Mala Compra Plantation Archaeological Site

Mala Compra Plantation was originally part of northeast Florida's largest plantation system, in operation from 1816 to 1836. Owned by Florida's first Delegate to the U.S. Congress, and the first Hispanic to serve, Joseph Martin Hernandez, the site is also significant for its long history of cotton agriculture. The plantation was burned by the Seminole during the Second Seminole War and Hernandez chose not to revitalize the property. The archaeological remains provide rare structural evidence of coastal plantation layout and residential construction in Florida during the early 19th century.