Historic City News readers are invited to join archaeologists Greg Smith and Marsha Chance for a day of family fun and exploration of Mala Compra; the nineteenth-century plantation at Bing’s Landing in Flagler County.
Site tours will take place at noon and 2pm, but bring a lunch and enjoy the local scenery and playground according to Florida Public Archaeology Network Outreach Coordinator for the Northeast Region, Amber Grafft-Weiss.
Mala Compra Plantation, located south of Marineland on A1A in the Hammock, struggled to make a profit off its crops when Joseph Hernandez owned the property in the early 1800′s. After the plantation burned to the ground during the Second Seminole War, it became lost to time and all traces of it disappeared beneath the surface.
In 1989, Flagler County purchased the land and during routine clearing accidentally uncovered one of Mala Compra’s wells.
A team of archaeological, historical, and conservation experts worked together to study and interpret the site.
Guests walk along an elevated platform under a pavilion to view displays of artifacts and documents, listen to Hernandez tell his story through speakers in informational kiosks, and see the actual location of the features described with the aid of push-button spotlights.
Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer
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