This land in Section 6, Township 26S, Range 17E was surveyed in January 1847 for the newly formed state of Florida by Deputy Surveyor George Watson. In 1851, the state government created the Internal Improvement Board to encourage settlement, decrease the threat of Indian uprisings, and provide funds for internal improvements such as roads. James Mc Neill, a Civil War veteran of the 1st Regt., Florida Infantry, Confederate States of America, purchased the land from the Board in 1882. Tax records indicate that it was later owned by J. M. Mitchell from 1906 to 1915, L. L. Anderson from 1915 to 1937, and J. B. Starkey from 1937 to 1972 before coming into the ownership of SWFWMD. The remains of this early cracker homestead indicate farming, timbering, and turpentine production.