Timeline Guide
Place-Based Research Timeline
Use timeline rows as navigation into places, records, and source review instead of treating short event summaries as standalone proof.
What this timeline adds
- It gives readers a stronger landing page for timeline use so short rows do not carry the full weight of a historical claim.
- It keeps geography, jurisdiction, routes, institutions, and source trails connected before a page makes stronger public wording.
- It explains why a timeline should send readers to a place hub, source table, or claim review card when the claim becomes sensitive.
How to read place rows
- Name the place, route, institution, archive, or boundary shift connected to the row.
- Open the relevant Place Hub before turning sequence into cause, continuity, authority, or identity language.
- Check whether a map, public record, source trail, or correction note changes the wording.
- Route unresolved claims through Source Review, Claim Review, or Fact Check.
Navigation rows, not proof pages
Short event rows are useful because they help readers compare sequence and context. They should remain navigational unless they are expanded into source-led guide pages with public, reviewable evidence and clear support limits.
Where to go next
- Records and Public Memory Timeline for archive and memory boundaries.
- Foundations Learning Timeline for the reader learning path.
- Why Some Pages Stay Open for Starter/Open handling.
Evidence boundary: A timeline can support orientation. It does not certify identity, ancestry, tribe, nationality, DNA conclusions, legal status, descent, or membership.
This timeline adds order and sequence so readers can compare events, period labels, and caution notes before turning chronology into a stronger claim.
Timeline evidence boundary
- Sequence is context, not proof. A date appearing before or after another date does not by itself establish cause, identity, continuity, or authority.
- Period labels are reading aids. Treat them as prompts to compare records, wording, and local conditions, not as final categories.
- When a timeline changes how a claim sounds, route the claim through Source Review or Claim Review before publishing it as settled.
- Generic identity, ancestry, descent, legal-status, DNA, and membership cautions apply to every row, so repeated row-level versions are suppressed unless a row has a more specific care note.
Use this timeline to compare sequence, period labels, and caution notes. It helps order the evidence, but chronology alone does not settle a claim.
Industrial
- 2022 Georgia begins repatriation work for Etowah-affiliated artifacts
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 2014 GPR/LiDAR work refines Lake Jackson mapping and chronology
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1994 Alberto flood ravages Montezuma and other Flint/Ocmulgee communities
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1988 Timucuan Preserve established
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1970s Florida archaeologists recover major copper and shell items at Lake Jackson
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1966 Lake Jackson land enters state protection era
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1964 Etowah and Kolomoki receive landmark-era national recognition
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1954 Montezuma levee built
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1936 Ocmulgee National Monument established
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1933–1936 Huge Ocmulgee excavation runs under federal relief programs
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1903 Second railroad line reaches Montezuma
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1890 Montezuma depot symbolizes rail-centered civic growth
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1889 Montezuma and Flint River Steamboat Company operates
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1871–1880 Southern Claims Commission generates witness-rich case files
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1865–1874 Freedman’s Bank creates unusually rich African American family records
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1865 Freedmen’s Bureau begins creating crucial postwar records
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1854 Montezuma incorporated
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- 1851 Railroad built through future Montezuma site
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- nineteenth century Kingsley stories of slavery and free Black landholding become central to lower St. Johns interpretation
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
- by 1827 Traveler’s Rest/Bristol develops at the Flint crossing
Connects rail, Reconstruction, public history, preservation, and archival records to research practice.
Treaty-Land Reorganization
- 1836–1837 Muscogee forced removal to Indian Territory intensifies
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1832 Land-lottery era reshapes local ownership around Etowah
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1830s Seminole refuge and conflict histories reshape Florida and Georgia reading paths
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs signed without full authority; crisis deepens
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1820s–1860s Butler estate and grist mill era overlays earlier Lake Jackson ground
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1813–1814 Creek War and Treaty of Fort Jackson strip millions of acres
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1805 Treaty of Washington leaves Old Ocmulgee Fields Reserve
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- early 1800s Fort Hawkins established along the Ocmulgee corridor
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- early 1800s Federal Road follows older Native route systems through Muscogee country
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
- 1793 Cotton gin accelerates settler hunger for river-bottom land
Marks land policy, roads, treaty pressure, and forced removal as disruptive and record-producing contexts.
