De Soto National Memorial Cultural Landscape Report

David Sacks Landscape Architecture LLC

The De Soto National Memorial (DESO) occupies most of a small promontory of land on the south bank of the Manatee River, where the river meets the waters of Tampa Bay, approximately 5 miles west of Bradenton, Florida (Figure 1-1). Traditionally known as Shaw’s Point (officially renamed DeSoto Point in 1966), this bit of land remains largely undeveloped, an unusual occurrence for this area. Congress authorized the De Soto National Memorial in 1948, for “the purpose of establishing an appropriate memorial to Hernando de Soto,”and to construct a suitable memorial structure “for the benefit of the people of the Unites States.”The order formally establishing the Memorial, on land that had been donated several months earlier, entered the Federal Register in August, 1949. The De Soto National Memorial property holds the largest portion of the archeological resources that make up the Shaw’s Point Archeological District, as listed in the National Register. The site serves as a repository for what remains of a significant pre-historic shell mound complex, likely including a temple and village site as well as a cemetery and other burials. A number of distinct cultures left their imprint on the site over a span of nearly 1,800 years. In the historic period, the succession of cultures continued: Cuban fishing ranchos, a unique and under-represented chapter in Florida’s history, were followed by early settlers of the American period (which began in 1821 in Florida), a time in which this part of the state saw a diverse and dynamic mix of Anglos and Spanish, Seminoles and Black Seminoles, fugitives from slavery and free blacks. Its 19th-century history was also touched by the Second and Third Seminole Wars and the Civil War. The greatest imprints on the site today date from the early- to mid-20th century. The national commemoration of the 400th anniversary of De Soto, the regional explosion of the place-based tourism industry, the postwar expansion of the national park system that included its acquisition of this site, and the Mission 66 initiative that led to the building of the visitor center all represent significant historical trends that shaped this landscape. A recommended overall treatment of preservation/rehabilitation will allow visitors to the De Soto National Memorial to continue to experience this cultural landscape as a way of engaging the important historical themes and narratives that the Memorial was created to share. The preservation treatment primarily applies to management of the site’s archeological resources, as well as to the 1939 monument and its setting. The rehabilitation treatment applies more appropriately to the site’s other, NPS-related 20th-century resources and to the natural landscape components that also function as elements of the cultural landscape.

De Soto National Memorial Cultural Landscape Report

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