Roaming in the Everglades, Goggin formed a thriving interest in the cultural history and ethnology of the region.
[1] From 1941 to 1942, he held the position of curator for the Coronado State Monument which supplied Goggin with further experience in his inherent appreciation for artifacts.
[2] With the United States' involvement in World War II, Goggin took on the work as an engineer at Florida airports that were under construction.
Physical disabilities left Goggin inadequate for overseas military efforts, but did not prevent his aid at the home front.
His teaching and love for anthropology inspired his students and enthusiasts to create an explosion in amateur archaeology in and around Florida throughout his lifetime.
In 1951, Goggin was made the first foreign member of Junta Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología in Cuba.
Goggin attempted to set all the artifacts from a certain site into a chronology paying particular attention to typology, functions, construction, and where, in accordance to stratification, the objects lay.
He collected and seriated the samples separately in order to establish a chronology of five distinct periods, and used the process to determine a theory of midden building for South Florida.
For his dissertation, he created a chronology of Florida's history based on locations and periods with evidence of solid wood given way to "cultural patterns".
[9] Goggin's theories on chronology of specimens and his revolutionary approach to archeology paved the way for modern archaeologists such as the late William C. Sturtevant (1926–2007).