TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- As new construction gets underway, the issue arises on how to keep Florida's rich history.
At a recent City Commission meeting, Dr. Glen Doran and Lonnie Mann took to the microphone and expressed their concern about the development near Cascades Park, not because they don’t support the project, but because of what could be lying underneath the old jail site.
“Here’s what we see as a problem, It’s an upland area, overlooking what was an old watershed and springs source," says Dr. Glen Doran, a professor emeritus with FSU's Anthropology Department. "That’s why the waterworks is there, to capture the naturally occurring springs. We just felt like something ought to be checked to see what’s out there.”
The Community Redevelopment Agency heard their concerns and has agreed to limited archaeological testing on the site.
“The fact is, there may not be intact archaeological sites there," explains Lonnie Mann, an officer for the Panhandle Archaeological Society. "The point is, you don’t know until you look. Because of the historical importance of that area and Tallahassee’s history as part of the old town layout belonging to the surveyor general, the site of springs where early settlers came, you can’t just walk away from it and say ‘Nah! There’s nothing there!’”
Neither Mann nor Doran want to delay the Cascades Project, but they know that buried artifacts are more easily found in the early stages of construction, which is how pieces of the historic Washington Hall, and DeSoto’s winter camp were found.
“You might think that it’s just some old junk, but what it is is an important piece of America’s heritage,” says Mann, and Doran agrees, “It’s a tangible record of human history and prehistory.”
No matter how small, these pieces of history could tell the story of Tallahassee, long before we arrived.
It’s estimated there are thousands of archaeological sites throughout the state, including one currently being excavated in Wakulla.
