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Dade Battlefield Historic State Park was the site of the opening battle of the Second Seminole War on December 28, 1835. Angry over the American government's Indian removal policy, a group of 180 Seminole males attacked Major Francis Dade and his 103 soldiers marching from Fort Brook (Tampa) to Fort King (Ocala). Only three of the Americans survived. The event was for years known as Dade's Massacre. Starting in 1905, with Congressman Stephen Sparkman, attempts were made to preserve the site. Finally on September 29, 1921, at the urging of US Senator Duncan Fletcher, the state legislature purchased the site as a historic memorial. The 80-acre property was later transferred to the Florida Park Service as a state park. In 1972, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Dade Battlefield Historic Memorial. It was also designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The brass marker on the memorial in front reads, "The survivors of the first attack by the Indians retreated to this point and hastily threw up a triangular breastwork of logs. Here they made their last fight. A detachment under General Gaines, on February 20, 1836, buried Dade and his men here. The bodies were removed to St. Augustine on August 15, 1842. This park is dedicated to the memory of those brave soldiers, who here lost their lives."