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Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 on an internal mission for Starlink 6-23. Rocket launched from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:39 p.m. EDT Tuesday Oct. 17th
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pensacola,_Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida. As of 2018, the population was estimated to be 52,713. Pensacola is the principal city of the Pensacola Metropolitan Area, which had an estimated 494,883 residents as of 2018. Pensacola is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the Gulf Coast region, the largest between New Orleans and Tampa.
Pensacola is the site of the first Spanish settlement within the borders of the continental United States in 1559, predating the establishment of St. Augustine by 6 years, although the settlement was abandoned due to a hurricane and not re-established until 1698. Pensacola is a seaport on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola near Warrington; it is the base of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The main campus of the University of West Florida is situated north of the city center.
The area was originally inhabited by Muskogean-speaking peoples. The Pensacola people lived there at the time of European contact, and Creek people frequently visited and traded from present-day southern Alabama. Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna founded a short-lived settlement in 1559. In 1698 the Spanish established a presidio in the area, from which the modern city gradually developed. The area changed hands several times as European powers competed in North America. During Florida's British rule (1763–1781), fortifications were strengthened.
It is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags", due to the five governments that have ruled it during its history: the flags of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britain, the United States of America, and the Confederate States of America. Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches" (due to the white sand of Florida panhandle beaches), "Cradle of Naval Aviation", "Western Gate to the Sunshine State", "America's First Settlement", "Emerald Coast", "Red Snapper Capital of the World", and "P-Cola".
Chinsegut Hill, at an elevation of 269 feet (82 m), is one of the highest points in peninsular Florida. It is located in Hernando County north of the city of Brooksville.
The area now known as Chinsegut Hill was settled by South Carolina native Bird Pearson as part of the 1842 Armed Occupation Act. Pearson named the property Mount Airy because of the constant breeze on the Hill. He sold it to friend and fellow South Carolinian Francis Ederington in the early 1850s and Ederington built the Chinsegut Hill Manor House which still stands today. Ederington purchased additional land and ran it as a plantation, growing corn, tobacco, cotton, sugar cane and citrus. Ederington's daughter continued to live on the Hill after her marriage to Dr. James Russell Snow, a Confederate soldier from South Carolina. They renamed the property Snow Hill. After a tornado in 1898 blew the house 6 degrees off its foundation, Dr. Snow moved his family to another house on the property. The Manor sat vacant until Elizabeth Robins purchased it for $5000 as a home for her brother Raymond Robins and herself. Raymond gave it its current name of Chinsegut, which is an Inuit word for "The spirit of things lost and regained." Raymond's personal definition was "the place where things of value that were lost are found." Elizabeth wrote about her hopes for the property, "however reminiscent of people or conditions long since passed away, however much of the spirit of the past is garnered here as living influence, or as debris and as ashes, these were for me infinitesimal affairs by comparison with the hope for the Future… For this was to be a place where my fellow dreamer and I should not only rest, but having rested, work as never before." Shortly after the property purchase, Raymond met and married Margaret Dreier Robins and they extended and dramatically improved the property in subsequent years.
The Robinses also increased the historical significance of the property through their involvement in politics. At Chinsegut Hill the Robinses entertained countless prominent guests including Helen Keller, Jane Addams, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas Edison, James Cash Penney, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Senator Claude Pepper, Soviet ambassadors, Britist Labor Minister Margaret Bondfield, Botanist Dr. John Small, and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes.
Photographs of scenes and people at Chinsegut Hill in the 1920s and 1930s are available in the Special Collections of the University of Florida's George Smathers Library as well as at the museum located in the Chinsegut Hill Manor House. Using his connections with the Herbert Hoover administration, Raymond eventually brokered a deal to donate the Chinsegut Hill estate to the government with the stipulation that the couple be allowed to live there until their deaths, free of property taxes. By 1932, Robins had donated the house and land back to the federal government for research and philanthropy.
Today the original Chinsegut Hill and its historical Manor House are managed by the Friends of Chinsegut Hill, Inc., a nonprofit group committed to preserving the property and history of this important site.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. Venice consists of a large section of mainland, as well as Venice Island just off the coast. The city is located south of Nokomis and north of Englewood. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,748. It is noted for its large snowbird population and was voted as a top 10 Happiest Seaside Towns by Coastal Living.
