The History of Jonathan Dickinson State Park | Waterfront Properties
Quaker merchant Jonathan Dickinson, after whom South Florida’s beloved Jonathan Dickinson State Park is named, was on a business trip from Jamaica to Philadelphia in 1669 when on September 23rd his ship foundered and ran ashore off of what is now Jupiter Island.
From there Dickinson and his family made a grueling and perilous two-month trek to St. Augustine. During the journey Dickinson recorded much of what they encountered in his journal which in-turn became the first detailed account of the Palm Beach region, it describes, among other things, several Florida’s now vanished early Indian tribes.
Here’s a short expert from Dickinson’s thoroughly interesting journal:
After we had traveled about five miles along the deep sand, the sun being extreme hot, we came to an inlet. On the other side was the Indian town, being little wigwams made of small poles stuck in the ground, which they bended one to another, making an arch, and covered them with thatch of small palmetto-leaves. Here we were commanded to sit down, and the Casseekey came to us, who with his hand scratched a hole in the sand about a foot deep, and came to water, which he made signs for us to come and drink. We, being extreme thirsty, did; but the water was almost salt. Whilst we sat here, we saw great fires making on the other side of the inlet, which some of us thought was preparing for us.
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