Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site

Arcadia Mill Archaeological Site preserves the ruins of an early water-powered industrial complex that the Santa Rosa County Chamber of Commerce describes as Florida’s first. Joseph Forsyth built a sawmill here in 1828, and the site grew to include a gristmill, a cotton mill, a tannery, a blacksmith shop and a quarry, with enslaved people doing much of the work. The cotton mill burned in 1855, the site was rediscovered in 1964, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The site is at 5709 Mill Pond Lane in Milton, phone 850-595-5985, with details at historicpensacola.org. The University of West Florida Historic Trust runs it. The visitor center has a 1,000-square-foot museum exhibit on the site’s archaeology and history, a children’s interactive area called Meet Me at the Mill, a museum store with local history books, and the Treetop Classroom for programs and traveling exhibits.

Outside, a three-quarter-mile elevated boardwalk with interpretive signs winds through the site. About a mile of nature trails, a Discovery Pavilion with replica water-powered mill machinery, and shaded picnic tables are free, and the grounds are open sunrise to sunset. The visitor center and boardwalk are wheelchair accessible.

The visitor center is open Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Admission is $6 for adults; $5 for seniors 65 and older, active military and AAA members; and $3 for children 3 and older, craft included (as of September 2026). Members and UWF students are free, and EBT cardholders get up to four free admissions per card.