What is the history of Palatka, Florida?
The area was once the domain of the Timucuan nation, two tribes of which existed in the Palatka region under chiefs Saturiba and Utina. They fishingfished bass (fish)bass and mullet (fish)mullets, or huntinghunted deer, turkeys, bear and oppossum. Others farmingfarmed beans, corn, melons, Squash (fruit)squash and tobacco. But war and disease devastated the tribes. Florida would then be taken over by the Seminole, who called the location Pilo-taikita, meaning boat (pilo) ford (crossing)ford (taikita), or “boat crossing.” Here the St. Johns River narrows and begins a shallower, winding course upstream to Lake George (Florida)Lake George and Lake Monroe (Florida)Lake Monroe. Because of the Treaty of Paris, control of Florida changed in 1763 from Spain to England. In 1767, Denys Rolle, an English philanthropist and nobleman, established Rollestown on the east bank of the St. Johns River at the head of deep water navigation. His 78,000 acre plantation was a utopiautopian commercial and huma
