Florida Public Archaeology Network - Central Region

Finally...a new The Materialists Podcast Episode is out. Check it out!

Not on Your Life (Insurance) | The Materialists The Materialists are…. Nigel Rudolph (FPAN Central Region) Mandy Wagner-Pelkey (FPAN Central Region) For more info on FPAN please visit http://fpan.us/ We would like to thank…. The Florida Public Archaeology Network, The University of South Florida - Department of Anthropology, For more info on ...

Who's excited for Friday's AoT at the The Depot Event Space? We can't wait! But since we have to wait anyways, why not check out this 1823 Map of Florida?

Henry Tanner engraved this map based on surveys done by Charles Vignoles a full 22 years before Florida would be granted statehood!

This map is cool for a lot of reasons-- we can see rivers and shorelines that no longer exist, towns that disappeared more than a century ago, Indian hunting trails, and OMG IS THAT THE FIRST INSTANCE OF THE NAME "EVERGLADES" EVER RECORDED ON A MAP??! Yeah it is! Well, more like "Extensive inundated Region, covered with Pine and Hammock Islands, of all sizes, and generally called THE EVER GLADES" but that's kind of a mouthful.

You can check out the full HD version of this map at the Library of The Library of Congress here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3930.ct000731/?loclr=blogtea

See yall Friday!

This is just crazy. Leave graves alone!

Manhunt for trio accused of ‘tomb raiding’ in multiple states An urgent manhunt was underway on Saturday to track down a trio of so-called “tomb raiders” accused of stealing from cemeteries in at least nine states. NBC News’ Ryan Chandler has the details.

We hope to see y'all this Wednesday at the Matheson History Museum for this talk by the very impressive Dr. Judy Bense.

She's kind of as big deal, though we may be just a little biased-- Dr. Bense worked to draft the legislation that created FPAN more than 20 years ago!

We have a few free tickets left for Wednesday's program with Dr. Judith Bense. Her book, "Early Spanish Florida," was recently selected to represent Florida literature at the 2026 National Book Festival in Washington D.C.!

Join us on Wednesday at 7pm to learn more about the Spanish, Indigenous, and African communities whose interactions reshaped the region.

Free registration: https://mathesonmuseum.networkforgood.com/events/102428-early-spanish-florida

Here's to the HMS scouts who braved heat, humidity and assorted biting bugs to make sure Bradford County history stays above ground! Y'all are the GOAT!

Black Cats and Cemeteries. Name a more iconic duo…we’ll wait.

When we chose the Crosby Lake Cemetery near Starke, Fl. as the meeting spot for our Heritage Monitoring Scouts meetup we were expecting a mostly modern cemetery with nothing to see. We didn’t even plan to monitor it—just meet there and caravan to a more remote cemetery.

Of course no graveyard is without its surprises.

Far back from the road, behind the polished granite, the manicured lawn, and the mid-century mausoleum, lies the historic section. Shaded by oaks and dotted with wildflowers, this numinous space has stood tall and silent since at least the 1850’s.

There is at least one wood marker still standing, though any evidence of a name has been eroded by time.

There’s even a headstone for a cat, Rosie. The feline figure carved on her stone has both eyes though, so this keeper of the graves must be someone else.

Get out there and experience some history y’all, you never know what you’ll find.

Attention all trained Heritage Monitoring Scouts, we have work to do! We'll be meeting in Starke to monitor some vital historic sites and structures in one of our counties that could use a little love.

We'll monitor a couple historic cemeteries before we head downtown to check out the historic district. Did you know you can still catch a movie at the gorgeous Florida Twin Theater? She looks great for 85!

We'll send out a detailed email soon to our scouts who have completed training. If you started the program but need a push to finish, here it is!

Want to know what it takes to become a scout? Check out the website here: https://www.fpan.us/training-courses/hms-florida/

Every angler has a secret spot. In the 1950s, many of those secrets ended up on hand drawn maps available to anyone who looked. Rube Allyn, longtime Outdoors Editor of the Tampa Bay Times, mapped the sweet spots up and down Florida's Gulf Coast. Sold in bait shops and traded between friends, these maps were an invitation to share in Gulf Coast cultural traditions that had been practiced across cultures for generations.

This map, from Crystal River to Homosassa, includes fun safety info like "Prohibited Area – Bombing Range" and mysterious details like an island labeled "Alligator Joe's" near the mouth of the Homosassa River. Allyn made maps like this one all along Florida's coasts, each showing exactly where to catch which fish.

Allyn's 1968 obituary called him a man with "a boyish love of adventure," full of stories about midnight run-ins with poachers, giant tarpon that got away, and characters like Stingaree Joe and Johns Pass Sadie. That same spirit fills his maps, which served as both practical guides and adventure maps. It's easy to imagine Allyn and his maps in a Carl Hiaasen book (Carl Hiaasen, get in touch!)

These maps capture something special about Florida: colorful characters, wild landscapes, and traditions passed down through generations. These fragile, hand-drawn originals are now preserved at the Tampa Bay History Center's Touchton Map Library.