The Timucuan Indians and Ais Indians were the ones who inhabited this part of Florida when the Spanish Arrived. If you recall Ponce De Leon was killed by one of the Ais Indians by a poison arrow. The Indians of this area had raised corn, beans, squash, and gathered food like berries, nuts, seeds, fish, and even hunted for animals. Women maintained the crops and gathered food the men were the hunters as well as warriors. These Indians built houses made out of logs with thatched roofs and woven twigs.

The tribes would gather clams, oysters and fish which would supplement the meat and agricultural products eaten the rest of the year. The women and children collected the clams and would process them for later use. Men would protect their families, hut, and fish out on the Indian River. The Indians were very seasonal and would travel to certain areas based on the season. Each year they would revisit Seminole Rest thus the fact that many Indian mounds in the area were created.

Seminole Rest has one of the lartest Indian Mounds known as Snyder's Mound which had other names as well. It lies right on the shoreline of the Mosquito Lagoon. Trust me when I say this you do not want to be walking near that shoreline at night you will get eaten alive. The mound dates back to around 600-1420 AD and was a large quahog clam processing area. The Indians mainly used it during this time it was 740 feet from North To South and 340 feet from east to west. Yes this is one of the largest mounds in the state besides Turtle Mound where we visited. The mound is roughly 13 feet in height. 

During archaeological finds during excavations some artifacts were found which suggest that the mound was used seasonally for the gathering and processing of clams. Then they were taken elsewhere and consumed by the villagers. They did not find any evidence that burials took place here however it is not unsure since the mound is very large and cannot be disturbed. 

Not to far away in the same area is another mound called Fiddle Crab Mound which is much smaller and is a shell capped sand mound. It is roughly 15 feet in diameter. During an excavation there were many artifacts recovered from this mound much more then Snyder Mound. This suggested that this site was occupied seasonally during the winter and spring. It was probably a seasonal base camp used by a family. There are four other shell middens in the area near Fiddle Crab Mound which date back to 120 -1040 AD.

But finds show that occupation of the site began much earlier based on the type of pottery found known as Orange Series which dates back as early as 2000 BC To 500BC. Jesus did not even walk the earth yet when these tribes roamed this area. So we are dealing with a very ancient site probably man advanced entities some very old very wise etc. 

Then came the 1500s a time when the Europeans Arrived mainly Spain. They brought Diseases, War, Social Disintegration forcing the Christian ways on the Indians. The Timucuan and Ais were forced to abandoned Seminole rest and its tribes. Seminole Rest became abandoned. Eventually the tribes did die out. 

There was no permanent settlement around the mound till after the Civil War. The area was very abundant in live oak trees which were used to build ships. That is how the mounds first name was born with it being called Live Oak Hill. Because the oaks grew all around the mound of course later on it was called Snyder's Mound and Seminole Rest. The giant Oak Tree that sat atop of the mound came crashing down in a hurricane in 1911 then after it was just called Oak Hill hence the name of how the city was born. 

When pioneers came to Florida in the 1870s the area was very low and swampy. It was not the type of area to build houses in. It was not settled till at least drainage projects began and could create land that could be used for citrus farming. Most of the land around here is very rural even today not many houses are in the area.  Much of the area actually looks the same as when the Indians roamed it. What makes this place interesting is that its intact unlike the other 70% of Indian mounds that were destroyed in development of homes and buildings. These mounds are the only remaining ones to have had data covering from the Orange to St. Johns II periods. 

Even more interesting on the site is two houses which were built one of them being on part of the Indian Mound. This is a fairly rare sight to see as who would ever think to build anything on an place of such sacred power. The site for quite sometime had a few families living on the grounds of the mound. Before 1890 a  home was built here or should we save moved onto the mound  which later was bought by the Snyder family which is how the mound got its name Snyder Mound.  That house eventually was enlarged and had additions. The other house on the site was the caretakers house which was used as a post office. The caretakers perhaps kept up the land surrounding the mounds. 

Because of family's like the Tumors, Snyder's and Instone's not selling there land this mound was not used for construction materials for roads. Many mounds were leveled to build roads, buildings, houses and even the material in them was used. So the Seminole Rest area was safe and today remains preserved. 

If you were to have the full experience like us one could hike on the Seminole Rest Trail seeing pioneer houses, pilings of the old pier nearby with a non-historical garage, a gazebo, various mounds and very old trees that are probably predate the 1800s. Many of the plaques depict Indians battling giant alligators, gathering food, protecting their village so it really is a significant area. But more importantly this was the organizations 400th paranormal location.

There is a sense of peace here nothing hostile but you can feel the energy to the area. If you stand out overlooking mosquito lagoon you can see cape Canaveral across the lagoon which is probably a half of mile across. It has a real eerie feeling as across the way is many islands, woods, trails and places where beast are said to roam.  It is a place of power, mystery and I am very sure many different entity's that roam these mounds.

©  By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight

400th Place This Calls For A Celebration & Our 474th Investigation! Rick Standing On Top Of Oak Hill Mound!