of $ 5,000,000 in claims against the Spanish government. The treaty was signed in 1819 and took effect in 1821, and the United States formally took possession of Florida on July 17, 1821. Florida Territory became an organized territory of
6832-529: The Y lineage specific to South America indicates that certain Amerindian populations have been isolated since the initial colonization of the region. The Na-Dené , Inuit and Indigenous Alaskan populations, however, exhibit haplogroup Q (Y-DNA) mutations that are distinct from other Amerindians with various mtDNA mutations. This suggests that the earliest migrants into the northern extremes of North America and Greenland derived from later migrant populations. Evidence from full genomic studies suggests that
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#17330929782666944-416: The backwoods of Georgia and South Carolina . Though technically not allowed by the Spanish authorities, the Spanish were never able to effectively police the border region, and a mix of American settlers, escaped slaves, and Native Americans would continue to migrate into Florida unchecked. The American migrants, mixing with the few remaining settlers from Florida's British period, would be the progenitors of
7056-455: The barn was donated to the museum in 1998 it had to be dismantled entirely. The materials were then transported and reconstructed next to the Matheson House by Geoffrey O’Meara, a local contractor. The reconstruction was marked with a plaque with the quote “The only barn raised twice”. The barn itself consists of two floors with the main floor being used to house displays. The display on the first floor consists of tools that originally belonged to
7168-542: The blame on climatic change. In a 2012 survey of archaeologists in The SAA Archaeological Record, 63% of respondents said that megafauna extinctions were likely the result of a "combination of factors". The Archaic period in the Americas saw a changing environment featuring a warmer, more arid climate and the disappearance of the last megafauna. The majority of population groups at this time were still highly mobile hunter-gatherers, but now individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally. Thus with
7280-477: The boundaries of West and East Florida respectively. The free black and Indigenous slaves, Black Seminoles, living near St. Augustine, fled to Havana, Cuba to avoid coming under US control. Some Seminole also abandoned their settlements and moved further south. Hundreds of Black Seminoles and fugitive slaves escaped in the early nineteenth century from Cape Florida to The Bahamas , where they settled on Andros Island . As settlement increased, pressure grew on
7392-402: The boundaries. The Spanish wanted the expanded northern boundary Britain had made to West Florida, while the new United States demanded the old boundary at the 31st parallel north . This border controversy was resolved in the 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo when Spain recognized the 31st parallel as the boundary. Just as most residents of Spanish Florida had left when Britain gained possession of
7504-490: The canoe. The display case currently showing the canoe features a backdrop mural of historically accurate Timucuan life painted by the artist Stacy Breheny. The main gallery consists of a permanent display of local and Florida history along the east wall, with the remainder of the space devoted to rotating temporary exhibitions. The back of the building contains the Mary Ann Cofrin Exhibit Hall, where additional temporary exhibitions are on display. Originally owned and built by
7616-426: The colony suffered major losses primarily due to insect-borne diseases and Native American raids. Most crops did not do well in the sandy Florida soil. Those that survived rarely equaled the quality produced in other colonies. The colonists tired of their servitude and Turnbull's rule. On several occasions, he used African slaves to whip his unruly settlers. The settlement collapsed and the survivors fled to safety with
7728-410: The continent until the Spanish reintroduced the horse near the end of the 15th century CE. As the Quaternary extinction event was happening, the late Paleo-Indians would have relied more on other means of subsistence. From c. 10,500 – c. 9,500 BCE ( c. 12,500 – c. 11,500 BP), the broad-spectrum big game hunters of the Great Plains began to focus on
7840-402: The countries came to an agreement, and Amelia Island was returned to the Spanish in May 1813. A similar filibuster action took place in September 1817, when the Scottish veteran and con-man Gregor MacGregor led a private force and captured Amelia Island and declared it part of the Republic of the Floridas . By December 1817, the United States seized the island. The unguarded Florida border
