Bayport | Exploring the Edges
This park is best known as the location of the Battle at Bayport, where the Union destroyed Confederate ships that were defying the Union blockade on the Confederacy. Some of the ships were able navigate into the salt marshes and were grounded to avoid destruction. Three were burned by the Union or Confederates to prevent seizure.
During the Civil War, King explained, the salt marshes of Bayport were utilized to produce salt for the Confederacy. They would venture into the salt marshes and dig shallow basins. “On a high tide they would let the salt water in, block it off and allow the sun evaporate the water, and what they would be left with was a crust of salt,” stated Jim King, Conservation Lands Specialist for Hernando County Environmentally Sensitive Lands program.
The salt marshes are not only a beautiful and peaceful view but much wildlife and sealife depend on this ecosystem for their survival.
If you look out towards Pine Island there are bare patches of dirt called salt pans. “They are a special little ecosystem that occurs where you get salty water in the highest tide. They create a little ecosystem [where] not very many things grow and a lot of critters use them. They are very important to a lot of animals because it’s the only open space in this type of habitat. They are a vanishing micro ecosystem,” King explained.
Months ago rosary peas and Brazilian pepper plants were such an over growth to the park, that the beautiful plants and canals were hidden by these invasive plants. Now the rosary peas have been cut back and the view to the more natural environment is becoming clearer for visitors. (Rosary peas are also highly toxic and can be fatal if eaten.)
A great part of the park is the overlook, an aluminum stage with benches overlooking the gulf.
It is a great spot for reading and bird watching, maybe a chance to witness ospreys catching a fish and the wondrous flight of a bald eagle.
Other amenities in the 7 acre park include picnic tables, pavilions, barbecue grills, fishing pier, boardwalk and two boat ramps. The fishing pier is a great spot to watch manatees and view beautiful sunsets.
Deep beyond the edges of the park lies beautiful cedar trees, with a mixture of pine, royal ferns, mangrove and cactus. There is a view of Parsons Bay,named for the Parson family. Thomas Henry Parsons, owned land in August 1852 . Thomas Henry Parsons’s nephew, Maj. John D. Parsons (1816-1888), later became a major property owner in Bayport.
“When I moved here in Dec. 1973, I explored this coastline the best I could reach it, from county line to county line in my little jon boat, looking for mangroves. All I found was three. They all looked stressed and not healthy at all. And now they are everywhere, what a difference 40 years make. The mangrove forest is one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet, but so is the salt marsh.”
Bayport Park is located at 4140 Cortez Blvd, Spring Hill, FL 34607