Florida’s Prehistoric People Revealed: A tour of Weedon Island Preserve [Video]

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Weedon Island is one of Florida’s oldest places, and people continuously inhabit it. Before Machu Pichu, before Europeans arrived in Florida in 1513, and going back to the end of the last ice age, Native Americans called Weedon Island Preserve in Pinellas County home.

The island’s rich history dates back more than 12,000 years. During that time, it was home to Indigenous populations, a movie studio, an airport, a safe haven for bootleggers during prohibition, and so much more.

“The natural history can’t be beat. This is so Florida,” Liz Childress, Education and Outreach Supervisor of Weedon Island Preserve, said. “We’ve got all kinds of habitats here, particularly our coastal habitat with the mangrove swamps and the Bay waters. There is something for everybody here. You can get some great hiking in. It’s wonderful. It’s one of the most, I guess, multi-dimensional places that I’ve ever …