7952-496: The creation of the artifacts. The findings are controversial, and funding has not been available for follow-up studies. As the glaciers began retreating about 8000 BCE , the climate of Florida became warmer and wetter. As the glaciers melted, the sea level rose, reducing the land mass. Many prehistoric habitation sites along the old coastline were slowly submerged, making artifacts from early coastal cultures difficult to find. There were islands throughout Florida as far south as what
8064-471: The cultivation of sugar cane, indigo, and fruits, as well the export of lumber. As a result of these initiatives northeastern Florida prospered economically in a way it never did under Spanish rule. Furthermore, the British governors were directed to call general assemblies as soon as possible to make laws for the Floridas and in the meantime they were, with the advice of councils, to establish courts. This would be
8176-430: The expedition survived. Hernando de Soto landed in Florida in 1539 and began a multi-year trek through what is now the southeastern United States in which he found no gold and lost his life. In 1559 Tristán de Luna y Arellano established the first settlement in Pensacola but, after a violent hurricane destroyed the area, it was abandoned in 1561. The horse, which the natives had hunted to extinction 10,000 years ago,
8288-573: The few areas of agreement is the origin from Siberia , with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the Last Glacial Period, and more specifically after the end of the Last Glacial Maximum around 16,000 to 13,000 years before present. The Palaeoindian culture lasts 4000 years, from 12,000 to 8000 BP. It is divided into Early Palaeoindian (12,000-10,000 BP) and Late Palaeoindian (10,000-8000 BP), ending with early events of
8400-474: The first Spaniard to go ashore in Florida; slave traders may have secretly raided native villages before Ponce arrived, as he encountered at least one indigenous tribesman who spoke Spanish. However, Ponce's 1513 expedition to Florida was the first open and official one. He also gave Florida its name, which means "full of flowers". A dubious legend states that Ponce de León was searching for the Fountain of Youth on
8512-517: The first introduction of much of the English-derived legal system which Florida still has today, including trial by jury , habeas corpus , and county-based government. A Scottish settler named Dr. Andrew Turnbull transplanted around 1,500 indentured settlers, from Menorca , Majorca , Ibiza , Smyrna , Crete , Mani Peninsula , and Sicily , to grow hemp , sugarcane , indigo , and to produce rum . Settled at New Smyrna , within months
8624-498: The first people in the Americas diverged from Ancient East Asians about 36,000 years ago and expanded northwards into Siberia, where they encountered and interacted with a different Paleolithic Siberian population (known as Ancient North Eurasians ), giving rise to both Paleosiberian peoples and Ancient Native Americans , which later migrated towards the Beringian region, became isolated from other populations, and subsequently populated
8736-602: The following Archaic Period . Researchers continue to study and discuss the specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas , including the dates and routes traveled. The traditional theory holds that these early migrants moved into Beringia between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska 17,000 years ago, at a time when the Quaternary glaciation significantly lowered sea levels. These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between
8848-456: The forests and marshes. The fall would have been a busy time because foodstuffs would have to be stored and clothing made ready for the winter. During the winter, coastal fishing groups moved inland to hunt and trap fresh food and furs. Late ice-age climatic changes caused plant communities and animal populations to change. Groups moved and sought new supplies as preferred resources were depleted. Small bands utilized hunting and gathering during
8960-534: The individual groups shared a common style of stone tool production, making knapping styles and progress identifiable. This early Paleo-Indian period's lithic reduction tool adaptations have been found across the Americas, utilized by highly mobile bands consisting of approximately 20 to 60 members of an extended family. Food would have been plentiful during the few warm months of the year. Lakes and rivers were teeming with many species of fish, birds and aquatic mammals. Nuts, berries and edible roots could be found in
9072-510: The initial peopling of the Americas, and secondly with European colonization of the Americas . The former is the determinant factor for the number of gene lineages and founding haplotypes present in today's Indigenous Amerindian populations. Human settlement of the Americas occurred in stages from the Bering sea coast line , with an initial layover on Beringia for the founding population . The micro-satellite diversity and distributions of
