Preservation Of Pinellas Point Mound

Updates by Claude Jenet

June 9th

The second phase of the emergency plan is scheduled for Thursday Morning, June 12th.

June 1st

The first phase of the construction of the emergency plan is scheduled for Thursday Morning, June 5th.

Meanwhile we are sorry to report that there has been an increase of vandalism on the mound:

Arson: an area 20 x 20 Ft on the south slope of the mound was set on fire. Neighbors called the Fire Department and the fire was estinguished. Two palm trees and palmettos were burned.

Grafitti's: More grafitti's on the walls trees and signs.

Trash: empty plastic gerry cans, a watering can, 2 pack of chlorine (Shock for Pools) and other items were left on the north side of the mound.

Broken board: a top bord on the souther skewed entry is broken.

Neighbors are calling the police when they suspect illegal activities. The Parks department is alerting the Police also.

May 5th

There was no objection following the Public Notification and the Office of Historic Preservation gaves us the final CoA approval (over 3 months after we sent our proposal for this emergency plan !).

We are now scheduling convenient dates to proceed with this plan.

April 22nd

Although we promply faxed our Label request to the Pinellas Property Appraiser these only became ready for pick up today! They will be mailed tomorrow April 23rd.

Also, we were notified by a neighbor that a fire had been started on the mound and burned an area about 20 x 30 Ft under a Palm/Saw Palmettos. The fire Department was called and estinguished the fire.

April 1st

The Office of Historic Preservation informed that they have reviewed our proposal with the Parks Dept. ad can support this project. However, this and future alterations to the mound cannot be considered as minor maintenance CoA. The following steps will have to be followed from now on:

An application form for the CoA must first be prepared and signed by the Parks Dept. (as the owner of the site).
When this is done, GPPCA must obtains labels (from the Pinellas Property Appraiser) showing the addresses of the properties with 200 ft of the mound and mail a Public Notice to property's owners. Within 10 days of the mailing dates, if no objection has been made, the Office of Historic Preservation will give us the final approval.

If an objection is received, the issue will have to be review and decided upon during the next meeting of the Historic Preservation Committee.

This will result in delaying the implementation of the next phases planned for the preservation of the mound.

February 26th

GPPCA sent a proposal for an Emergency Plan to the Parks Dept and the Office of Historic Preservation .Heavy foot traffic up and down the north side of the mound created severe erosion along a 70 Ft long gully. We proposed to fill the gully with a mixture of mulch and sand and retain the fill with lateral boards every 2 Ft or as required. Also to plant some native ground cover on the bare sides of the gully to prevent continuing erosion.

This is a temporary measure to prevent further erosion during the incoming rainy season.

January 21st

Having received the City's approval the skewed entry was build on the North side.

At the same time the 8 ft gate which had been destroyed by vandals on the South side was replaced.

December 17th

The writer met Mr. Forziano at the Mound and showed him a copy of the plan for a skewed entry on the North side. Mr. Forziano signed the plan for approval and this was mailed to the Park Department the same day

November 26th

Gerry Lembke and the writer met a the Temple mound to figure a possible solution.

Mr Forziano joined us and we proposed to build and entry at the eastern corner of the fence and an emergency plan to stop the erosion on the North side of the mound. We agreed to meet again with Mr Forziano after discussing this plan with the State Archaelogist.

November 20th

Mr. John Forziano came to our General Meeting with a few of his neighbors and voiced his complains.

A motion was made to schedule a separate meeting with Mr. Forziano and his neighbors to review the matter and hopefully resolve the problem.

November 16th,

The neighbor who filed a complain with the City called GPPCA's President Barbara Hawkins who referred him to the writer and invited him to come to our next General Meeting.

November 8th

The meeting started at 9:00 am at the Temple Mound.

The Parks Department confirmed that they received a complain regarding the lack of entry on the north side of the Mound as well as regarding the location of the fence. We explained that when building the fence on the North side, we decided not to create an entry as originally planned, after finding out that foot traffic from that side was creating severe erosion on the Mound. As for the location of the fence, we deviate from our plan after encountering large roots on the originally planned location.