Venice is a principal city of the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Data originated from the following website:
St. Augustine (Spanish: San Agustín) is a city situated in northeastern Florida. This is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement within the borders of the contiguous United States.
The city is the county seat of St. Johns County and is part of Florida's First Coast region and the Jacksonville metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 12,975. The United States Census Bureau's 2013 estimate of the city's population was 13,679, while the urban area had a population of 69,173 in 2012.
Saint Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565, by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. He named the settlement "San Agustín", as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida on August 28, 1565, the feast day of St. Augustine. The city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years, and remained the capital of East Florida when the territory briefly changed hands between Spain and Britain.
This city was designated the capital of the Florida Territory until Tallahassee was made the capital in 1824. Since the late 19th century, St. Augustine's distinct historical character has made the city a major tourist attraction. It is also the headquarters for the Florida National Guard.
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 107,685. Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County and is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
Cleveland Street is one of the city's historic avenues, and the city includes BayCare Ballpark and Coachman Park. The city is separated by the Intracoastal Waterway from Clearwater Beach.
Clearwater is the home of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where bottlenose dolphins Winter and Hope live.
The global headquarters of the Church of Scientology is located in Clearwater; the organization had tried to take over the city in what was called Project Normandy.
By the early 1900s, Clearwater's population had grown to around 400, ballooning to nearly 1,000 in the winter. Clearwater's oldest existing newspaper, the Clearwater Sun, was first published on March 14, 1914. Clearwater was reincorporated, this time as a city, on May 27, 1915, and was designated the county seat for Pinellas County, which broke from Hillsborough County in 1912. In 1915, a bridge was built across Clearwater Harbor, joining the city with Clearwater Beach to the west. Clearwater Beach, although located on a separate barrier island, belongs to the city of Clearwater and fronts the Gulf of Mexico. A new, much higher bridge now arcs over the bay, replacing the former drawbridge; the connecting road is part of State Road 60 and is called Clearwater Memorial Causeway.
During World War II, Clearwater became a major training base for US troops destined for Europe and the Pacific. Virtually every hotel in the area, including the Belleview Biltmore and the Fort Harrison Hotel, was used as a barracks for new recruits. Vehicle traffic was regularly stopped for companies of soldiers marching through downtown, and nighttime blackouts to confuse potential enemy bombers were common practice. The remote and isolated Dan's Island, now the highrise-dominated Sand Key, was used as a target by U.S. Army Air Corps fighter-bombers for strafing and bombing practice.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearwater,_Florida
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The Southeast 17th Street bridge is a bascule drawbridge located just north of the Port Everglades cut. The causeway goes from the west side of US1/Federal Highway eastward over the ICW and twists northward, becoming A1A along the Fort Lauderdale beach. The western approach is known as the Commodore Brook Causeway, while the actual bridge is named after former Florida congressman E. Clay Shaw, Jr.
Winner of the 2004 Engineering Excellence Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies, the 17th Street Bridge provides a signature entrance to this visually stimulating city of Fort Lauderdale. The new bridge was constructed on the same alignment as the existing bridge in order to maintain the connecting roadway alignment and reduce right-of-way costs. The bridge features the first open bascule piers, which were a result of the community-chosen “timeless/contemporary” theme. Nearly 170’ long, the precast concrete segmental approaches rise above the riverbanks and allow the newly available property to be used for park areas and parking.
The bridge’s innovative bascule-span superstructure displays structural efficiency, economy, and reduced maintenance requirements. Its configuration incorporates the use of steel-box main girders, floor-beams with moment-resisting connections, and a lightweight Exodermic bridge deck made composite with the floor-beams and main girders.
When open the bridge provides a horizontal clearance of 100’ and a minimum vertical clearance of 26.6’ with the bridge closed.
The bridge consists of approximately 958 tons of steel.
It has two parallel carriageways. Each carries two 12’ traffic lanes, an 8’ inside shoulder, a 10’ outside shoulder/bike lane, and an 8’ sidewalk.
