Dave W.
Yelp
This is a wonderful 122 acre park for a stroll, picnic, or bike ride. If you ride to the south end, you can proceed across a pedestrian/bike bridge, in to a neighborhood, and end up in downtown Safety Harbor.
The park contains a ceremonial Indian mound, built by the Tocobago Native Americans. This spot is believed to have been their capital for at least 600 years!
In 1528, Panfilo de Narvaez popped by with 400 conquistadors. Four survived the harrowing expedition.
In 1566, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, the founder of St Augustine, dropped in while searching for a waterway across Florida. He is reported to have brokered a truce between the Tocobago and the Culusa tribes. He founded an outpost to spread Christianity but, it was wiped out within a year and the Tocobago village was deserted.
In the end, the Tocobago people were exterminated by a combination of European disease and forced slavery.
In 1840, a Frenchman, Count Odet Philippe, decided to move here with his family. He was the very first European settler in what was to become Pinellas County. He left his family on the site, sailed down to Cuba to get some grapefruit, came back, and started a plantation. Reportedly, his descendants include the McMullen and Booth families. Philippe is believed to be buried in the park but nobody knows exactly where.
Bottom line... It's gorgeous and serene. Please ponder the history as you walk underneath the live oaks, watch the wide variety of native butterflies flit about, and enjoy the breeze. Imagine being there in 1566 or 1840. I do, right before I go back to air conditioned comfort.