This month, December, Everglades National Park, the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States behind Yellowstone and Death Valley, turns 77.
From the National Park Service (NPS) website: “Water in south Florida once flowed freely from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee and southward over low-lying lands to the estuaries of Biscayne Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and Florida Bay. This shallow, slow-moving sheet of water covered almost 11,000 square miles, creating a mosaic of ponds, sloughs, sawgrass marshes, hardwood hammock, and forested uplands.”
Postcard from the Florida Power and Light Company promoting Everglades National Park sent to Florida Governor Millard Caldwell in 1947.
“To early colonial settlers and developers the Everglades were potential farmland and communities. By the early 1900s, the drainage process to transform wetland to land ready to be developed was underway. The results would be severely damaging to the ecosystem and the species it supported.
“With the support of many early conservationists, scientists, and other advocates, Everglades National Park was established in 1947 to conserve the natural landscape and prevent further degradation of its land, plants, and animals.”
On average, around one million people visit the park yearly, but there at some things you may not know.
Did you know?
An African American family in the Everglades in 1929.
In the early 20th century, NPS says, African Americans began to live and work in the Flamingo and Cape Sable areas of what would later become Everglades National Park.“In December of 1902, the Florida East Coast Railway began an exploratory survey of the Cape Sable region to determine if it would be the best route for the rail’s extension to Key West. The Cape Sable survey party included African American men.”
Records reveal African Americans living in the Flamingo area (1910) – many born in the Bahamas and Jamaica.
“The U.S. census also shows African American families and workers living and farming in the Long Pine Key and Royal Palm State Park agricultural areas before and during the Great Depression,” says NPS.
Everglades National Park houses one of the best-preserved relics of the Cold War in Florida, a historic Nike Hercules missile site called “Alpha Battery” or “HM69.”
NPS: Everglades National Park houses one of the best-preserved relics of the Cold War in Florida, a historic Nike Hercules missile site called “Alpha Battery” or “HM69.”
Official use ended in 1979, but the site remains virtually the same. Construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was completed in 1965, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
“The area includes three missile barns, a missile assembly building, a guard dog kennel, barracks, two Nike Hercules missiles and various support elements,” says NPS.
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This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: From the Archives: Everglades National Park turns 77
