The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Avon Park Air Force Range archaeological surveys and tDAR holdings

The 106,000-acre Avon Park Air Force Range, straddling Highlands and Polk counties east of Avon Park, contains the most systematically inventoried archaeological landscape in the central Lake Wales Ridge and Kissimmee River basin.[dtic-inrmp-ea-2004] Between 1985 and 2005, the United States Air Force commissioned a sequence of professional cultural resource management investigations to comply with Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act.[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-391166-parsons-1999][tdar-391171-stevens-2001] The resulting reports and dataset records are preserved nationally in the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) in the Avon Park Air Force Range Archaeology Archive (collection 17689).[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-391171-stevens-2001]

Survey chronology and report sequence

The investigation series developed progressively from base-wide reconnaissance to targeted tract surveys and formal evaluations for the National Register of Historic Places:

  • 1986 (AP0003): Robert J. Austin and Jacquelyn G. Piper of Piper Archaeological Research conducted the baseline survey of all 106,210 acres for the Department of the Air Force.[tdar-107391-austin-1986] The survey identified thirty-seven archaeological sites dating from the Archaic period to the early twentieth century, including prehistoric middens, lithic scatters, homesteads, cattle-handling facilities, turpentine camps, and two Third Seminole War fort sites.[tdar-107391-austin-1986] Nine sites were evaluated as potentially eligible for the National Register.[tdar-107391-austin-1986]
  • 1987 (AP0004): Robert J. Austin published the survey synthesis and settlement model for the Kissimmee River valley in the Florida Anthropologist.[tdar-111901-austin-1987] This study cataloged historic-period resources on the range with their official Florida Master Site File designations, including Fort Kissimmee (8HG15), the Fort Kissimmee pioneer community (8HG20), Fort Arbuckle (8PO999), the Fort Arbuckle Baptist Church (8PO998), the Sandy Hill Turpentine Camp (8HG24), the Keene Homestead with its concrete cattle-dipping vat and cistern (8PO994), the Herty Cup Dump (8PO996), the Arnold Homestead (8PO1001), the Smith Grade Cow Pens (8PO1004), and additional turpentine and cattle installations.[tdar-111901-austin-1987]
  • 1997 (AP0008): Geo-Marine, Inc. inventoried 6,800 noncontiguous acres across the installation, developed a GIS predictive model for prehistoric site location, and completed Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) Level IV documentation of World War II cantonment structures.[tdar-391123-geomarine-1997]
  • 1999 (AP0011): Parsons Engineering Science, directed by J. Sanderson Stevens and Dennis Knepper, completed Phase I surveys across 7,625 acres in Management Units 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 11A, 12, and 13.[tdar-391166-parsons-1999] The team recorded forty-one new sites, revisited the Morgan Hole Creek #2 site (8HG688) and Arnold Homestead (8PO1001), and recommended eight sites potentially eligible for the National Register: Willingham Branch (8PO6085), Arbuckle Terrace (8PO6091), Simulated City (8PO6093), Ebersbach Midden North (8PO6094), Blue Jordan Bombing Target (8PO6098), Small Nervosa (8HG937), Psychotria Nervosa (8HG938), and Sandy Point Hammock (8HG941).[tdar-391166-parsons-1999]
  • 2001 (AP0013): Parsons Engineering Science, directed by J. Sanderson Stevens and Susan Hathaway, surveyed 2,811 acres in Management Units 7 through 12 and the Main Base.[tdar-391171-stevens-2001] The investigation identified eighteen new sites and revisited 8HG26.[tdar-391171-stevens-2001] Four sites were recommended potentially eligible for the National Register: an Early Archaic campsite with a Bolen Beveled projectile point dating to circa 7000 BC on Bombing Range Ridge (8HG1054), an intact Contact-period aboriginal dugout canoe dating to circa AD 1500 along Arbuckle Creek (8HG1058), a World War II government railroad bed and bridge piers connected to the range’s construction (8HG1064), and an early twentieth-century domestic site visible on 1943 aerial photographs (8HG1063).[tdar-391171-stevens-2001]
  • 2005 (AP0017): Parsons Engineering Science and Headquarters Air Combat Command conducted a Phase I survey of 4,147.1 acres and Phase II formal testing at three previously recorded sites.[tdar-391178-acc-2005] The Phase I survey identified five new sites, including a corridor of the Seaboard Air Line Railway (8HG1095/8PO6785) and the Zechiel-Bell site (8PO6783), both recommended potentially eligible.[tdar-391178-acc-2005] The Phase II excavations evaluated three significant resources, concluding that the Sandy Hill Turpentine Camp (8HG24) and the Scrub Jay site (8PO3405) were eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, while the Big Jahn site (8HG767) was potentially eligible.[tdar-391178-acc-2005]

Resource spectrum and historical significance

The survey series establishes human occupation along Arbuckle Creek, Lake Arbuckle, and the Kissimmee River over a span of nine thousand years:

