National Park Service • U.S. Department of the Interior
Miami Circle

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Florida

Miami Circle

John 

Cora

Flo
There are two ways that a site may be added to the national park

system. It may become a new unit, or it may be added to an

existing park system unit that is nearby. To become a new unit

of the system, the site must meet the following set of criteria:

national significance, suitability, and feasibility. To be added to

an existing unit, significance, suitability, and feasibility must be

tive presentations, to having the circle exposed (possibly covered with a shelter or building) and providing a staffed interpretive center on the site with a small amount of parking. Other

ideas in the management options include the addition of one or

more of the following facilities:

(1) a replica, representation, or “ghosting” of the

Miami Circle to be placed over the feature (if it were

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Entities Represented at the Meetings 26

Consultation with Native Americans 26

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Miami Circle

Overhead view of the Miami Circle in 1999, courtesy of the Miami-Dade Office of Historic Preservation, photo by John Ricisak.
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tification of the site’s potential for archeological significance,

federal legislation was passed to study the inclusion of the

Miami Circle site as part of Biscayne National Park.

On October 3, 2003, Congress, through Public Law 108-93,

directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special

resource study to determine the national significance, suitability, and feasibility of including the Miami Circle archeological

The cut holes vary in size and shape and are filled with black

earth midden material that overlies the circle feature. Marks left

by cutting tools can be observed on the sides of the holes. Holes

in various stages of manufacture also suggest a human origin.

During summer 2002 archeologists surveying the cut basins

and holes mapped 870 cut features in the limestone. Studies of

the surface of the limestone by state geologists confirmed the

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ble that they have a direct historical connection with the

Tequesta Indians.

Tequesta Indians occupied the area during the European contact era (AD 1513-1763). The Miami Circle may have been part

of a much larger Tequesta village site that occupied both sides of

the Miami River. The inhabitants of this larger village were contacted by the Spanish in the 16th century for missionary pur

How Was The Miami Circle Site Evaluated?

How are national parks and park sites created? What qualities

make an area eligible to be a national monument, historic site,

recreation area, or other units of the national park system?

These questions are frequently asked by people throughout the

country. Some people think a scenic part of their community

deserves to be a national park. Others want national recogniMiami Circle

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architectural features, carved into the soft oolitic limestone

bedrock. Research at the site since the discovery of intact

deposits and features in 1998 has produced an impressive body

of data, which will likely make it one of the most intensively

studied sites in south Florida.

According to the draft NHL nomination, the Miami Circle site

at Brickell Point contains early and late components of the pri

NPS management policies require cultural resources to meet

NHL criteria before they are considered nationally significant.

The State of Florida submitted a National Historic Landmark

(NHL) nomination for Miami Circle to the National Park

Service (NPS) Advisory Board in 2004. The NPS Advisory

Board did not determine that the site is nationally significant.

As a result the NPS does not consider the site to be nationally

significant.

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result of development.

Comparison of the Miami Circle site with other significant

national park system archeological sites in south Florida leads

to the conclusion that there are few, if any, comparative sites.

Currently, 104 properties in south Florida, including three individual sites and four archeological districts, are listed in the

Definition

To be feasible to manage the Miami Circle site as part of the

national park system, the site's natural systems and/or historic

settings must be of sufficient size and appropriate configuration

to ensure long-term protection of the resources and to accommodate public use. Feasibility factors include landownership,

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Circle to be placed over the feature (if it were

buried); 

(2) a building to house visitor contact facilities, restrooms, drinking fountains, and/or a museum; 

(3) a security fence; 

(4) a small-scale parking facility; and/or 

(5) an observation platform. 

Analysis of the Miami Circle Site as An Addition to

Biscayne National Park

The second way a site may be added to the national park system

is by adding it to an existing unit. Significance, suitability and

feasibility must be met, and the addition must be related to the

reason Congress established the original park unit.

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usually stated in the legislation that established the park.

The purpose of Biscayne National Park is to

preserve and protect for the education, inspiration,

recreation, and enjoyment of present and future generations a rare combination of terrestrial, marine, and

in the park.

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Click on PLANS link, click on the Special Resource Studies

link, and then click on Biscayne NP, FL Miami Circle SRS.

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• Should the site be staffed or unstaffed?

• Should the site be fenced or should there be open

access?

• Should the Miami Circle feature be unburied and

viewable? Should it be buried for protection?