We were told that we should have immediately informed Parks and the Office of Preservation of these changes and should not have proceeded with approval. We appologized for this omission and e-mailed the corrected plan that afternoon.

The City didn't approve our proposed Master Plan but instead requested that we revised this in more details including suggestions/ approval of other experts in Indian Mound Preservation.

November 2nd, 2007

The Parks Department informed that a neighbor living on Pinellas Point Drive complained that the entry originally planned on that side had not be build. A meeting was scheduled for November 8th with City personel, GPPCA., the State Archaeologist, AIN and DOR representatives.

November 1th, 2007

At the request of the Parks Department, we prepared a "Master Plan" detailing the next phases necessary to continue the preservation of the mound. This plan was sent by e-mail today.

Click HERE to see a copy.

October 20, 2007

North side: The cross boards were secured to the posts and an 8 ft gate was installed. This completed the construction of the fence on all sides of the Mound.

The fence on this side was constructed in 14 hours by the following volunteers:

The next phase in the restoration of the mound is to stop the current erosion on the north side. This will be scheduled as soon as we obtain approval from the City Parks Department..

October 17, 2007: The Posts for the fence are set up on the North side

North side: 36 holes were dug, excavated material was screened and new posts were set up. Click HERE to see photos.
Securing the cross boards is scheduled for Saturday October 20

October 12, 2007: The Parks Department trim the bushes on the North side

Unlike on the South side were there was no vegetation near the fence, a large amount of bushes was obstructing the construction of the North fence on 3 sides. The Parks Department did an excellent job trimming and cutting the bushes that were in the way .

Click HERE to see photos:.

September 22, 2007: The Fence is build on the South side

During the last 50 days the necessary authorizations to pursue the project were filed and approved:

• A detailed plan of the fence to surround the mound was drawn and submitted to the Parks Department, the State Archaeologist and AIM. The plan (which indicated how the fence will be build, its dimensions, components and locations of new holes to be excavated) was approved by all parties above.
• The state archaeologist prepared an amendment to the Certificate of Appropriateness, stating where and the manner by which excavation will be made (by hand - standard post digger) and how all material excavated would be checked for artifacts etc. .( screening).
• The approval of the master plan for the Mound was obtained from all neighbors within 200 feet of the mound.
• The City Development Office recorded the amended Certificate of appropriateness.

Once this was done building of the fence on the south site was immediately scheduled for the week ending September 22:
Excavation of new holes took place Monday Sept17 and the fence was built Saturday September 20.

The following team spent 12 hours to excavate the holes and build the fence:

Click HERE to see photos

July 23, 2007: Sod is laid on the South side

Early June, GPPCA members Ray Wunderlich, Barbara Hawkins, Gerry Lembke and the writer met on site of the Mound with Cliff Footlick - Director of Parks, Richard Estabrook - Public Archeologist and George Garcia - Security Director American Indian Movement, Florida Chapter to discuss what could be done short term to stop the erosion on the south side of the Mound.

It was agreed that a first step was to lay some sod along the curb and about 18 feet towards the Mound to stop sand and shells running down on the street under heavy rain . It was also noted that much damage and erosion is caused by children riding their bicycles on the Mound. The suggestion was made that signs prohibiting bicycles on the Mound should be placed on both the north and south sides and that a higher fence with skewed entries needed to be erected to further prevent bicycle riding.

Cliff Footlick agreed that the Park Department would lay the sod, place the signs prohibiting bicycles and would perform trimming of dead branches and intrusive vegetation, but informed that no funding would be available for further improvements of the Mound until 2010.

The sod was laid Monday July 23rd under the supervision of State Archeologist Richard Estabrook.
Ray Wunderlich, George Garcia and the writer came to see the work being done and review the next steps of the master plan prepared by Ray Wunderlich for the preservation and restoration of the mound

• Building a fence with a skewed entry to prevent the degradation resulting from bicycle riding up and down the mound.
• Building a board walk from the skewed entry to the top of the Mound ( similar to that at Bickel Indian Mound
• Erecting a large sign showing correct historical information and graphics.
• Planting native plant cover to further stop erosion
• Removal of exotic invasive vegetation.