9184-422: The island of Bimini, based on information from natives. On March 3, 1513, Juan Ponce de León organized and equipped three ships for an expedition departing from " Punta Aguada ", Puerto Rico. The expedition included 200 people, including women and free black people. Although it is often stated that he sighted the peninsula for the first time on March 27, 1513, and thought it was an island, he probably saw one of
9296-503: The largest permanently occupied community in the Archaic period in the southeastern United States. It also has the oldest burial mound in the East, dating to about 1450 BC. People began making fired pottery in Florida by 2000 BC. By about 500 BC, the Archaic culture, which had been fairly uniform across Florida, began to fragment into regional cultures. The post-Archaic cultures of eastern and southern Florida developed in relative isolation. It
9408-452: The migration time frame of ice-free corridors, thus suggesting that there were additional coastal migration routes available, traversed either on foot and/or in boats. Geological evidence suggests the Pacific coastal route was open for overland travel before 23,000 years ago and after 16,000 years ago. In South America, the site of Monte Verde indicates that its population was probably territorial and resided in their river basin for most of
9520-555: The museum under the new name of Alachua County Historic Trust: Matheson Museum, Inc. In 2014, the museum changed its name to the Matheson History Museum. The Matheson House contains original furniture, artwork and artifacts from antebellum and Victorian era Florida. The Tison Tool barn was first constructed between 1992 & 1993 by John Mason Tison Jr. at his address of 1842 NW 7th Place in Gainesville Florida . When
9632-493: The name big-game hunters . Pacific coastal groups of the period would have relied on fishing as the prime source of sustenance. Archaeologists are piecing together evidence that the earliest human settlements in North America were thousands of years before the appearance of the current Paleo-Indian time frame (before the late glacial maximum 20,000-plus years ago). Evidence indicates that people were living as far east as Beringia before 30,000 BCE (32,000 BP). Until recently, it
9744-572: The nation. The Matheson History Museum received a $ 300,000 historic preservation grant from the Florida Department of State , Division of Historical Resources, along with contributions from private donors, to transform the building into a library and archives for the museum's local history collections. The Matheson Library & Archives was completed in 2017. It houses the Matheson History Museum's collections, including local and Florida artifacts, books and vertical files with images and information on
9856-447: The newly formed Territory of Orleans . Some leaders of the newly declared republic objected to the takeover, but all had deferred to arriving American troops by mid-December 1810. The Florida Parishes of the modern state of Louisiana include most of the territory claimed by the short-lived Republic of West Florida. Spain sided with Great Britain during the War of 1812 , and the U.S. annexed
9968-421: The occupancy of every enemy, civilized or savage, of the United States, and serving no other earthly purpose than as a post of annoyance to them". After Jackson's incursions, Spain decided that Florida had become too much of a burden, as it could not afford to send settlers or garrisons to properly occupy the land and was receiving very little revenue from the territory. Madrid therefore decided to cede Florida to
10080-721: The passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization like the Southwest , Arctic , Poverty , Dalton , and Plano traditions. These regional adaptations would become the norm, with reliance less on hunting and gathering, and a more mixed economy of small game, fish, seasonally wild vegetables, and harvested plant foods. Many groups continued to hunt big game but their hunting traditions became more varied and meat procurement methods more sophisticated. The placement of artifacts and materials within an Archaic burial site indicated social differentiation based upon status in some groups. [REDACTED] Indigenous peoples of
10192-510: The peninsula La Pascua Florida in recognition of the verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers). This area was the first mainland realm of the United States to be settled by Europeans, starting in 1513. Since then Florida has had many waves of colonization and immigration, including French and Spanish settlement during
10304-400: The period of Spanish control of Florida, mostly due to epidemics of newly introduced infectious diseases , to which the Native Americans had no natural immunity . Beginning late in the 17th century, when most of the indigenous peoples were already much reduced in population, peoples from areas to the north of Florida, supplied with arms and occasionally accompanied by white colonists from
