Survey unearths cemeteries

Fifty unrecorded Nassau County cemeteries have been identified in a recent archaeological survey of unincorporated Nassau County.

Myles Bland of Bland & Associates, an archaeological and historic preservation firm, gave the Nassau County Historic Advisory Committee a brief rundown of the findings of the first comprehensive archaeological survey conducted in Nassau County last week.

An archaeological survey of Nassau County has turned up this pottery shard from an American Indian camp site. AMELIA A. HART/The Times-Union

Survey workers found 67 previously unrecorded archaeological sites, including an American Indian camping site in Nassauville that dates back 4,000 years, Bland said. Workers also revisited another 90 previously identified sites.

There are more unrecorded cemeteries on private property that surveyors did not gain access to, Bland told the committee.

"There are more out there; we're sure of it," Bland said.

Information about the location of the cemeteries and other archaeological sites will be given to the county's Geographic Information System mappers, who will add a layer to the county's computer maps identifying historic spots.

Bland & Associates also will give the county's Growth Management Department a computer model that will help predict the likely sites of other unidentified archaeological sites.

County planners say the data will help them protect historic resources as developments come up for review.

Nassau County provided $30,000 for the 11-week survey, while another $30,000 came from a matching historic preservation grant from the National Park Service.

The 951-page survey report includes a 100-page history of Nassau County, Bland said.

Archaeologists identified the original locations of a number of historic roads and railroads and replicated all the Spanish land grants, Bland said.

They found artifacts dating back to the 1800s along the banks of the St. Marys River in Kings Ferry, once the site of one of the county's largest milling operations, and spotted large piles of 19th century ballast stones in the river, Bland said.

However, survey workers didn't find proof that a train plunged off a bridge into the St. Marys River, as lore would have it, Bland said. Similar stories have become popular local legends in a number of places since the publication of a Clive Cussler book called Night Probe, Bland said.

Although he can't say definitively that a train didn't plunge into the river, no train has ever been found and there are no insurance claims or newspaper accounts, Bland said.

"This is a problem," he said.

While there's apparently no train in the river, there are sunken vessels. One of 13 management recommendations included in the report is to assign divers to conduct an underwater archaeological survey. Diving to view shipwrecks in the river could be turned into a tourist attraction, Bland said.

"There is a tremendous amount of materials located in the rivers," he said.

Bland recommended the county follow up the archaeological survey. Officials should conduct another survey focusing on historic structures; apply for state grants for historic surveys, preservation and markers; consider creating a county museum; and look into an oral history project to record the recollections of long-time residents, Bland said.

"There are a lot of folks here who know a lot about the county," Bland said.

Bland told the committee that Nassau County needs to aggressively pursue marketing its history, as Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, S.C., have done, to tap into the booming heritage tourism market.

The county has not been obliterated by a hurricane, or ravaged by a major fire, so large portions of the county's history are intact, he said.

"Nassau County has a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff. Every where you look, there's something interesting," Bland said.

Staff writer Amelia A. Hart can be reached at (904) 261-7606, extension 107, or via e-mail at amelia.hartjacksonville.com.