The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Fort Basinger Archaeological and Historic Inventory Status

Efforts to recover the Florida Master Site File (FMSF) accession number for Fort Basinger (established December 1837 by Col. Zachary Taylor) establish that the military fort site is geographically and administratively coextensive with the Pearce-Lockett Estate on the west bank of the Kissimmee River in eastern Highlands County.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014][sfwmd-land-assessment-2013]

While environmental management plans and cultural preservation assessments confirm that the tract encompasses a designated State archaeological site and National Register of Historic Places–eligible structures, the specific state trinomial site number (with the county prefix 8HG) is not published in open-source state datasets because Florida law exempts archaeological site locations from public records disclosure.[fl-statutes-267-135][fmsf-info-users-2019]

Physical and Administrative Coterminality

The historic fortification of Fort Basinger was constructed on the west bank of the Kissimmee River roughly seventeen miles north of Lake Okeechobee, in Township 36 South, Range 33 East.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014] Following the Seminole Wars, Captain John Mizell Pearce homesteaded the 157-acre tract surrounding the abandoned stockade site in 1874–1875.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014]

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) acquired the 16.77-acre core of the historic Pearce-Lockett Estate in 1993 as part of the Kissimmee River Restoration Project.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014][sfwmd-land-assessment-2013] In agency management and land-use assessment documents, SFWMD confirms the archaeological status of the parcel:

  1. Prehistoric Component: The majority of the Pearce-Lockett parcel is a State-registered archaeological site documented as a permanent village settlement occupied during the Belle Glade II period approximately 1,800 years ago.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014]
  2. Historic Component: The property contains the 1897 Pearce residence, pioneer outbuildings, the Pearce Family Cemetery, and the site of the Seminole War stockade and river landing.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014][sfwmd-land-assessment-2013]
  3. Architectural Additions: The historic Fort Basinger School (constructed circa 1910), a two-room wood-frame schoolhouse where pioneer educator and Florida state legislator Edna Pearce Lockett taught, originally stood outside the floodplain and was relocated to the Pearce-Lockett Estate in 2004–2005.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014][pri-ft-basinger-school] The structure was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and underwent structural stabilization under a plan reviewed by the Florida Division of Historical Resources (DHR).[pri-ft-basinger-school]

Statutory Confidentiality of Archaeological Site Records

Unlike federal military reservations like the Avon Park Air Force Range—where cultural resource management surveys published via the Defense Technical Information Center and tDAR released redacted survey volumes printing site numbers (such as 8HG15 for Fort Kissimmee and 8PO999 for Fort Arbuckle)—the Fort Basinger archaeological inventory lies under state and private ownership stewardship.[sfwmd-kissimmee-gmp-2014][fmsf-info-users-2019]

Under Florida Statutes Section 267.135, any information held by the Division of Historical Resources identifying the location of an archaeological site is expressly exempt from Florida’s public records laws (s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution) if the Division finds that disclosure creates a risk of harm, theft, or vandalism.[fl-statutes-267-135] In accordance with this statute and administrative policy, the Florida Master Site File withholds spatial coordinates, GIS layers, and specific site survey documentation from general web access.[fmsf-info-users-2019] Access to site forms and accession numbers for recorded archaeological sites is restricted to qualified researchers and cultural resource managers submitting formal data requests directly to the Site File in Tallahassee.[fmsf-info-users-2019]

Consequently, while the physical location, historical integrity, and cultural horizons of Fort Basinger are fully corroborated across state and agency records, direct recovery of the 8HG site number requires a formal agency data request to the Florida Division of Historical Resources rather than open-source literature review.[fl-statutes-267-135][fmsf-info-users-2019]

References

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. Florida Senate, Florida Statutes Section 267.135: Location of Archaeological Sites (2025) · official
  2. South Florida Water Management District, Land Stewardship Section, Kissimmee River Management Areas General Management Plan 2014 through 2024 (2014) · official
  3. South Florida Water Management District, Kissimmee/Okeechobee Land Assessment Region: Kissimmee River (2013) · official
  4. Preservation Resource, Inc., Ft. Basinger School: Conditions Assessment, Stabilization, and Project Planning (2015) · secondary
  5. Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, Information for Users: Florida Master Site File (2019) · official

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