Paynes Creek Historic State Park

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Paynes Creek Historic State Park
Site of park in U.S. state of Florida Show map of Florida Paynes Creek Historic State Park (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Hardee County, Florida, USA
Nearest city	Bowling Green, Florida
Coordinates	27°37′33″N 81°48′14″W / 27.62583°N 81.80389°W / 27.62583; -81.80389
Governing body	Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Payne's Creek Massacre--Fort Chokonikla Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Bowling Green, Florida
Area	400 acres (161.9 ha)
Built	1849
NRHP reference No.	78000944[1]
Added to NRHP	November 21, 1978

Paynes Creek Historic State Park is a Florida State Park located on Lake Branch Road one-half mile southeast of Bowling Green, Florida. On November 21, 1978, it was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places, under the title of Payne's Creek Massacre-Fort Chokonikla Site (also known as "site of Chokonikla blockhouse and bridge" or "Military cemetery").

Following the First Seminole War the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and the Treaty of Payne's Landing (see also Treaty of Fort Gibson) created reservations for the Seminoles in central and southern Florida . When the Second Seminole War ended, the Armed Occupation Act of 1842 was enacted by the federal government that let settlers apply for a 160-acre (0.6 km²) to homestead in Florida.

Ignoring the terms of the treaties with the Seminoles, settlers moved southward, encroaching on the reservation. The remaining Seminole, Mikasuki and Creek leaders in central and south Florida such as Billy Bowlegs (Holata Micco), Abiaka (Sam Jones) and Chipco were leery of their new neighbors.

Their ability to trade was limited by the government through the treaties, so as to prevent them from obtaining weapons to cause further conflict. To compensate, white-run trading stores were permitted on the reservation's outskirts to the north and west, letting the Indians obtain supplies and luxuries unavailable within the reservation.

Many of the trading posts were built by Kennedy and Darling, two army sutlers from Fort Brooke who had started their own trading company. Their first trading post on Charlotte Harbor north of the Caloosahatchee river was damaged in the September 1848 Hurricane, eventually abandoned (spring 1849); which subsequently burned down and that area is now known as Burnt Store.

Another such store was constructed in the spring of 1849 along the Charlo-popka-hatchee-chee (Little Trout-Eating Creek in Seminole), west of Peas Creek (later known as the Peace River), near present-day Bowling Green. The proprietors were Capt. George Payne and Dempsey Whidden.

On July 17, 1849, Payne and Whidden were killed and wounded William McCullough and Nancy (Whidden) McCullough by five renegade Seminoles, following which the store and everything in it was burned. Another deadly attack occurred just days earlier on July 12, 1849, at the Indian River settlement, near Fort Pierce.

The attack on the trading post in present-day Hardee county caused many of the settlers to flee to the nearest block houses, then ask for military forces to be sent so they could return to their homes in safety.

This led to the establishment of Fort Chokonikla near the site of the former trading post only three months later, on October 26. The fort's name is believed to derive from the Seminole "Chocka-nickler" meaning "burnt store". It was also variously spelled at the time as "Chokkonickla" or "Chokhonikla".

Following the fort's completion, the nearby creek (Haste Lotka) became known as Payne's Creek, which it is still called to this day.

However, due to its location near a swamp, a breeding site for mosquitos, many of those stationed at the fort contracted and died of malaria. This became such a problem that the fort's doctor recommended the fort's closure. The army quickly agreed, and the fort was vacated on July 18, 1850, after less than nine months of occupancy, and a year and a day after Payne and Whidden's deaths.

Activities include canoeing, kayaking, fishing, geocaching, and bird and butterfly watching. Amenities include a number of historic sites, three picnic pavilions, and a museum at the visitor center that recreates pioneer life.

Florida state parks are open between 8 am and sundown every day of the year (including holidays).

Media related to Paynes Creek Historic State Park at Wikimedia Commons

• Paynes Creek Historic State Park at Florida State Parks
• Paynes Creek State Historic Site at Absolutely Florida
• Hardee County listings at National Register of Historic Places
• Hardee County listings at Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
• Fort Chokonikla at Ghost Towns and History of the American West
• Fort Chokonikla at Cracker Barrel – Genealogy & History By Spessard Stone
• Allen C. Altvater webpage
  • The Massacre at Payne’s Creek
  • Chokonikla