CHAPTER 1 THE SUNSHINE STATE For good reason Florida is called the Sunshine State The warm weather and sunny days have attracted people to the area for thousands of years With the ability to be outdoors year-round it’s no wonder Florida is a sports destination Florida has its own teams to be proud of but it also attracts visiting fans from around the country in every sport Palm trees are everywhere in the Sunshine State even outside the home of the Miami Marlins 5
Florida's climate first drew people to the area more than 10 000 years ago People known as Paleoindians arrived searching for mineral water sources The first American Indian settlements were near wetlands By the year 700 CE tribes such as the Timucua and Apalachee began to form For the next 700 years these tribes were the only people to live in the area European explorers saw the Florida coastline for the first time in 1498 A few years later in 1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León became the first European to go ashore He named the area La Florida meaning land of flowers Approximately 300,000 American Indians lived in the Florida region at the time of Ponce de León's arrival However within 80 years slavery and disease resulted in death for most American Indians
The Ponce de León Inlet Light is one of the tallest lighthouses in the United States Members of the Calusa tribe killed Ponce de León in 1521 when he tried to establish a colony on their land Other Spanish explorers tried to establish colonies in Florida but all failed until 1565 That was the year Pedro Menéndez founded the city of St Augustine It was one of the first permanent European settlements in North America 7