Claude Jenet proposed to design the fence and use the funds already set aside by GPPCA to purchase the necessary material. It was agreed that GPPCA will apply for grants to cover the cost of the boardwalk, the sign and plant cover. The master plan was presented to the Parks Department by Ray Wunderlich.

The company hired by the Park Department to lay the sod did a great job and this is a first step in preserving this historical site. The signs prohibiting bicycles are scheduled to be posted shortly.

While the work was in progress everyone witnessed a young child trying to ride her bicycle on the mound, emphasizing the urgent need for a fence preventing such entry.

To see photos of the sod being laid, Click HERE

To see photos of the Manatee County's Bickel Indian Mound which has been restored by volunteers,
click HERE

Temple Mound Hirrihigua

By Gerry Lembke

GPPCA's member Ray Wunderlich III is heading an effort to make improvements to the Indian Temple Mound between Mound Place and Pinellas Point Drive.

On March 27th Ray, the writer, Councilman Jamie Bennett, Claude Jenet and Barbara Hawkins met with the City’s Parks Department representatives Cliff Footlick and Mike Vineyard at Bay Vista Recreation Center to discuss improvements to this neighborhood treasure. Near term plans include erosion abatement, including some new plantings.  Longer term, we discussed putting together a plan for improvements (including new signage and removal of invasive plants) for submission to the city with input from neighbors, archaeologists, and American Indian representatives.
At the conclusion of the meeting, a Channel 13 News reporter and photographer arrived.  Jamie Bennett was interviewed and the writer was interviewed at the mound.  The story aired that night on the 10 o’clock news. 
Any resident wishing to volunteer in moving forward on this project is encouraged to contact us at the GPPCA web site or call Gerry Lembke at 864-6118 or Ray Wunderlich at 525-1689

Information about the Tocobaga Indians is presented in the article below:

Pinellas Point’s Early Inhabitants

By Gerry Lembke

Perhaps as early as 500 b.c., the Manasota Indian culture inhabited what is now known as Weeden Island and some other “coastal areas”, which may or may not have included the Pinellas Point area.

About 1000 a.d., the peace-loving Tocobaga Indians began the inhabitation of our area.  Until the 1500s, the Pinellas Point area was heavily populated by these now extinct Indians. They lived in small villages of ten to twenty huts, which paralleled the shore. Villages also contained a separate temple, burial mounds, and midden mounds (where trash such as shells and bones were discarded). The most visible remains of this culture are the well-preserved Pinellas Point Temple Mound, near Pinellas Point Drive and 20th Street South.  Indian mounds also exist in Maximo Park.

The Tocobaga chose the highest fertile ground for gardens where they grew squash, maize, pumpkins and sweet potatoes.  Rounding out their diet were wild game (notably turtles, birds, raccoons, and deer) and seafood.  Fresh water was available from springs and small lakes in the area.

Most of their tools and weapons were made from shell.  Their long bows were strung with deer hide.  Their most deadly weapons were the warriors’ long, sharpened fingernails, which they used to maim and kill an enemy in close contact.

The Tocobaga had a complex social structure with ceramics, jewelry and extended trade.

Careful of natural law, the Tocobaga sustained what paleontologists believe was a high level of civilization.  With optimum conditions, and good nutrition, they grew to be a tall, well-formed, muscular people prospering in the area for many generations.

Spanish explorers invaded the area in the 1500’s. Their ships, armor, weapons, horses, and diseases were from an unknown world and they were the seeds that led to the extinction of the Tocobaga.  The end came when troops led by Col. James Moore, former Governor of South Carolina, swept through all Florida destroying Spanish missions and the Indians.  They reached the Tampa Bay area in 1709 and the remaining Tocobaga tribes were eliminated.

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