  1. Prehistoric and Contact Periods: Sites range from Early Archaic campsites (8HG1054) to extensive Belle Glade culture middens and ceramic scatters (8HG941, 8HG1057, 8PO6091, 8PO6094).[tdar-391166-parsons-1999][tdar-391171-stevens-2001] Waterborne mobility along Arbuckle Creek is demonstrated directly by the discovery and recovery of the Contact-period pine dugout canoe at 8HG1058.[tdar-391171-stevens-2001]
  2. Seminole Wars Frontier: The military posts established during the Third Seminole War — Fort Kissimmee on the river in Highlands County (8HG15) and Fort Arbuckle on Lake Arbuckle in Polk County (8PO999) — anchor the nineteenth-century military frontier inside the range boundary.[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-111901-austin-1987]
  3. Pioneer Settlement and Rural Industry: Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century sites document the rural economy prior to military acquisition in 1942, including the Fort Kissimmee community (8HG20), family homesteads (8PO994, 8PO1001), open-range cattle dip vats and pens (8PO994, 8PO1004), and turpentine camps operating between 1919 and 1928 (8HG24, 8PO993, 8PO996, 8PO1006).[tdar-111901-austin-1987][tdar-391178-acc-2005] The National Register eligibility of Sandy Hill (8HG24) recognizes the regional importance of the naval stores industry that employed much of the area’s workforce.[tdar-391178-acc-2005]
  4. World War II Military Development: World War II resources include the original airfield cantonment, artillery observation towers, bombing target complexes (8PO6093, 8PO6098), and the government railway spur (8HG1064) constructed to link the bombing range directly to the Seaboard Air Line line at Avon Park.[tdar-391123-geomarine-1997][tdar-391166-parsons-1999][tdar-391171-stevens-2001]

Public availability and statutory site protections

The reports generated by these investigations are accessible in two tiers:

  • Public Redacted Digital Reports: The Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) provides freely downloadable public PDF copies of major range survey volumes, including AP0003, AP0004, AP0011, AP0013, and AP0017.[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-111901-austin-1987][tdar-391166-parsons-1999][tdar-391171-stevens-2001][tdar-391178-acc-2005] These public editions include complete artifact analyses, historical syntheses, site descriptions, and evaluation narratives, with specific location tables and map coordinates redacted.
  • Statutory Protection of Site Locations: In accordance with Section 304 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. §307103) and Section 9 of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (16 U.S.C. §470hh), unredacted survey volumes containing precise geographic coordinates and parcel-level site locations are exempt from public disclosure to protect resources from looting and vandalism.[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-391171-stevens-2001][dtic-inrmp-ea-2004] Full unredacted records are maintained under secure access by the Avon Park Air Force Range Cultural Resources Management office and the Florida Master Site File in Tallahassee for qualified researchers and agency managers.[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-391178-acc-2005]

References

  • tdar-107391-austin-1986 — Robert J. Austin and Jacquelyn G. Piper (Piper Archaeological Research). Preliminary Cultural Resource Assessment Survey of the Avon Park Air Force Range, Polk and Highlands Counties, Florida (APAFR Report AP0003). 1986. https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV8862H95
  • tdar-111901-austin-1987 — Robert J. Austin. Prehistoric and Early Historic Settlement in the Kissimmee River Valley - An Archaeological Survey of the Avon Park Air Force Base (APAFR Report AP0004). 1 December 1987. https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV84F1RKM
  • tdar-391123-geomarine-1997 — Geo-Marine, Inc. Avon Park Air Force Range: Cultural Resources Inventory and Assessment (APAFR Report AP0008). 1997. https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV8JH3N36
  • tdar-391166-parsons-1999 — J. Sanderson Stevens, Dennis Knepper, and Parsons Engineering Science. Phase I Archaeological Survey Management Units 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 11A, 12, and 13, Avon Park Air Force Range, Avon Park, Florida (APAFR Report AP0011). 1999. https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV8930V2M
  • tdar-391171-stevens-2001 — J. Sanderson Stevens and Susan Hathaway (Parsons Engineering Science). Final Report - Phase I Archaeological Survey, Management Units 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and Main Base, Avon Park Air Force Range, Avon Park, Florida (APAFR Report AP0013). 2001. https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV8V125QX
  • tdar-391178-acc-2005 — Headquarters Air Combat Command and Parsons Engineering Science. Phase I Archaeological Survey of 4,147.1 Acres and Phase II Site Evaluations at 8HG24, 8HG767, and 8PO3405, Avon Park Air Force Range, Polk and Highlands Counties, Florida (APAFR Report AP0017). 2005. https://doi.org/10.6067/XCV82J6CS4
  • dtic-inrmp-ea-2004 — United States Air Force. Final Environmental Assessment for Implementation of the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, Avon Park Air Force Range. 2004. https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA638923

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Robert J. Austin and Jacquelyn G. Piper (Piper Archaeological Research), Preliminary Cultural Resource Assessment Survey of the Avon Park Air Force Range, Polk and Highlands Counties, Florida (APAFR Report AP0003) (1986) · official
  2. Robert J. Austin, Prehistoric and Early Historic Settlement in the Kissimmee River Valley - An Archaeological Survey of the Avon Park Air Force Base (APAFR Report AP0004) (1987) · official
  3. Geo-Marine, Inc., Avon Park Air Force Range: Cultural Resources Inventory and Assessment (APAFR Report AP0008) (1997) · official
  4. J. Sanderson Stevens, Dennis Knepper, and Parsons Engineering Science, Phase I Archaeological Survey Management Units 1, 2, 7, 8, 11, 11A, 12, and 13, Avon Park Air Force Range, Avon Park, Florida (APAFR Report AP0011) (1999) · official
  5. J. Sanderson Stevens and Susan Hathaway (Parsons Engineering Science), Final Report - Phase I Archaeological Survey, Management Units 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and Main Base, Avon Park Air Force Range, Avon Park, Florida (APAFR Report AP0013) (2001) · official
  6. Headquarters Air Combat Command and Parsons Engineering Science, Phase I Archaeological Survey of 4,147.1 Acres and Phase II Site Evaluations at 8HG24, 8HG767, and 8PO3405, Avon Park Air Force Range, Polk and Highlands Counties, Florida (APAFR Report AP0017) (2005) · official
  7. United States Air Force, Final Environmental Assessment for Implementation of the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan, Avon Park Air Force Range (2004) · official

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