Florida’s Historic Coast invites travelers to look beneath St. Augustine’s colonial story this Native American Heritage Month—through Timucua and Mocama history, coastal archaeological sites, and places where Indigenous presence long predates European settlement. Thousands of years before St. Augustine’s founding in 1565, Northeast Florida was home to Indigenous communities, including the coastal Mocama, a Timucua-speaking people who lived along the region’s rivers and marshes. Today, visitors can explore this history through archaeological sites, preserved landscapes, and cultural attractions. At Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, the reconstructed Native Timucua Village of Seloy and archaeological exhibits highlight approximately 3,000 years of Indigenous habitation. The site also holds a timely Thanksgiving connection: According to historical accounts, Spanish settlers and local Timucua people shared a celebratory meal in 1565—an event often cited as America’s First Thanksgiving, 55 years before Plymouth. At Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) National Estuarine Research Reserve, ancient shell middens along scenic trails and waterways reveal evidence of former Indigenous settlements and their relationship with the coastal environment. Nearby, Mission Nombre de Dios traces its roots to the Timucua town of Nombre de Dios and offers insight into the region’s early Spanish-Timucua interactions and later mission era. These sites offer a deeper look at the people and traditions that shaped Florida’s Historic Coast long before its colonial landmarks. https://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/