Gulf Islands National Seashore

Located along U.S. Highway 98, the Naval Live Oaks Area is at the east end of Gulf Breeze. The Visitor Center and Administrative Headquarters for the Seashore are found on the south side of the highway. The Visitor Center contains exhibits on the history of the area and an auditorium for audiovisual presentations on the story of the National Seashore. Information is available to orient you to the Florida and Mississippi Districts. The six areas in the Florida District are Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Naval Live Oaks, Fort Pickens, Pensacola Forts, and Perdido Key. The five areas in the Mississippi District are West Ship, East Ship, Horn and Petit Bois Islands and Davis Bayou. The Naval Live Oaks Area also contains a picnic area with comfort station, a youth group camping facility, and hiking trails so you can enjoy the many features of this 1,378 acre woodland area.

The Live Oak Story
(Quercus Virginiana)
The live oak's elliptical leaves are olive-green in color. The leaves remain on the tree throughout the year so the tree appears to be evergreen. Its leathery trunk and crooked branches are dark reddish brown and can grow 40 to 50 feet tall. Often covered with Spanish moss, it is one of the most majestic trees of southern coastal areas. Live oaks range from southeastern Virginia to Texas. Because they can tolerate salt spray, the trees usually dominate edges of salt marshes and other well drained coastal areas. They are the heaviest of all oaks; a cubic foot may weigh 75 pounds. An attribute of the wood is resistance to disease and decay, thus the live oak is ideal for shipbuilding. The practice of using live oak in shipbuilding was well established in America by 1700. Early famous live oak vessels include the Hancock, an American revolutionary privateer, and the USS Constitution and Constellation, built in the 1790's.

The Constitution saw action against the British during the War of 1812, receiving the nickname Old Ironsides, due to the strength of its live oak construction. To ensure a future supply of the valuable live oak, the United States Government reserved thousands of acres of southern woodlands to protect the trees from timber interests. The need for wooden ship timbers diminished with the advent of iron and steel warships. However, in 1926 live oak timbers from the Pensacola area were found to be useful in the restoration of the USS Constitution, a National Monument. Today, as a reminder of the importance of the live oak to our heritage, its story is told here at Gulf Islands National Seashore.

A Natural Area
While walking the beaches and nature trails of Naval Live Oaks, take note that little has changed since prehistoric people first settled in Florida 10,000 years ago. At one time, many of these native plants and wildlife provided food, medicine, tools and shelter. Today they are protected for public enjoyment.

Along the bay and sound, underwater grass beds shelter a variety of fish, crustaceans and mollusks. They include striped Mullet, speckled seatrout, blue crabs, oysters and whelks. Sheltered from the harsh forces of the Gulf of Mexico by a barrier island, the Santa Rosa Peninsula contains a great diversity of plant life. Live oaks are covered with Spanish moss. Southern magnolia, pignut hickory, slash, sand and longleaf pines grow tall. Also found here are titi, sweet bay, holly, wax myrtle, and blueberries. The forest floor is covered by saw palmetto, smilax briars, and prickly pear cactus. The area is a haven for reptiles such as the skink, eastern diamond-back rattlesnake and coral snake. Small mammals like the fox, bobcat, squirrel, and raccoon find homes in the forest where deer once roamed.

A Cultural Area
Although Indians have lived in Florida for at least 10,000 years, the first evidence of prehistoric occupation in the Naval Live Oaks Area does not appear until approximately 5,000 years ago. Remnants of Indian villages have been found dating from 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1, referred to as the Deptford Period, a term used by archaeologists to define prehistoric cultures by the type of pottery they constructed. The sites from this period, characterized by shell middens (piles of shell refuse), were near the water. These people survived upon marine foods as well as native game and plants. Artifacts of this period include stone projectile points and other stone tools.

The shell middens from the Santa Rosa Swift Creek Period, A.D. 1 to A.D. 600, indicate primitive agriculture supplemented by marine fishing, hunting of birds and other animals and the gathering of native plant foods. The stoneware is more developed with decorative stamped markings. The ceramics of the Weeden Island Period, A.D. 600 to A.D. 1400, are outstanding in quality, shape and decoration. During this time agricultural activities increased and native populations moved from the coast to the more fertile soil of the upland areas. The final native period represented in this area is the Fort Walton Period, A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1750.

The ceramics of this period are highly developed. Farming became the dominant economic activity as evidenced in the increasing shift of populations to the more fertile interior croplands. Yet villages remained similar to preceding periods. The aboriginal populations of the Gulf Coast changed profoundly after A.D. 1650, during the Leon-Jefferson Period. Europeans had visited the area and began to establish a chain of mission sites along the Gulf Coast, introducing Christianity, new agricultural tech piques, and disease. As a result, native populations decreased rapidly. The few natives left adopted European cultures. Many years of vandalism, pot hunting and neglect have destroyed much of the remaining evidence concerning the prehistoric culture of the Gulf Coast.

Today, professional archaeologists strive to uncover and understand what remains of these Native American cultures. The sites inhabited by prehistoric people within the boundaries of Gulf Islands National Seashore are strictly protected in order to preserve them for all people who wish to learn about these early cultures.

After many years of colonization by the Spanish, French and British, Florida became a United States territory in 1821. A piece of Florida's first road, the Pensacola-St. Augustine mail road, built in 1824, traverses the north side of the Naval Live Oaks Area.

The United States purchased the land which comprises the present Naval Live Oaks Area in 1828 with the goal of reserving its valuable timber resources. President John Quincy Adams authorized the establishment of a federal tree farm in the Naval Live Oaks Area on January 18, 1829. It marked our nation's first efforts at conservation of a natural resource. Superintendent Henry Marie Brackenridge, who lived on the tree farm, experimented with cultivating the live oak tree. He was perhaps our country's first federal forester.