The bridge opens on the half and whole hours with 55′ clearance and greatly reduced openings.
Vertical Clearance: 55′ (at high tide)
Horizontal Clearance: 125′
Depth: ~20 ft
Tide Shift: 2 ft every 6 hours with 2 knot current
Year Built: 1998-2002
Traffic Lanes: 4
Openings: Half and whole hour
Closed: 7:30-9:00 AM and from 4:30 to 6:00 PM, M-F during rush hour traffic
Tender: VHF Channel 9
State maintained: (954) 486-1400
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
This is a picture of a sunrise with some clouds over the Atlantic Ocean on Hutchinson Island in Jensen Beach, Florida.
The John F. Seagle Building (also known as Hotel Kelley or the Dixie Hotel) is a historic building located at 408 West University Avenue in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States. Built in 1926, it was designed by noted University of Florida architect and professor Rudolph Weaver and built by G. Lloyd Preacher & Company.
On August 16, 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Dixie Hotel, Hotel Kelley.
The Seagle Building had its origins in the 1920s economic boom, especially the Florida land boom of the 1920s. Conceived originally as the "Hotel Kelly," the project went bust before the last floor was poured. It sat unfinished for over a decade and was considered an eyesore. In the mid-1930s a Jacksonville entrepreneur, Georgia Seagle finally finished the building, with assistance from the University of Florida, the city of Gainesville, and federal funding. Seagle gave the building to the University of Florida and asked that it be named after her deceased brother, John F. Seagle.
The building served mostly the University of Florida in the years following its completion. Having difficulty meeting modern fire codes as time passed, the building lost most of its upper-floor tenants. By the late 1960s, the Florida State Museum was the building's only occupant. When that museum moved to the UF campus nearby, the building was completely abandoned.
Eventually sold to a development company from Kentucky for $1 with the understanding that the building was to be completely renovated, a newly remodeled Seagle Building reopened in 1983 with modern wiring, plumbing, telephone and cable jacks, a fire sprinkler system, an emergency diesel generator, an added internal concrete stairway providing two fire escapes for every floor, and many other improvements.
The first six floors of the Seagle Building have been designated commercial space, comprising roughly 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2). The remaining five floors are residential units, with four units per floor with the exception of the top floor, which is a single unit.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seagle_Building
www.emporis.com/buildings/147379/seagle-building-gainesvi...
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
Falcon Heavy rocket – essentially three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together – produced five million pounds of thrust to lift off from pad 39A on an easterly trajectory over the Atlantic Ocean. The heavy-class rocket boosted Jupiter 3, the largest communications satellite ever built by Maxar Technologies, to geostationary orbit for EchoStar.
The city of Titusville in Brevard County is the only place on the planet where one can find rockets launching, sea turtles nesting and soothing sunrises giving way to inviting surf. This contradiction of high-tech wonders of the space program and the natural beauty of the area places Titusville in a class by itself. Titusville is the neighbor to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore.
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Bok Tower Gardens (also known as Bok Mountain Lake Sanctuary and Singing Tower) is a contemplative garden, and bird sanctuary located north of Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It consists of a 250-acre (100 ha) garden, the 205-foot (62 m) tall Singing Tower with its carillon bells, Pine Ridge Trail, Pinewood Estate, and a visitor center. The tower is built upon Iron Mountain, one of the highest points of peninsular Florida, estimated to be 295 feet (90 m) above sea level. It is a National Historic Landmark that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, nationally significant for its association with Edward W. Bok and its designers.
Bok Tower Gardens is open daily and an admission fee is charged.
The gardens began in 1921 when a Dutch immigrant, Edward W. Bok, editor of the popular women's magazine Ladies Home Journal and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis Bok, who would found the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1924, were spending the winter beside Florida's Lake Wales Ridge and decided to create a bird sanctuary on its highest hill, 295 feet (90 meters) above sea level.
Bok commissioned noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to transform what then was an arid sandhill into "a spot of beauty second to none in the country". The first year was spent digging trenches and laying pipes for irrigation, after which soil was brought to the site by thousands of truck loads and plantings began. The Olmsted plan included the planting of 1,000 large live oaks, 10,000 azaleas, 100 sabal palms, 300 magnolias, and 500 gordonias, as well as hundreds of fruit shrubs such as blueberry and holly.
