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Map of Spanish Florida, c1600

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Photo Galleries: Public Sites in Spanish Florida

The photos below were taken by me at sites open to the public across greater Spanish Florida, and show original and reconstructed colonial structures from the Spanish period.  For links to websites about an assortment of archaeological work conducted at these and many other sites, see my Historical Archaeology of Colonial Spanish Florida section.

Mission San Luís / Castillo de San Marcos / Fort Caroline / Pensacola Bay Area

Mission San Luís, Tallahassee

Mission San Luis is the most extensive reconstructed Spanish mission site in the Southeastern United States, and includes a range of Spanish and Apalachee structures reconstructed at the archaeological site of the administrative center of the Apalachee mission province from 1656 to 1704, San Luís de Talimali.  In addition to an active living history program and a museum and gift shop, archaeological fieldwork is sporadically conducted on-site.

Apalachee Council House Apalachee council house. 
Apalachee Council House Interior Interior of the Apalachee council house.
San Luis Church and Convento Mission church and convento at San Luís.
Interior of San Luis Mission Church Interior of mission church at San Luís.
Spanish House at San Luis Spanish house at San Luís. 
Interior of Spanish House at San Luis Interior of Spanish house.
Fort at Mission San Luis Fort at Mission San Luís.
Fort and Blockhouse at San Luis Blockhouse inside the fort.

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Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine

The Castillo de San Marcos is an impressive stone fort built beginning in 1672, in part as a Spanish response to the foundation of Charleston, South Carolina two years earlier by English colonists.  The stone for the fort, called coquina, was quarried on Anastasia Island across the harbor using Indian workers from the Florida missions.  Assaulted on several occasions by English forces, the fort has never been conquered in battle, and is one of the oldest original colonial structures in Spanish Florida.

The Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos.
Gate to the Castillo Gate to the Castillo.
Bastion overlooking the harbor Bastion overlooking the harbor. 
Castillo de San Marcos Harbor-side fortifications.

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Fort Caroline, Jacksonville

The site of the short-lived French Fort Caroline (1564-1565) near the mouth of the St. Johns River has never been identified archaeologically, but not far from its probable original location is the mid-20th-century reconstruction of this fort at the edge of the river.

Reconstructed Fort Caroline Fort Caroline reconstruction.
Interior of Fort Caroline reconstruction Interior of Fort Caroline.

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Pensacola Bay Area

Though little remains above ground or water of the extensive First Spanish Period (1698-1763) occupation alongside Pensacola Bay, standing structures from the Second Spanish Period (1781-1821) do remain, such as St. Michaels Cemetery and Historic Pensacola Village.  Below ground, there is also extensive archaeological evidence of all four of Pensacola's earliest Spanish settlements, including Santa María de Ochuse (1559-1561, as yet undiscovered) and the contemporaneous sunken fleet of Tristán de Luna, Presidio Santa María de Galve (1698-1719) at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (1722-1756) on Santa Rosa Island at Gulf Islands National Seashore, and Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (1756-1763) under the historic district of modern downtown Pensacola.  Another highlight is the T.T. Wentworth Museum, which contains exhibits about Pensacola's Spanish history, as well as exhibits at the UWF Archaeology Institute.

Fort San Carlos de Austria reconstruction Reconstruction of northwest bastion of Fort San Carlos de Austria at Presidio Santa María de Galve; view from inside.
Fort San Carlos de Austria reconstruction View of reconstructed bastion from outside.
Isla de Santa Rosa, from the Naval Air Station lighthouse View of the location of Presidio Santa Rosa on the western end of Santa Rosa Island from the Naval Air Station lighthouse.
Historic Pensacola Village Street scene at Historic Pensacola Village.
Historic Pensacola Village 1805 Julee Cottage.
St. Michaels cemetery, Pensacola View of St. Michaels cemetery (Second Spanish Period and later) with Pensacola Civic Center in background.
Luna Park Luna Park, dedicated in 2009 on the 450th anniversary of Luna's landing.
T.T. Wentworth Museum Luna expedition exhibit in T.T. Wentworth Museum.
T.T. Wentworth Museum Artifact display from Emanuel Point I wreck at T.T. Wentworth.
Emanuel Point diving platform Diving platform above the Emanuel Point wrecks (2007).
Fort San Carlos de Austria reconstruction Original Spanish cannon discovered by archaeologists at Santa María de Galve, mounted on reconstructed gun deck.
Fort San Carlos de Austria reconstruction The same cannon, from inside the fort.
Archaeological site of Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa The archaeological site of Presidio Santa Rosa today, within the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore (no public interpretation).
Historic Pensacola Village 1805 Lavalle House.
Historic Pensacola Village Yard in living history village.
St. Michaels cemetery, Pensacola Another view of St. Michaels cemetery in downtown Pensacola.
Tristan de Luna statue Statue of Tristán de Luna in Luna Park
T.T. Wentworth Museum Diorama of Emanuel Point I shipwreck in T.T. Wentworth.
T.T. Wentworth Museum Exhibit on Spanish presidios of Pensacola at T.T. Wentworth.
Bateria San Antonio Bateria San Antonio (Second Spanish Period) overlooking Pensacola Bay entrance and Santa Rosa Island.

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