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Santa Elena (Spanish Florida)

1566 establishments in New Spain1566 establishments in North America16th-century disestablishments in New Spain16th-century disestablishments in North AmericaArchaeological sites in South Carolina
Beaufort County, South CarolinaPopulated places established in 1566Pre-statehood history of South CarolinaSpanish FloridaSpanish forts in the United StatesSpanish missions in FloridaSpanish missions in the United States

Santa Elena, a Spanish settlement on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina, was the capital of Spanish Florida from 1566 to 1587. It was established under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the first governor of Spanish Florida. There had been a number of earlier attempts to establish colonies in the area by both the Spanish and the French, who had been inspired by the earlier accounts by Chicora and Hernando de Soto of rich territories in the interior. Menéndez's Santa Elena settlement was intended as the new capital of the Spanish colony of La Florida, shifting the focus of Spanish colonial efforts north from St. Augustine, which had been established in 1565 to oust the French from their colony of Fort Caroline. Santa Elena was ultimately built at the site of the abandoned French outpost of Charlesfort, founded in 1562 by Jean Ribault. In 1565 Menéndez destroyed the French Fort Caroline and then founded Santa Elena. This colony had a sizeable population, including missionaries and soldiers. The settlement became the base of operations for the Jesuits and military working in the northern zone of Spanish Florida. From this base the Spanish founded six other forts during the Captain Juan Pardo expedition into the interior and the Appalachian Mountains. But local Native American tribes resisted, killing the garrisons and destroying all the forts in 1568. Spain abandoned thoughts of colonizing this area.In 1586 Francis Drake led an English force in a raid on St. Augustine. The Spanish abandoned Santa Elena the following year, and its remaining settlers were relocated to St. Augustine to strengthen it. The Spanish never pressed their colonial claims to the area again, focusing on other areas of the American continent.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Santa Elena (Spanish Florida) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Santa Elena (Spanish Florida)

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N 32.3063 ° E -80.6755 °
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29905
South Carolina, United States
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