Attempts were made to introduce flamingos to the sanctuary several times, which is why early renderings of the tower show flamingos at the reflection pool rather than swans. These early efforts were unsuccessful, however, as the flamingos were not native to central Florida and could not survive the winters that were cooler than those of southern Florida, where they may be found.
Under construction for over five years, Bok Tower Gardens was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge on February 1, 1929. Edward Bok died on January 9, 1930 and was interred at the base of the tower.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the meandering gardens of Bok Tower Gardens to feature acres of ferns, palms, oaks, pines, and wetland plants. The plantings also include camellias, tree ferns, creeping fig, yaupon and dahoon holly, Asiatic jasmine, Justicia, crinum and spider lily, monstera, wax myrtle, date and sabal palm, papyrus, philodendron, blue plumbago, and horsetail rush. The site is a refuge for more than a hundred bird species. Wild turkey and groups of sandhill cranes are also often seen wandering the grounds.
The Singing Tower is the centerpiece of the gardens. The tower was built at the highest elevation of the site, south of a reflection pool that allows the water to reflect its full image. A 60-bell carillon (cast by Taylor set within the 205-foot (62 m) tall, Gothic Revival and Art Deco tower that was designed by architect Milton B. Medary. Construction on the tower began in 1927 and was completed for the dedication of the gardens in 1929, when it was dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge. The tower is 51 feet (16 m) square at its base, changing form at 150 feet (46 m) high to an octagon with 37 feet (11 m) sides that include sculptures designed by Lee Lawrie. The tower is surrounded by a 15-foot (4.6 m) moat that serves as a koi pond. It is built of pink Etowah marble and gray Creole marble, mined in Tate, Georgia, and coquina stone from St. Augustine, Florida.
Although the tower's interior is not open to the public, it contains the Anton Brees Carillon Library, said to be the largest carillon library in the world. It also is home to the Chao Research Center Archives, which keeps various institutional records related to Bok Tower.
Inside the bell chamber is a playing room that houses a clavier, or keyboard, that is used for playing the carillon bells. Recitals are given daily from the 60-bell carillon set.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Kevin Tomlinson, the most respected name in Miami Beach luxury condos, presents the Caribbean South Beach. Contact us for floor plans, prices and pictures.
The reinvention of Miami Beach glamour has begun. It's not often that I get to present new luxury oceanfront condos in Miami Beach. The Caribbean Hotel was originally built in 1941 and designed by famed architect L. Murray Dixon. This hotspot was frequented by the Miami Beach rich and famous during the Rat Pack days. The Caribbean is a historic oceanfront landmark undergoing a complete restoration into upscale condominium towers that will recapture the glamour of a bygone era.
The existing six-story building will be renovated to house 35 ultra-luxury units in what will become the north tower, and a new, 19-story south tower will be built alongside it with 68 equally lavish residences. All units will be glass-enclosed. Penthouses will feature private rooftop terraces and swimming pools.
The exterior of the original structure will be restored to reveal its black granite facade, and the terrazzo floors will be refurbished in the lobby. Floor-to-ceiling windows invite bright natural light into all units, most of which will include views of the turquoise waters of the Atlantic Ocean. With 9-foot ceilings in the regular residences and 11-foot heights in the penthouse units, the sky will really be the limit of your view. West-facing condos have stunning vistas of Miami Beach, Indian Creek, Biscayne Bay, and the entrancing skyline of downtown Miami.
Units come equipped with Sub-Zero and Miele appliances, plus fine marble and granite kitchens and bathrooms. You'll be given two selections of European kitchen cabinets, so it's up to you to decide which is the better complement to the standard cappuccino machine and wine cooler!
Christopher Ciccone, Madonna's brother and feted interior designer to stars like Tony Bennett and Dolly Parton, will bring his celebrity-inspired design touches to the Caribbean. His influences, which also include styling Madonna's homes, are certain to sensualize this structure even more.
