181 years of Florida history in the making

Hailey Heseltine ECB Publishing, Inc. In 1845, Florida became the 27th state to join the United States of America. 2026 marks 181 years since Florida's statehood began. Florida's history, of course, began long before European colonization. Native residents had already been living in the state, utilizing its unique resources and developing complex cultures, for thousands of years by the time that Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in 1513. De Leon, after coming ashore somewhere near St. Augustine, na