10416-492: The population known as Florida Crackers . Ignoring Spanish territorial claims, American settlers, along with some remaining British settlers, established a permanent foothold in the western end of West Florida during the first decade of the 1800s. In the summer of 1810, they began planning a rebellion against Spanish rule which became open revolt in September. The rebels overcame the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge and proclaimed
10528-938: The present day. Fresh water was available only in sinkholes and limestone catchment basins, and paleo-Indian activity centered around these relatively scarce watering holes. Sinkholes and basins in the beds of modern rivers (such as the Page-Ladson site in the Aucilla River ) have yielded a rich trove of paleo-Indian artifacts , including Clovis points . Excavations at an ancient stone quarry (the Container Corporation of America site in Marion County ) yielded "crude stone implements" showing signs of extensive wear from deposits below those holding Paleo-Indian artifacts. Thermoluminescence dating and weathering analysis independently gave dates of 26,000 to 28,000 years ago for
10640-543: The primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Archeologists and anthropologists use surviving crafted lithic flaked tools to classify cultural periods. Scientific evidence links Indigenous Americans to eastern Siberian populations by the distribution of blood types, and genetic composition as indicated by molecular data, such as DNA . There is evidence for at least two separate migrations. Paleoindians lived alongside and hunted many now extinct megafauna (large animals), with most large animals across
10752-459: The same area was repelled at the Battle of Alligator Bridge on June 30, 1778. The two Floridas remained loyal to Great Britain throughout the war. However, Spain, participating indirectly in the war as an ally of France, captured Pensacola from the British in 1781. The Peace of Paris (1783) ended the Revolutionary War and returned all of Florida to Spanish control, but without specifying
10864-507: The sea with similar inlets: Jacksonville, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Pensacola, Tampa, Fort Myers, and others. On September 20, 1565, Menéndez de Avilés attacked Fort Caroline, killing most of the French Huguenot defenders. Two years later, Dominique de Gourgue recaptured the settlement for France, this time slaughtering the Spanish defenders. St. Augustine became the most important settlement in Florida. Little more than
10976-531: The spring and summer months, then broke into smaller direct family groups for the fall and winter. Family groups moved every 3–6 days, possibly traveling up to 360 km (220 mi) per year. Diets were often sustaining and rich in protein; clothing was made from a variety of animal hides that were also used for shelter construction. During much of the early and middle Paleo-Indian periods, inland bands are thought to have subsisted primarily through hunting now-extinct megafauna . Large Pleistocene mammals included
11088-471: The territory depopulated and unguarded. North Florida continued to be the home of the newly amalgamated black–native American Seminole culture and a haven for people escaping slavery in the southern United States. Settlers in southern Georgia demanded that Spain control the Seminole population and capture runaway slaves, to which Spain replied that the slave owners were welcome to recapture the runaways themselves. Americans began moving into northern Florida from
11200-579: The territory in 1763, the impending return to Spanish control in 1783 saw a vast exodus of those who had settled in the area over the previous twenty years. This included many Loyalists who had fled there during the American War of Independence and had caused East Florida's population to swell considerably if temporarily. Spain's reoccupation of Florida involved the arrival of some officials and soldiers at St. Augustine and Pensacola but very few new settlers. Most British residents had departed, leaving much of
11312-577: The two new colonies reports of the natural wealth of Florida were published in England. A large number of British colonists who were "energetic and of good character" moved to Florida, mostly coming from South Carolina , Georgia and England, though there was also a group of settlers who came from the colony of Bermuda . This would be the first permanent English-speaking population in what is now Duval County , Baker County , St. Johns County , and Nassau County . The British built good public roads and introduced
11424-407: The western borders of the Spanish claim. In 1702, Governor of Carolina James Moore and allied Yamasee and Creek Indians attacked and razed the town of St. Augustine, but they could not gain control of the fort. In 1704, Moore and his soldiers began burning Spanish missions in north Florida and executing Indians friendly with the Spanish. The collapse of the Spanish mission system and the defeat of
