City Spotlight: Florence
Florence is about an hour north of Austin, so it’s right on the verge of being in the middle of nowhere. But don’t let its obscure location fool you: It’s probably the only place in the world where our ancient Paleolithic ancestors have ever crossed paths with spacecraft architects.
Since 18,000 B.C.
For the longest time, archaeologists thought the first human beings to occupy North America were the Clovis people, who’d been dated back around 13,000 years ago. All the oldest artifacts belonged to these people and this era, so that was the theory — until a little farm in Florence shattered that long-held belief.
The area is known as the Gault archaeological site, after the farmer who owned the plot back in 1904. Archaeologists started excavating his little farm after an abundance of “Clovis point” arrowheads were found there. But throughout the century, they dug deeper and deeper, and around the 1990s, they began unearthing human artifacts that dated back 20,000 years (which, of course, was unheard of in North America at that point). This 7,000-year chunk of missing human history created some huge question marks about previously accepted anthropological theories: How did humans get here after all? Where did they come from? What were they doing here in the first place?
Go and visit the archaeological site yourself while you’re in Florence. You’ll get to see some of the oldest artifacts in North America, plus you can learn how to use an atlatl, which is an ancient weapon that’s kind of like a Chuckit! dog toy, but for throwing spears. It’s a hard thing to learn, but it’s fun to try.
A Florence Renaissance
Everyone knows Florence, Italy, was the hub of the Italian renaissance … but not everyone knows Florence, Texas, is having its own renaissance. Downtown Florence is small, but there are a few spots to hit. Start at Sailer’s Place Cafe & Bakery for some good, old-fashioned Southern comfort food. Then head over to Main Street Co-Op, an enormous gift shop with some fun and trendy clothes and trinkets, or Florence Marketplace, an old post office stuffed to the rafters with antiques, odds, and ends. Both spots are great for wandering through.
If the Italian renaissance was about transitioning to modernity, part of the renaissance here in town is about transitioning to the future — one of the most exciting rocket companies in the U.S. is based in nearby Cedar Park. It’s called Firefly Aerospace, and it’s the first commercial company to ever land something on the moon.
They don’t send people to space, but they are kind of like Amazon Prime for Earth’s orbit — their spacecraft delivers items to and from space for NASA, the U.S. Space Force, and other aerospace companies, and they’re crushing records for how quickly they can accomplish those missions. What’s really cool is you can tell when Firefly is testing its engines, because Florence starts shaking.
Finally, it wouldn’t be Florence without a taste of Tuscany. Farmers Commons is a restaurant that’s literally in the middle of a vineyard, and, man, this place looks like something out of an Italian storybook. Plus, they grow all their vegetables on site. The gardener and the chef work together to coordinate menus and ingredients three months ahead of time, so everything is always fresh. Even their honey comes from their own bees. And the rotating menu is truly chef’s-kiss perfect: All kinds of classic Italian food, such as pizzas, plus some Southern classics, including shrimp and grits. It’s a fancy and fantastic way to cap off your day in Florence.
Explore more of Texas’ small towns with “The Daytripper” here.
