History
The sinkholes at Falling Waters State Park were used as a hideout by Indian warriors fighting against Andrew Jackson during the Seminole Wars. The park is the site of a Civil War era gristmill. The gristmill was powered by the waterfall in Falling Waters Sink. Later, in 1891, a distillery was constructed on the site. The park is also the site of the first oil well in Florida. It was drilled in 1919 based on information from local legends and a 400 year old Spanish diary. The well, which reached a depth of 4,912 feet (1,497 m) never proved to hold a commercially viable amount of oil and was capped in 1921.
The park was deeded to the state in 1962 by the Washington County Development authority. Park facilities such as a picnic pavilion and restrooms were constructed soon after. An archaeologic dig, led by the University of West Florida in 2007, revealed Indian artifacts that were between 1,000 - 1,500 years old. Items found included bits of pottery, Indian arrowheads and what may be the only cave painting in Florida. The archaeologists noted that they thought the same thing that attracts visitors to the park today, the waterfall, also attracted Native Americans to the site. Remnants of the gristmill, distillery and oil well were also found by the team from the university.
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