Over the past 18 months, lifelong residents, historians, archaeologists and the general public have shared their stories about Ortona Indian Mound Park. The common thread among these conversations has been a passion for preserving Ortona’s cultural past, present, and future.
While there may be individual aspirations to enhance the park, everyone acknowledges the need for official action.
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Dorinda Williams-Campos: “We wouldn't mind spending money on it if the county didn't want to, to let them know a little history on the Calusa Indians and on that park, and on the mounds.”
Larry Luckey: “It needs to be actually taken all back out and redone. It's gonna take a group of people that has an interest. Without interest and accounting. It cannot be successful. But one day it will be I have faith, have faith that it will be
Kate Adams: “I think it's important that we expand the interpretive display. I hope we can do that and definitely get some signage. I never would have noticed this park, I wouldn't have seen it, I could have easily driven right by it.”
Bob Carr: “The park needs to expand to officially encompass the large mound, and part of the remnant earthworks that are associated with the mound. I think once you have that expansion, you can create a boardwalk that links all of that to other parts of the park.”
Glades County has a population of 12,790 with a median household income of $37,220, according to 2022 and 2023 Census data.
Archaeologist Bob Carr explains that this places Glades County in a unique position that may be beneficial to fixing up the park.
“The challenge is that Glades County is one of the poorest counties in Florida, but with that said, it has that interesting reality of being the poorest county, it allows them to get 100% of any grant applications from the state,” said Carr.
Carr says the county needs additional resources to secure these grants.
“They just don't have the people, they don't have the money, the budget, somebody needs to help them get the grant monies to get the repairs done in that park," said Carr.
"I think the park has a long way to go in terms of fulfilling its public education interpretive mission. And I think that is a priority. ”
During the investigation of Ortona Indian Mound Park, various entities in Glades County were contacted to assess their plans for improving the park's fading ancient earthworks and addressing the lack of historical signage.
Representatives from Glades County Parks and Recreation, Glades County Tourism, and the Glades County City Manager’s Office were reached out to.
No one has responded.
In February, I made an impromptu visit during City Manager June Fisher's office hours to bring the community’s concerns to her attention.
Fisher expressed interest in recording an interview, but I have not heard back from her or another staff member.
The Florida Public Archaeology Network shared an outside perspective and possible solutions for Ortona Indian Mound Park.
Sara Ayers-Rigsby is the Southeast & Southwest Regional Director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network. She said she first visited Ortona Indian Mound Park in 2016.
“I was really sad the first time I went out to see, you know, you have this really beautiful park that's being really well maintained in terms of like, you know, the grass has been mowed," said Ayers-Rigsby.
"There's people who are coming and working on the pavilion. But the interpretive signage about the archaeological site had clearly fallen into some disrepair. So the bridges that connected over the canals were sort of rotted and fallen away.”
Eight years later, these issues only continue to get worse.
Ayers-Rigsby explains that the state of Florida has special grant categories to help address situations like Ortona, and that maybe FPAN could help.
“Our role with FPAN is to not only promote public awareness of archaeological sites, but we also assist the state Division of Historical resources, and we assist local governments as well," said Ayers-Rigsby. "So, I think we would be really happy to try and help the county.”
She said in terms of archaeology, the interior of South Florida is called an understudied area, and that Ortona has a lot of potential yet to be discovered.
“Here in South Florida, we really still have a lot to learn about what was happening in the interior and how some of these communities were interacting, or not interacting, with the coastal communities who were there at the time," said Ayers-Rigsby. "There is the potential for this site to still yield a lot of potentially groundbreaking information about the history of Florida."
For now, Ortona Indian Mound Park remains a subject of discussion thanks to the steadfast efforts of community members like Dorinda Williams-Campos, who tirelessly advocate for its restoration.
“We can do this, we can get this park back up to what it needs to be. And actually add some things, said Williams-Campos. "It just needs some TLC and it needs some attention, and it needs it now.”
The preservation of Ortona Indian Mound Park now rests in the hands of Glades County officials.
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