Sams House and Cabin
The interpretive trail is a paved ADA accessible trail that travels through time to explore the natural history of Pine Island. Your tour will start at the Sams Family Pioneer Homestead. You will then go back in time to when there were giant animals roaming Florida. Then travel forward to meet the first people that lived in Florida. Your hike ends at the Native American burial mound that has been onsite for over 4,000 years.
Megafauna Ice Age Exhibit
Megafauna, or giant animals, roamed most of Florida. During the Ice Age, Florida was a large flat grassland. Much of the world's water was tied up in glaciers which lowered sea levels and exposed more land. More land means that there was more room for giant herbivores. Mastodons, glyptodonts, and giant ground sloths were a few of the Megafauna animals. Examine the dig pits and explore the exhibit signs to learn more about these ancient animals.
Native American Exhibit
Native Americans were the first peoples that integrated their lifestyles with the harsh Florida environment. They were also the only humans to interact with megafauna. These groups of Native Americans relied heavily on the Indian River Lagoon for food but also as a mode of transport. The area around the Sams House was an active village. We know this by the arrowheads and the pottery that has been found on site. Pottery from early villages but also more recent villages were found onsite showing the evolution of the Native Americans that lived here.
Pollinator Pathway
In the 1800s when the Sams Family settled in Merritt Island there were very few places to get food, many of which were hours away by boat. The Sams family needed to grow food to sustain and feed the family but they also grew fruits and sugar cane to sell. While standing in the exhibit area looking out to the trees; pineapples are the low-growing plants to the right, mangos to the left, and a key lime tree in the center. There is also a white box on the backside of the exhibit. This box is a faux bee box. The Sams family would have had a very similar box in order to attract and keep bees. Bees are very important pollinators and help plants reproduce by spreading pollen across plants.
Burial Mound
The Native American Burial Mound was created by Natives 4,000 years ago. This is a sacred ground that is protected by the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. It is amazing that this has survived to the present time as many pioneers that came to Florida were very destructive to structures left behind by Natives. The burial mound was on site when the Sams family arrived. They had a gentleman archeologist examine the mound to see its contents. Realizing the cultural importance of the burial mound the Sams family protected the site allowing it to survive to the present day.
