Indian Shell Mining

Between approximately 1900 and 1910, the large Indian shell mounds at De Soto Point were mined and hauled away for road fill. Unfortunately, most of the immense Shaw's Point mound that once lined the shoreline at De Soto Point was almost completely removed. Irreplaceable traces of the past were lost from these areas of De Soto Point.


 
Remnants of Indian shell mound at Shaw's point, mined for road fill
Photo courtesy of Manatee County Historical Society

 

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