Category: Where America Really Began

France and Spain – To Settle is to Conquer On February 18, 1562 France implemented the second part of its strategy to penetrate Spain’s claim on what is now the United States. It sent Jean Ribault, and 150 men, to Spain’s Punta Santa Elena (Port Royal Sound) to establish Charlesfort. After building the fort, Ribault departs. He leaves 30 men to establish a French settlement. France eventually tells its European neighbors that they have established Charlesfort as an out-of-country refuge where its protestant Huguenots can worship as they please. Charlesfort, however, only lasts for eleven months. But Spain’s King Philip ll does not know that. He orders the Governor of Cuba to send a ship to Charlesfort and see if it is still operational.

  Just How Important Is Santa Elena? If you live in Beaufort County you have to be confused....

The St. Augustine Factor By the Spring of 2013, everything we’d evaluated told us that Santa...

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The story is not yet exposed to sunlight.  In 1978, Stan South was recognized as the archaeologist who discovered Santa Elena, the “lost” capital of La Florida. In the South Carolina press, and one small story in the New York Times, that’s how Stan’s discovery was announced. But in the outside world, most people seem to have understood the press release as saying that Stan South had discovered an early capital of the state of Florida.

Is the long lost capital of Europe’s first colony located on Parris Island? Two forces came together between 1974 and 1980 that put a spotlight on Santa Elena and Parris Island. First, Dr. Eugene Lyon published his book The Enterprise of Florida. For the first time, the role that Spain and Santa Elena played in the permanent settlement of North America is revealed.

Let’s make a quick review.   In 1923 the Marine Corps asked Major George Osterhout to determine if the recently discovered 16th century fort on Parris Island was French or Spanish. The importance of this question was huge.

Suddenly, all the newspapers – and even big billboards on the highway – are telling us that “Santa Elena came before Jamestown,” or, as Dr. Larry Rowland puts it, “This is where America began!” But how is this possible? Before last year, had anybody even heard of Santa Elena? Our teachers never covered this chapter of American history.

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.

Part 8: Spain Enter Port Royal Sound  You and I have been taught that America started with...

Part 7: France Ignites a Powder Keg When Jean Ribault landed at Parris Island in 1562, France was ruled by King Charles IX. He was an emotionally weak boy-king who could easily be manipulated. He was only twelve years old. However, his mother, Catherine De’Medici and Admiral Gaspar Coligny were part of the power behind the throne. Oddly, the admiral was a Huguenot . . . and a leader of the French Protestants.