Indian Mound Park
Sometimes more commonly referred to as the Pompano Beach Mound, Indian Mound Park is a really quick yet really interesting local history stop in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area. Your group will find this small park near the Intracoastal Waterway on Hibiscus and 13th!
This 100 foot wide, 7 foot tall oval Tequesta burial mound holds the remains of around 100 Tequesta Indians, the site dating back to 500 CE. This is the only burial mound left in Broward County, though at one point there were 20-50 mounds all over southern Florida. The mound was discovered and excavated around 1938, though the area was a park and bird sanctuary since 1926 (Pompano Beach Park established officially in the 1950s).
During your visit to Indian Mound Park, your group can read the informational plaques and learn all about the Tequesta Indian tribes, who were plagued by disease, war, and slavery from the 1500s to the 1800s. Those buried here were buried with their heads faced toward the sunrise, and many of the artifacts found with them can be seen at both the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian. You will also learn a bit about the natural setting of the park in the past as well, the area once covered by tropical hardwood!
