Historic Spanish Point
Historic Spanish Point is a 30-acre (120,000 m2) museum and environmental complex located in Osprey, Florida. It is operated by the Gulf Coast Heritage Association, Inc. Located at 337 North Tamiami Trail, in Osprey, Florida, the museum includes an archeological exhibit of a prehistoric shell mound known as a midden, a turn-of-the-century pioneer homestead historic house museum, a citrus packing house, a chapel, boatyard, gardens and nature trails.
An archaeological record exists on the site from approximately 5,000 years of Florida prehistory. Habitation of the site spans the Late Archaic period (5,900-3,200 years ago) through to the Manasota and Late Woodland periods (3,200-1,000 years ago.) Prehistoric people living on Tampa Bay's shoreline began using ceramics and transitioned from nomadic hunters and gatherers to settled subsistence societies. They capitalized on the abundant resources provided by the Gulf of Mexico, marsh, woodland and bay ecosystems; and utilized growing specialized tool technology to further establish the permanent and seasonal settlements. These people disappear from the archaeological record of the site sometime prior to AD 1100. To date no evidence of European contact has been found, indicating that the site was probably abandoned until the John Greene Webb family arrived in 1867.
Webb and his family moved from Utica, New York to establish a homestead on the shores of Little Sarasota Bay. A Spanish trader the family met in Key West told them of an elevated point of land on the bay. The Webbs named their homestead Spanish Point to honor the good advice of the trader. John Webb and his family planted citrus, sugar cane, and vegetables; and built a packing house to prepare their goods for market. In the early 1900s the Webb family sold parcels of the homestead to new settlers.
In 1910 a wealthy Chicago socialite named Bertha Palmer, widow of Potter Palmer, purchased the Spanish Point homestead, as well as thousands of acres for cattle ranching, citrus groves, and real estate development. The Webb homestead was part of the land she chose for her 350-acre estate which she named "Osprey Point." She preserved the pioneer buildings and connected them with lavish formal gardens and lawns. Mrs. Palmer died of breast cancer at age 68 in May 1918. Her family maintained Osprey Point and in 1959, her grandson Gordon Palmer sponsored the three-year excavation of the archaeological site by Ripley P. Bullen. The site is now home to the museum at Historic Spanish Point.
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