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Focus:
The First Coast’s Multicultural Past
Northeast Florida’s historic roots reach much farther than many people realize. The first inhabitants were the Timucuan Indians, wh o raised crops and tilled their fields with wood and shell tools, developing their distinctive culture around 500 B.C. Decades before William Shakespeare was born, European explorers were already staking their claims in this region. In 1513, Juan Ponce de Leon briefly landed somewhere between the mouth of the St. Johns River and Cape Canaveral and took possession of Florida in the name of the Spanish king. In 1564, a small group of French Huguenots built Fort de la Caroline on the river’s south bank. In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés destroyed the French colony and founded St. Augustine, the oldest continually occupied European city in the continental U.S.
At the same time, the region’s African American heritage began with the arrival of slaves brought from Spain. By 1670, slaves from English plantations had discovered they were offered asylum in Spanish Florida. The runaways received baptism in the Catholic faith and joined Florida's labor and military forces. In 1783 Francisco Menendez founded Garcia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first settlement for free blacks in the United States.
Northeast Florida’s memorable attractions in the Jacksonville area include the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve; Fort Caroline National Memorial, commemorating the French Huguenot colony; Kingsley Plantation, the oldest standing plantation in the state with the ruins of slave cabins intact. St. Augustine is home to the Spanish Quarter Village; Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the U.S.; and a historic downtown district. Fort Clinch State Park in Fernandina Beach features monthly re-enactments. Amelia Island’s 4,000-year-old history is on view at the Amelia Island Museum of History, located in the city’s 50-block historic district. |
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