Marineland of Florida

The town of Marineland was established in 1940 and is in Flagler and St. Johns counties, Florida, United States. The population was 16 in the 2010 census. Marineland is located 18 miles (29 km) south of St. Augustine along Route A1A. The Marineland marine park and the town of Marineland have become synonymous, however many do not realize that Marineland is a town in its own right. Like all proper municipalities, Marineland has its own local governing body complete with a mayor and city council board that meets monthly to discuss the town's affairs. The town shares a ZIP Code with St. Augustine Beach. The town of Marineland got its start when the Marineland Dolphin Adventure opened on June 23, 1938, as Marine Studios, a facility designed for Hollywood filmmakers to create underwater footage for motion pictures and newsreels. Popularly known as the "World's First Oceanarium," Marine Studios was the premier destination to allow the general public to experience marine life up-close. Because of their proximity, the local businesses share close partnerships and vision. The town of Marineland is a hub of research and conservation and is set in the middle of the GTM-NERR (Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve), local businesses and foundations have close working relationships including Mobius Marine, Inc., Ripple Effect Eco Tours, Marineland Marina, Marineland Dolphin Adventure, University of Florida Whitney Laboratory, the Florida Master Naturalist Program, the southern facility for the GTM NERR, and Washington Oaks Gardens State Park and Faver-Dykes State Park. The Flagler County portion of Marineland is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area, while the St. Johns County portion is part of the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Pellicer Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Florida. It is a tributary to the Matanzas River, and delineates the border between St. Johns and Flagler counties in the northeastern part of the state. The creek begins as a blackwater stream in the swamps west of Interstate 95, and meanders eastward into the Matanzas River; it is part of Florida's Designated Paddling Trail System.Pellicer Creek was named after Francisco Pellicer, an early Spanish settler. The waterway was formerly called Woodcutter's Creek, along which lumber and turpentine from a sawmill owned by British master carpenter John Hewitt were transported to the Matanzas River and then northward to St. Augustine. In 1770, Hewitt had purchased 1,000 acres of land near the Kings' Road, where he built his water-driven mill, in operation from 1770 to 1813.

The Princess Place Preserve (also known as Cherokee Grove) is a historic site in Palm Coast, Florida. It is located between SR A1A (Florida) and I-95, on Pellicer Creek, just south of the St. Johns/Flagler county line. On May 2, 1997, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Summer Haven is an unincorporated community in southeast St. Johns County, Florida, United States, located just south of the Matanzas Inlet, on a narrow strip of land between a shallow marsh and the Atlantic Ocean.Summer Haven is a small beach resort which began with cottages used by farmers. It consists of approximately 60 structures, mostly single family homes.Around 1890, Thomas A. Mellon started vacationing in Summer Haven. Eventually the community attracted other well known people, including Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Owen D. Young, and author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.After severe nor’easters in 1962, Summer Haven was declared a disaster area, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed an 1,800-foot granite revetment along the northern portion. After Hurricane Dora in 1964, the existing revetment, which fronts the majority of the upland development in the reach, was extended by an additional 1,070 linear feet. South of the revetment, development is limited to one row of single-family residences. When possible, St. Johns County has been purchasing structures and lands in this southern area and not allowing further development.

Washington Oaks Gardens State Park is a Florida State Park located near Palm Coast, Florida, along A1A. The park is most famous for its formal gardens, but it also preserves the original habitat of a northeast Florida barrier island.

Faver-Dykes State Park is a Florida State Park located 15 miles south of St. Augustine, near the intersection of I-95 and US 1, and bordering Pellicer Creek, a designated state canoe trail. Activities include fishing, picnicking, boating, canoeing, camping and wildlife viewing. Among the wildlife of the park are white-tailed deer, bobcats, and river otters. There are many birds in the park, including bald eagles, falcons, and hawks, as well as egrets, wood storks, white ibis, wild turkeys, and herons.

Matanzas Inlet is a channel in Florida between two barrier islands and the mainland, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the south end of the Matanzas River. It is 14 miles (23 km) south of St. Augustine, in the southern part of St. Johns County. The inlet is not stabilized by jetties, and thus is subject to shifting. Historic maps made by Spanish military engineers in the 18th century show that the inlet today has moved many hundreds of yards south of its location during the time of the Spanish Empire. In 1740, a British invasion force from Fort Frederica, Georgia blockaded this inlet, the southernmost access for boat travel between St. Augustine and Havana, Cuba. Shortly thereafter, in 1742, a coquina stone tower 50 feet (15 m) square by 30 feet (9.1 m) high, now called Fort Matanzas, was built by the Spanish authorities in Florida to safeguard this strategic inlet.

