Samuel Butts Youth Archeological Park

Samuel Butts Youth Archeological Park

750 Bellevue Avenue

For 20 years, Samuel Butts crisscrossed this site collecting artifacts of prehistoric humans and the bones of prehistoric animals. One of Daytona Beach's leading citizens and an amateur archaeologist, Mr. Butts found copious spear points, bone tools and pottery fragments of the Timucuan Indians as well as skeletal material from a mastodon that roamed Central Florida during the Ice Ages.

Realizing its archaeological significance, Mr. Butts registered the site with the Florida Division of Historic Resources in 1994, and the park was given its current name in 2004 by the City of Daytona Beach.

Samuel Butts realized another important aspect of the park which bears his name. It is located in Waycross, the southernmost of Daytona's three historically black neighborhoods. He requested that the park, which includes a lake and is a habitat and sanctuary for aquatic life and migratory waterfowl, be dedicated to motivate youth to study the environment as well as the area's prehistory, natural history and cultural history.