The Caribbean's prime locale in the 37th Street and Collins Avenue neighborhood is part of the Historic District that lies between South Beach and the Fontainebleau. This formerly affluent and legendary community is experiencing a massive transformation and is poised to return to its once-stellar reputation. A number of exciting new projects are underway in the Historic District, which magnifies the momentous growth in this area: Mosaic, 1 Hotel & Residences South Beach, the Ritz Carlton residences and the Saxony. The Marriott recently restored and re-launched its Courtyard Tower here, another example of the commitment that premium brands are making in this "one-to-watch" neighborhood.
Data provided by: www.kevintomlinson.com/condos/caribbean
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Miami, at Florida's southeastern tip, is a vibrant city whose Cuban influence is reflected in the cafes and cigar shops that line Calle Ocho in Little Havana. Miami Beach, on barrier islands across the turquoise waters of Biscayne Bay, is home to glamorous South Beach, famed for its colorful art deco buildings, white sand, surfside hotels and trendsetting nightclubs.
St. Augustine (Spanish: San Agustín) is a city situated in northeastern Florida. This is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement within the borders of the contiguous United States.
The city is the county seat of St. Johns County and is part of Florida's First Coast region and the Jacksonville metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 12,975. The United States Census Bureau's 2013 estimate of the city's population was 13,679, while the urban area had a population of 69,173 in 2012.
Saint Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565, by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. He named the settlement "San Agustín", as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida on August 28, 1565, the feast day of St. Augustine. The city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years, and remained the capital of East Florida when the territory briefly changed hands between Spain and Britain.
This city was designated the capital of the Florida Territory until Tallahassee was made the capital in 1824. Since the late 19th century, St. Augustine's distinct historical character has made the city a major tourist attraction. It is also the headquarters for the Florida National Guard.
This hill might not be of any significance in most places; however, in a place so flat like the state of Florida it is looked upon as an actual mountain.
Sugarloaf Mountain is the fifth highest named point in the state of Florida. At 312 feet (95 meters) above sea level it is also the highest point on the geographic Florida Peninsula. The mountain is in Lake County, near the town of Clermont. Comparatively, Florida's highest point, Britton Hill, rises to 345 feet (105 meters) above sea level in the Florida Panhandle. However, Sugarloaf Mountain is the most prominent point in the entire state.
Sugarloaf Mountain, located along the western shore of Lake Apopka in Lake County, Florida, is the northernmost named upland associated with the Lake Wales Ridge, a series of sand hills running south to Highlands County. The mountain, really a ridge with rolling dome-like peaks, rises abruptly from the surrounding flat terrain. Its prominence is thought to be 245 feet (74 meters), with its highest peak having a local prominence of approximately 200 feet (61 meters) relative to the surrounding ridge. Despite not being the highest point in Florida (which is Britton Hill near the Alabama border, the lowest high point of any U.S. state), Sugarloaf Mountain's summit is the most prominent peak in the state, and in a national ranking, is more prominent than the most prominent hills in both Louisiana and Delaware.
Prior to the 20th century, Sugarloaf Mountain was a wilderness dominated by sandhill and flatwood pine forests. By the 1920s, logging had stripped the mountain of its hardwood vegetation, permanently altering its native environment. Scrub began to grow on the mountain’s slopes, in addition to grapes, which were planted mostly to the south of the mountain for a decade or so.
By the 1940s, grape farming had declined due to fungal diseases, and it was replaced by citrus farming. Citrus plantations flourished on the flanks of Sugarloaf Mountain, providing the basis for the local economy until the 1980s, when freezes began to systematically devastate local groves. As the citrus industry faded, property on the mountain was rezoned for residential development, with value seen in the mountain’s panoramic views of the surrounding area. Other lands abutting the mountain, primarily along Lake Apopka, were preserved with the intention of restoring long absent ecologies. Only a few citrus plantations and vineyards managed to persist to the present day.
Sugarloaf Mountain’s geology is tied to the formation of Florida’s sand ridges, specifically the Lake Wales Ridge. The mountain consists of relict sand ridges and dunes formed in a marine shoreline environment approximately 2 million years ago during the Pleistocene epoch. Since the Pleistocene, the sands comprising the mountain have probably been uplifted due to isostatic rebound of the crust beneath the Florida Platform. The uplift is attributed to the karstification/erosion of the platform, which is reducing the weight on the underlying basement rock, triggering a process similar to post glacial rebound.