11536-532: The workforce in and around St. Augustine. However, due to restrictions by the Spanish crown, the population of African slaves in Florida remained relatively low until around the period of British control in 1763. Throughout the 17th century, English settlers in Virginia and Carolina gradually pushed the boundaries of Spanish territory south, while the French settlements along the Mississippi River encroached on
11648-796: The year. Some other South American groups, on the other hand, were highly mobile and hunted big-game animals such as gomphotheres and giant sloths . They used classic bifacial projectile point technology, such as Fishtail points . The primary examples are populations associated with El Jobo points ( Venezuela ), fish-tail or Magallanes points (various parts of the continent, but mainly the southern half), and Paijan points ( Peru and Ecuador ) at sites in grasslands, savanna plains, and patchy forests. The dating for these sites ranges from c. 14,000 BP (for Taima-Taima in Venezuela) to c. 10,000 BP. The bi-pointed El Jobo projectile points were mostly distributed in north-western Venezuela; from
11760-701: Was Gainesville's longest-serving mayor. Chris's widow, Sarah Hamilton Matheson, initially deeded the house to the Alachua County Historical Society, of which she was a founding member, and later to the Matheson Historical Center (now the Matheson History Museum). Sarah Matheson, who died in 1996, was one of the original board members and founders of the museum and was also an early president of the Alachua County Historical Society. The society originated in 1967 and later merged with
11872-540: Was an increasing source of tension late in the second Spanish period. Seminoles based in East Florida had been accused of raiding Georgia settlements, and settlers were angered by the stream of slaves escaping into Florida, where they were welcomed. Negro Fort , an abandoned British fortification in the far west of the territory, was manned by both indigenous and black people. The United States Army would lead increasingly frequent incursions into Spanish territory, including
11984-421: Was generally believed that the first Paleo-Indian people to arrive in North America belonged to the Clovis culture. This archaeological phase was named after the city of Clovis, New Mexico , where in 1936 unique Clovis points were found in situ at the site of Blackwater Draw , where they were directly associated with the bones of Pleistocene animals. Recent data from a series of archaeological sites throughout
12096-468: Was located in the continent of Gondwana at the South Pole 650 million years ago (Mya). When Gondwana collided with the continent of Laurentia 300 Mya, it had moved further north. 200 Mya, the merged continents containing what would be Florida, had moved north of the equator. By then, Florida was surrounded by desert, in the middle of a new continent, Pangaea . When Pangaea broke up 115 mya, Florida assumed
12208-598: Was never clearly defined, and was the subject of constant harassment in both directions, until it was ceded by Spain to the U.S. in 1821. The Spanish Crown , beginning with King Charles II in 1693, encouraged fugitive slaves from the British North American colonies to escape and offered them freedom and refuge if they converted to Catholicism. This was well known through word of mouth in the colonies of Georgia and South Carolina, and hundreds of enslaved Africans escaped to their freedom, which infuriated colonists in
12320-406: Was originally a tabernacle church built in 1933. From 1976 to 1980 retired cardiologist and Matheson co-founder Dr. Mark Barrow and his wife, Mary, operated an antique store in the building. In 1982 they sold the building to Orlando investors, and from 1982 to 2009 it was a Melting Pot fondue restaurant. Originally operated by Hope Meucci, it was one of the first Melting Pot fondue restaurants in
12432-543: Was reintroduced into North America by the European explorers, and into Florida in 1538. As the animals were lost or stolen, they began to become feral. In 1564 , René Goulaine de Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville , as a haven for Huguenot Protestant refugees from religious persecution in France. Further down the coast, in 1565 Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded San Agustín ( St. Augustine ) which
12544-491: Was unable to capture the Castillo de San Marcos . The 1755 Lisbon earthquake triggered a tsunami that would have struck Central Florida with an estimated 1.5-meter (4 ft 11 in) wave. Creek and Seminole Native Americans, who had established buffer settlements in Florida at the invitation of the Spanish government, also welcomed any fugitive slaves who reached their settlements. In 1771, Governor John Moultrie wrote to
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