The largest of seven prehistoric mounds that once stood at River Landing Park dates from the Fort Walton time period, A.D. 900-A.D. 1500, and originally appeared as a flat-topped pyramid with a high-status individual such as a chief priest likely living on its summit. These mounds formed the center of an important community occupied for thousands of years at a location just below the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, ideal for trade both up and downstream. Two of the other six mounds are still visible, and the probable sites of the other four have been located; together they formed a semi-circle around the large mound and were likely used as platforms for homes or other structures. The site was abandoned when the first Spanish explorers arrived in 1674, and the landing later became an important stop on the Old Spanish Trail from 1674 to 1821, the site of a British fort during the War of 1812, the location of the Scott Massacre along the riverbanks on November 30, 1817, and an important port for paddlewheel riverboats, several of whose wrecks can still be seen.