Washington Oaks Gardens - Florida
Posted by: 
moochie
N 29° 38.089 W 081° 12.275
17R E 480196 N 3278338
The facilities in this day use only park include fishing, picnic area, nature trail, playground and an interpretive visitors center. The park is located 2 miles south of Marineland on State Road A1A and is open year round, 8am-Sunset.
Waymark Code: WM3ANB
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 03/06/2008
Views: 12
Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Matanzas River, Washington Oaks Garden State Park preserves 410 acres of Florida's original coastal scenery. Ocean waves have washed away the sand, exposing a stratum of coquina rock and creating an awesome, rock strewn beach. Next to the beach is a coastal scrub community which is the preferred habitat of the Florida Scrub Jay. Westward, across A1A, scrub gives way to the coastal hammock where live oaks, hickories and magnolias can be found. Bordering the hammock are the tidal marshes of the Matanzas River.
This land was part of Bella Vista Plantation owned by General Joseph Hernandez, a Spanish Floridian. Hernandez was a militia general who commanded troops in this part of Florida during the Second Seminole War. A surveyor named George Washington, a relative of the 1st president, married Hernandez's daughter Louisa in 1845.
The gardens, groves and plantings were expanded when the place was purchased in 1936 by Mr. & Mrs. Owen D Young. Young was chairman of the board of General Electric. The property was donated to the state in 1964 by Mrs. Young after her husbands death. The donor's home at the park has been converted into an Interpretive Center.
A portion of the hammock contains a formal garden where many species of exotic plants from around the world are displayed along footpaths and around reflecting pools.
Park Type: Day Use
Activities:
Biking, Fishing, Nature Trails, Picnic Area, and a visitors center.
Date Established?: 1964
Link to Park: [Web Link]
Park Fees: Not listed
Background: Not listed
Additional Entrance Points: Not Listed
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