Nocoroco

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Archaeological site in Florida, United States

title: "Nocoroco" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["national-register-of-historic-places-in-volusia-county,-florida", "shell-middens-in-florida", "archaeological-sites-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-florida", "ormond-beach,-florida", "timucua"] description: "Archaeological site in Florida, United States" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocoroco" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Archaeological site in Florida, United States ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox NRHP"]

FieldValue
nameNocoroco
imageOrmond Beach FL Tomoka SP north end01.jpg
nearest_cityOrmond Beach, Florida
coordinates
locmapinVolusia County
addedMay 7, 1973
refnum73000605
::

| name = Nocoroco | nrhp_type = | image = Ormond Beach FL Tomoka SP north end01.jpg | caption = | nearest_city = Ormond Beach, Florida | coordinates = | locmapin = Volusia County | area = | added = May 7, 1973 | refnum = 73000605

Nocoroco is the site of a Timucuan village located on the Tomoka River, in Tomoka State Park. The park is located two or three miles north of Ormond Beach, Florida on North Beach Street.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/NocorocoOysterMidden.jpg" caption="small shell midden at Nocoroco"] ::

Approximately seven thousand years ago, during the Archaic Period, indigenous people found plentiful fish and shellfish at this site in the shelter of a barrier island to the east. The site was inhabited approximately twelve hundred years ago by the Timucuans, whose descendants were discovered there by Europeans. Alvaro Mexia visited Nocoroco in 1605, just as European acculturation had begun. Mexia's expedition explored down the east coast of Florida at the behest of the Spanish governor. This late St. Johns period site represents one of the last Timucuan strongholds in northeastern Florida. The only traces of these native peoples are the shell middens, which help modern archaeologists document their lives.

The British occupation began in 1763 when Great Britain received Florida from Spain in a trade. The site of the village of Nocoroco was part of a British land-grant called Mt. Oswald, held by Richard Oswald. His plantation grew indigo and rice. After its return to the Spanish in 1783, the area was likely cultivated until many plantations were destroyed near the beginning of the Second Seminole War in 1835.

Site archeology

The midden at Nocoroco is mainly composed largely of a black earth accumulation, with pockets of shell and a few larger shell accumulations. The midden differs from most common middens in the region, which are mostly shell. Shell types include Crassostrea virginica, Mercenaria mercenaria, Tagelus plebeius, Arca sp., Donax variabilis, Geukensia demissa, Sinistrofulgur perversum, and Hexaplex fulvescens. Animal bones were not preserved well and typically were quite fragmentary. Among mammals, the most prevalent source of food seems to have been deer, but other types of bones, such as fish, turtle and alligator remains, were all present.

NRHP listing

On May 7, 1973, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as a site significant for its information potential in the area of aboriginal history.

Present day

Today the site of the village of Nocoroco is marked by a large fountain sculpture, called the "Tomokie Fountain", created by Frederick Dana Marsh. According to information at the site, references to the legend date back more than one hundred years.

References

References

  1. {{NRISref. 2008a
  2. (2008-07-29). "Volusia County listings". National Park Service.
  3. (2008-07-29). "Volusia County listings". Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs.
  4. (2008-07-29). "Nocoroco". Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs.
  5. (2006). "Tomoka State Park". Florida Park Service.
  6. (2008-07-29). "Tomoka Historical Trail". Historic Hiking Trails.
  7. "Nocoroco". Tomoka State Park.
  8. (2006). "Tomoka State Park". Florida Park Service.
  9. "Ormond Beach".
  10. (2008-07-29). ["Volusia County markers"](http://www.flheritage.com/preservation/markers/markers.cfm?ID=volusia Volusia County markers). Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs.
  11. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/30138771], Florida Historical Society. ''The Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 4 (April 1949), p344-345''
  12. Boyd, Marie E. M.. "The Legend of Tomokie". Tomoka State Park.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

national-register-of-historic-places-in-volusia-county,-floridashell-middens-in-floridaarchaeological-sites-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-floridaormond-beach,-floridatimucua