ANHAICA

Myers Park was once the site of the Apalachee village known as Anhaica. For centuries, the Apalachee and their ancestors established communities in the Red Hills region of North Florida, between the Aucilla and Ochlockonee Rivers. Around the 11th century, the Apalachee built the nearby mound complex at Lake Jackson. It served as a ceremonial center before Anhaica was established around 1500 CE. Before contact with Europeans, the population has been estimated at 30,000–60,000 residents. The leadership within their communities was inherited through matrilineal descent. In 1539, members of Hernando de Soto’s army recorded 250 Apalachee dwellings at Anhaica, surrounded by fields of corn, beans, and squash. Smaller satellite villages encircled the principal village with outlying farms near agricultural fields. Anhaica remained the principal Apalachee village after de Soto’s army left in 1540. In 1633, Franciscan priests established the mission San Luis de Xinayca at Anhaica. In 1656, the Apalachee moved their main village from this site to San Luis de Talimali (Mission San Luis), three miles west.