Fort Fulton was established on February 21, 1840, between Old Kings Road and Pellicer Creek (west of present-day U.S. Highway 1) in present-day Flagler County, Florida. A January 17, 1840 article in the Florida Herald of St. Augustine stated, "Can anyone inform us why the Mounted Volunteer Company, raised in this city, and now stationed at Hewlett’s [Hewitt’s] Mill, is weakened by a detail of ten men subject to the order of the city council, and kept in town idle." This article suggests that Fort Fulton was most likely manned with militia volunteers since it was the only military post in the general area of Hewitt's Mill (which was located only about 1500 feet southwest from where Fort Fulton was built). Hewitt's Mill was a sawmill built in 1768 by John Hewitt on his 1,000-acre plot of land in St. Johns County. This sawmill is known to have supplied many wooden building materials to the St. Augustine area and surrounding plantations.

The Mala Compra Plantation Archeological Site is an archaeological site in Palm Coast, Florida, on the east bank of the Matanzas River. It is located west of the intersection of State Road A1A and Mala Compra Drive at Bings Landing County Park in Flagler County. On March 5, 2004, it was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places. Mala Compra (Spanish for "bad bargain" or "bad purchase") was formerly part of one of northeastern Florida's largest plantation systems (totaling 2,265 acres). Situated on the coast, it belonged to Joseph Marion Hernández (1788–1857), and was worked primarily as a slave-based cotton plantation from 1816 through 1836, when the Seminoles burned it down near the beginning of the Second Seminole War.Preliminary archaeological investigations were conducted at the Mala Compra site in 1999. The study identified the house where Hernández and his family resided when they were not at their home in St. Augustine, and the detached kitchen was also found. The land for the plantation was purchased by Hernández in 1816; cotton and corn were grown there until the settlement was destroyed by marauding Native Americans. The main dwelling-house was described in historical accounts as a 1 1/2-story framed structure with a masonry foundation. Investigations revealed that the building had a coquina block foundation in the eastern part while masonry footers supported the western section. It was almost twice the size of the dimensions cited in the historical descriptions. Wooden floors had been described as well, and traces of them were found, but tabby concrete surfaces were also identified. An account of the state of the plantation in 1836 given by Joseph S. Sanchez to the County Court of St. Johns County in 1837 says that his militia troops found a number of oxen, cattle, and horses; garden enclosures and cattle pens; and "an extensive and thriving sweet orange grove, said to contain 1,500 trees, and a variety of other fruit trees...".Over 14,000 artifacts were recovered by archaeologists and their assistants, including fragments of ceramics and wine bottles, kitchen utensils, kaolin pipes, hinges, nails, and gun parts. The main house and kitchen have been interpreted to provide an interactive historical exhibit for public education and recreation, and plans developed for additional research and preservation of the valuable cultural resources.

Fort Matanzas National Monument (Spanish: Fuerte Matanzas) was designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924. The monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort called Fort Matanzas, and about 100 acres (0.4 km2) of salt marsh and barrier islands along the Matanzas River on the northern Atlantic coast of Florida. It is operated by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in the city of St. Augustine.

Matanzas High School (MHS) is located at 3535 Old Kings Road North in Palm Coast, Florida. The school's sports teams are known as the Pirates. As of 2013–2014, it was A-rated. The school colors are royal blue, silver and black.On February 21, 2023, a 17-year-old student was arrested after attacking his teacher and beating her into an unconscious state, allegedly because his Nintendo Switch was taken from him during class. The student is set to be charged as an adult and faces up to 30 years in prison.

The Florida Agricultural Museum is located in Palm Coast in Flagler County, Florida, United States. The museum includes a restored 1890s pioneer homestead, an early 20th century dry goods store, five restored buildings from a 1930s Great Depression-era citrus operation and a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) dairy barn. The museum also offers opportunity for horseback trail rides. The Florida Agricultural Museum is located at 7900 Old Kings Road. The Old Florida Museum is a living history museum in that is currently housed within the Florida Agricultural Museum. It tells the story of Florida's history through a series of exhibits including programming about the Timucua people and Florida Cracker pioneers. Prior to a 2019 move, the museum was housed in the re-creation of a wooden fortress on St. Augustine's San Marcos Avenue where it drew 18,000 students per year. The museum regularly hosts school field trips. In 2023, it hosted its first annual Lost Arts Festival which included blacksmithing, woodworking, canning, and candle dipping.