HomeBusinessGrossman Hammock

Comments

Grossman Hammock — 11 Comments

  1. This was an interesting article on Grossman Hammock. My father was Mark Grossman. Glad to see that it is still being available.
    Helen Grossman Myers

    • After I wrote the article, I found out that Grossman Hammock is no longer open to the public. The Park apparently cannot justify stationing a ranger there.

      • My husband and I were the people, along with one other couple,who were volunteers at Chekika from 2010 – 2013 when Chekika was closed. There were no rangers, just us volunteers. We had a Law Enforcement Ranger as a supervisor but we were the caretakers. There was a government shutdown at the time and ENP was closed for that reason. When the shutdown was lifted and ENP was reopened the Chekika area in East Everglades was not re-opened. Both volunteer couples would have gone back to Chekika to continue to be caretakers if the park had reopened it. The park claimed there was no money for it but I disagree. The money spent on Chekika was negligible. The volunteers did all the work. The park paid for the hook ups for the volunteer’s trailers which included electricity, water and sewage removal,and gas for the mowers. Also, a water specialist from the main entrance came to Chekika almost daily to check water quality. I believe that since Chekika was 45 minutes from the main park, maintenance did not want to continue to support Chekika, thus the closure. Of course, this is only my opinion. Everglades Association is trying to reopen the area and I hope they succeed.

    • Hi Helen,

      I would love to speak with you. I work for the Florida National Parks Association in Homestead, FL. We are a cooperating association/partner with the Everglades National Park. My organization has been given permission to do work inside of Chekika/Grossman Hammock. I am trying to capture it’s history and it would be wonderful to speak with a family member. Please feel free to call our office, 305.247.1216 and ask for Jessie.

  2. In 1969, my then husband Wes Howl, a native Perrine-eum, took me to Grossman Hammock in our old humpback Volvo. We drove out to what I thought was really the boonies! We got to the Hammock and it was like a prehistoric setting. You expected a a flying terradactyle to come out of the trees. As soon as we got out of our car (we were the only ones there ) everything went quiet. But we just waited and soon all the sounds started up again. Birds and strange other notices. To a girl from a farm off Lake Ontario in upstate New York,WOW! Kind of scary but totally unforgettable! Sorry to hear it is closed to public now. Hope that changes. Everyone thinks of the West as the last frontier of the 20th century but of you talk to people who grew up south of South Miami you soon learn a fascinating history of some of the real last pioneers! My husbands grandmother was 1 of 2 of the first telephone operators brought from Atlanta to Miami to help run the exchange. Her daughter my husbands mother used to kid that she went to school in a dugout canoe ! Not true but a great story! Her father made a moonshine maker whose still was busted up by the Feds! Years later my husband scouted the area he was told the still was off Old Cutler Rd and actually found the sink hole and brought back an old style milk can he found!! Lots of good stories. Well thanks for listening and good luck with the hammock.

  3. I am a regular bike rider out in chelika and would support any causes. Since the road has been closed off except through bike or walk access is now very limited. Bike offers the best vantages and I think making it a known biking opportunity will help bringing it back much like shark valley is popular for riders there. We have miles of paved roads out there. With the new gravel roads for flooding more wading birds have ben showing up.

  4. I spent many wonderful times at my grandfathers park during my childhood. His sister and her husband, Marvin Brooks, also worked with my grandfather during the sixties and 1970. Marvin did extensive research and digging for Indian artifacts in 1968. I was able to dig in a very small space and still have what I found. I hope to go out to the site in the very near future.

    • Brian, before you go digging in Chekika, please know that it is now part of Everglades National Park. The rangers take a rather dim view of people removing plants, animals and artifacts from National Park property!

    • If you haven’t been in the area for a few years, brace yourself for all the changes. Bring bread crumbs so you can find your way back!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>