Contact-Colonial
- eighteenth century Kingsley/plantation-era precedents grow from wider Spanish Florida labor systems
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1742 Fort Matanzas completed
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1738 Fort Mose chartered as free Black settlement
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1715 Yamasee War disrupts Ocmulgee; British burn Ocmulgee Town
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1704 Apalachee mission system collapses under attack
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1690 British trading post built on Ochese Creek at Ocmulgee
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1672 Ground broken for Castillo de San Marcos
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1656 Mission San Luis becomes western missions capital
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1612 Permanent mission established in Apalachee country
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1607 Apalachee chiefs seek stronger relationship with Spaniards
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1565 Matanzas massacre secures Spanish control and leaves a place-name legacy
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1565 Menéndez establishes St. Augustine on Timucua land
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- sixteenth century Fort Caroline marks a short-lived French presence and first-contact zone
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1539–1540 de Soto winters at Anhaica in present-day Tallahassee
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
- 1513 Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain
Places colonial records, conflict, missionization, refuge, and contact-era disruption in a source-labeled frame.
Mound Cities
- mound era Comparing Ocmulgee, Etowah, Kolomoki, and Lake Jackson requires period labels up front
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- mound era Lake Jackson burial goods show exchange with other southeastern centers
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- mound era Etowah public buildings stand atop elevated platforms
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- mound era Platform mounds, plazas, and surrounding residences form recurring civic landscapes
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- mound era Ocmulgee Earth Lodge functions as a council chamber in park interpretation
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- 1015 CE Earth Lodge floor at Ocmulgee dates to this year
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- 1000–1550 CE Lake Jackson participates in wider Mississippian interaction networks
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- 1000–1450 CE Lake Jackson becomes a major Fort Walton ceremonial center
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- 1000–1550 CE Etowah’s major occupation span
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
- c. 1000 CE Etowah occupation and major mound/plaza life intensify
Supports careful comparison of civic landscapes while keeping local periods distinct.
Woodland
- Woodland era “Big mound” does not equal one culture or one era
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- Woodland era Woodland chronology remains crucial for north Florida and southwest Georgia comparison
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- Woodland era Earthen mounds emerge as long-duration social and ceremonial architecture
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- Woodland era Regional communities across Florida and Georgia develop distinct pottery styles
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- Woodland era Public interpretation must avoid reclassifying Kolomoki as generic Mississippian
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- Woodland era Burial repositories at Kolomoki receive elaborate ceramic caches
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- Woodland era Swift Creek and Weeden Island ceremonial practices shape Kolomoki use
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- c. 350–900 CE Broad Woodland occupation at Kolomoki
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- c. 350-600 CE Kolomoki becomes one of the most populous settlements north of Mexico
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
- c. 350 CE Kolomoki's major development phase begins
Keeps Woodland chronology visible before later mound-center comparisons.
Paleoindian-Early Peoples
- c. 1000 BCE onward Regional cultural variation deepens across the Southeast
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- c. 4000 BCE onward Florida communities intensify aquatic food use and pottery traditions
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- early period Later place hubs should treat deep time as human history, not prehistory-as-empty-land
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- early period Early Florida landscapes include now-submerged or transformed coastal zones
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- early period Ocmulgee sequence later preserves evidence from Paleo through historic eras
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- early period Early peoples in Florida use river and coastal resources heavily
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- early period Hunting and gathering dominate before later agricultural intensification
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- early millennia Rivers become enduring travel and settlement corridors
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- c. 12,000 years ago People occupy a larger, drier Florida peninsula
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.
- c. 12,000 years ago Long human occupation begins on the Macon Plateau
Frames long human presence and environmental change without treating early periods as empty land.