Author: Daryl Ferguson

Beaufort County’s ten most important 16th century documents   Dr. Daryl Ferguson is the Founder of the Santa Elena Foundation. The Spanish town of Santa Elena, located on a remote end of Parris Island, was first discovered in 1979 by Dr. Stan South of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology. Ferguson, under the mentoring of Dr. Larry Rowland , did the research that proved Santa Elena was much more than the Spanish capital of La Florida.

The Santa Elena Foundation is excited to announce unique opportunities for the general public to attend programs at the new Santa Elena History Center in downtown Beaufort.

Dr. Daryl Ferguson is the Founder of the Santa Elena Foundation. The Spanish town of Santa Elena, located on a remote end of Parris Island, was first discovered in 1979 by Dr. Stan South of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology. Ferguson, under the mentoring of Dr. Larry Rowland, did the research that proved Santa Elena was much more than the Spanish capital of La Florida.

Readers who followed our long-running series “Where America REALLY Began” will be interested in these recent developments. Organized by local business leaders, civic leaders, and scholars, the Santa Elena Foundation has been formed to promote the history of European arrival on the North American coast.

Where Do We Go From Here?Remember the story of the dog that chased the bus? The “good...

Part 14: The Parris Island Marine Corps and Santa Elena Since Dr. Stanley South first discovered Santa Elena in 1979, the Santa Elena site has been uncovered at least a dozen times. This stop-and-go archaeology was necessary because the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology had very little money to continue operations.

PART 12: We Confirm Santa Elena’s Importance Stu Rodman, Larry Rowland, and I had done our homework. The nation’s best colonial historians and archaeologists had confirmed most of our claim. Santa Elena was a major European settlement – and it was probably the first capital of Spain’s La Florida. However, these comments had been made on the telephone. We needed to review our findings with these experts in person.

Part 11: How Important is Santa Elena? Santa Elena is as important as Jamestown, Plymouth, or St. Augustine. It was the capital of Europe’s first colony in America. It was the capital of La Florida, a territory that ran from Canada to the Florida Keys and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River.

PART 10: The Struggle to Survive As soon as Menendez destroyed the French settlement near Jacksonville, he headed to Port Royal Sound to build a military outpost at Santa Elena. However, by 1569, Santa Elena was a true settlement. It mirrored a typical town in continental Spain. The town included every trade that one would find in Spain. It had a tailor, blacksmith, carpenters, cooks, a tavern owner, a pottery maker, money lenders, traders, farmers, priests, and soldiers. The town operated within a social hierarchy the same as in post-medieval Spain.

Part Nine: Where Was Europe’s First Major Settlement in America? Many Americans believe that the first European settlement was St. Augustine. The town claims to be “The oldest continuous city in America.” That is true. But it was not the first planned European settlement. What we discovered was that Spain established St. Augustine in 1565 to be a military outpost to eliminate the French and relay supplies to Santa Elena.