Following are four management options that offer a range of

ways that these questions could be answered. The different

lawn mowing and trash removal. The site would be unstaffed,

although occasional interpretive presentations and guided

tours would be provided.

Interpretation at the site would complement the Miami Circle

exhibit at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida.

Emphasis would be placed on visual and intellectual interpretation of the site. Interpretive panels along the Brickell Avenue

Bridge and Miami River Greenway security fence would tell the
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Staff presence at the site would be provided by a citizen support

group. Regular, scheduled interpretive presentations and guided tours would be encouraged and scheduled regularly. 

Interpretation at the site would complement the Miami Circle

exhibit at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida.

Interpretive panels would be placed around the Miami Circle

feature to tell the story of the site, and benches would be inter

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of the property. On-site paid parking could also be provided in

that development. The water taxi dock along the riverwalk on

Biscayne Bay would be used for interpretive boat tours of the

bay as well as access to Biscayne National Park.

Routine maintenance at the site would include lawn mowing,

trash removal, and general landscape maintenance. A two-three

person on-site staff contingent would provide visitors with perMiami Circle

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3
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Summary Categories Of Comments Received

Public comments and questions fell into the following categories with examples given in Miami Circle Study Newsletter

Number 1.

access to the site/context

Miami Circle could serve as a northern access to

access as the main means to arrive at and visit the

circle?

facilities appropriate for the site

Establish a greenway trailhead to the riverwalk on

the south side of the Miami River and establish as

many greenway links as possible for connecting

walks along the river and bay such as along the First
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Do not limit interpretation to the prehistoric

Tequesta and their ancestors and contemporaries.

Interpretation should include associated cultural

ecological relationships to the peoples and their

environments over time. 

The idea of tying this site in different ways to other

sites in the area is appealing. For example, MiamiDade County operates such sites as the Deering Site,

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The proximity of the Miami River and Biscayne Bay

could lend the site to telling the broad story of peoples and the river and the bay over time, not just the

story of the circle. Think about a small 1920s-era

building as a visitor center, which would have nothing directly to do with the circle, but much to do

with the Brickell settlement and Indian trading history.

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open excavation areas, leveled or removed spoil piles, and

removed construction debris; since that time the Brickell Point

property has developed a cover of grasses, sedges, and some

native groundcovers such as railroad vine.

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a prehistoric circle and prehistoric cemetery.

Significant features of the archeological site on Totten Key

include a rock mound and an extensive black earth midden.

Although additional study of the site is necessary to answer

questions relating to its features and functions, some

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Net Construction Costs

Construction Supervision

Construction Contingencies

Design Costs

Preliminary Estimate for Site Development

(including design and construction costs)

Cost estimate Range for Option 1

$517,406

$51,741

$41,393

$87,959

$698,499

$523,900 - $1,222,400

10%

8%

17%
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(including design and construction costs)

Cost estimate Range for Option 2

$884,300 - $2,063,065
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Preliminary Estimate for Site Development

(including design and construction costs)

Cost estimate Range for Option 3 

$1,977,693

$1,483,300 - $3,461,000
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Cost estimate Range for Option 4 

$2,655,600 - $6,196,300
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D.

Total Annual Costs 

(Present Worth)

Total Life Cycle Costs 

(Present Worth)

Total Life Cycle Costs 

(Annualized)

0.000%

11.6540

233,072

0

291,340

0

3,845,682

0

3,845,682

969,734 1,487,496 5,866,762 7,426,032

0.0858 83,213 Per Year 127,643 Per Year 503,430 Per Year 637,232 Per Year
2004 “Southern Florida Sites Associated with the Tequesta

and their Ancestors.” National Historic

Landmark/National Register of Historic Places Theme

Study. Prepared by Ryan J. Wheeler. Tallahassee,

Florida. Rev. ed.

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Everglades National Park, Florida” by Margo

Schwadron. Prepared by the NPS Southeast

Archeological Center, Tallahassee, Florida.

2006 Management Polices 2006. Washington, D.C.

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As the nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has the responsibility for most of our nationally owned

public lands and natural resources. This includes fostering sound use of our land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife,

and biological diversity; preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historical places; and providing

for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to

ensure that their development is in the best interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their

care. The department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island

territories under U.S. administration.

NPS D-294 / November 2007 / Printed on recycled paper
Special

Resource

Study

National Park Service