More than 10,000 years ago, prehistoric people, sabre-tooth cats, giant sloths, mammoths, and mastodons lived in this area of Florida that later became part of Sarasota County. Warm Mineral Springs and Little Salt Spring, about three miles away, have preserved scientifically accepted evidence of this through carbon dating of human and animal skeletal remains and wooden artifacts found in these springs since 1958 by underwater archaeologists and other divers. These explorations and scientific studies brought the springs wide recognition. In 1958, Lieut. Col. William Royal, an underwater explorer and author, discovered stalactites and stalagmites well below the water line in Warm Mineral Springs, evidence that the spring had once been a dry cave for a very long period, possibly during the last ice age. Other dives uncovered ancient human skulls, bones, and animal remains that indicated human and animal life in this part of Florida long before written history. In 1977, Warm Mineral Springs was recognized for its national significance by placement on the National Register of Historical Places.