"Abandoned" Seminole Village
Naturalist and animal trainer John Hamlet feeding a boar in the "Abandoned" Seminole village section of Weeki Wachee Springs in the early 1960s. Construction of the villiage required two months; the design was based on tintypes from the Smithsonian. He brought in and trained animals like boars, monkeys, deer, raccoons, and big cats and placed them along the river bank for the entertainment of boat tour guests.[i]
[i]Lorna Carroll, “Fun in an Indian Village,” Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg Times) October 22, 1961, accessed January 3, 2021 22 Oct 1961, 127 - Tampa Bay Times at Newspapers.com.