Sugarloaf Mountain was recently recognized for its scenic, cultural, and historic value. The state of Florida designated the Green Mountain Scenic Byway, which primarily traverses the eastern side of the mountain. The route offers rare panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and access to newly acquired ecological preserves and historic sites. Biking along the Byway as well as on other roads on the mountain has become popular, due to the challenge imposed by the relatively rugged terrain of the mountain compared to the surrounding area.
Sugarloaf Mountain also featured a golf course designed by the firm of Coore & Crenshaw. The course, part of the proposed private Sugarloaf Mountain Golf Club residential development, was somewhat unusual in Florida, and took advantage of the relatively prominent topography. The golf course was closed in 2012 due to low turnout and the inability for the planned development to take hold following the 2008 housing bubble and has remained abandoned since.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Falling Waters State Park is a 171-acre (69 ha) Florida state park located three miles (5 km) south of Chipley, Washington County in northwestern Florida. The park contains a 73-foot (22 m) waterfall, the highest in the state known as either "Falling Waters Falls" or the "Falling Waters Sink".
The sinkholes at Falling Waters State Park were used as a hideout by Indian warriors fighting against Andrew Jackson during the Seminole Wars. The park is the site of a Civil War era gristmill. The gristmill was powered by the waterfall in Falling Waters Sink. Later, in 1891, a distillery was constructed on the site. The park is also the site of the first oil well in Florida. It was drilled in 1919 based on information from local legends and a 400-year-old Spanish diary. The well, which reached a depth of 4,912 feet (1,497 m) never proved to hold a commercially viable amount of oil and was capped in 1921.
The park was deeded to the state in 1962 by the Washington County Development authority. Park facilities such as a picnic pavilion and restrooms were constructed soon after. An archaeologic dig, led by the University of West Florida in 2007, revealed Indian artifacts that were between 1,000 and 1,500 years old. Items found included bits of pottery, Indian arrowheads and what may be the only cave painting in Florida. The archaeologists noted that they thought the same thing that attracts visitors to the park today, the waterfall, also attracted Native Americans to the site. Remnants of the gristmill, distillery and oil well were also found by the team from the university.
Extended systems of underwater caves, sinkholes and springs are found throughout Florida. The limestone is topped with sandy soils deposited as ancient beaches over millions of years as global sea levels rose and fell. During the last glacial period, lower sea levels and a drier climate revealed a much wider peninsula, largely savanna.
Falling Waters State Park lies atop a bed of limestone that has been eroded over the years by water which has created the sinkholes and caverns that are found throughout the park. The waterfalls of Falling Waters State Park fall into a 100-foot (30 m) sinkhole known as Falling Waters Sink. The waterfalls are fed by springs that are dependent on rainfall. The water from the falls disappears into a large cavern at the base of the sinkhole. The sinkhole can be accessed by visitors by way of a paved trail and boardwalk.
Falling Water State Park is open for year-round recreation including camping, fishing, hiking and swimming. The park is noted for hosting campfire circles. Park rangers give interpretive talks at the circles and present a slide show. The main campground is on one of the highest hills in Florida at 324 feet (99 m). It has twenty-four sites that are equipped with electricity, fresh water, picnic tables and grills and a clothesline. Swimming and fishing are permitted in the 2 acres (0.81 ha) lake. Several miles of nature trails run throughout the park.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
Often called the "Sunrise City," Fort Pierce is part of Florida's Treasure Coast, a stretch of land from St. Lucie Inlet to Sebastian Inlet along the Atlantic Ocean. Natural and artificial reefs make for good fishing and diving in this area of the Sunshine State. The Indian River Lagoon Estuary provides a haven for more than 4,000 plant and animal species.
Visit the city's revitalized waterfront downtown area, which has retained its old Florida charm and scale. It offers contemporary shopping, dining, great fishing and a range of entertainment and activities such as the Farmers' Market, Bike Night, Friday Fest, Jazz Market and the city-owned and -operated 1,200-seat Sunrise Theatre for the Performing Arts.