I Am The Eradicator

[With apologies to the Kids In The Hall]

As some of you know, I often like to rail against modern development, mainly when it involves destroying some historical artifact.

So was pleased to see a plaque identifying such an artifact in my neighbourhood.

Or was I......

This canal connects Naples Bay, in Florida, to the Gulf of Mexico.

Over 1,000 years ago the Calusa tribe dug this canal as a way to get from the Gulf to the safer inland bay.  (This pic has North to the right, the canal traveling East to West.)

With the help of Mr. Google, here are a couple of more descriptive pics.

This pic has North to the top.  So a smart way to avoid having to paddle long distances in the Gulf when trying to go from inland rivers that did not connect.

This looks to be a depiction of Naples Bay, facing east, with the canal coming towards you heading to the Gulf.

Hey, I think I know that Tiki Bar on the right.  Great Happy Hour!

Now, the canal traverses a route that looks vaguely familiar to me. So was wondering if I could locate it.

D'oh!  Some developers in the 60's completely eradicated the entire canal.  To build, what else.... condos!

No trace of it left.

Who did this?  I'd like to talk to the people living there now to see if they even appreciate what they've contributed to.

D'oh!  Then better look in the mirror.

The red rectangle is our condo complex. The canal almost goes directly beneath my bedroom.

This explains why our building in on 360 pilings, each driven over 60 feet deep.

The developers were probably saying, we gotta drive these things deep, to get beneath that damn canal!

Well, at least the natives got a very cool plaque out of it so pretty much evens out.