Fort Caroline

There is actually quite a bit of overlap between Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve and Fort Caroline.  The Fort's website is actually located on the Timucuan website and the fort itself is located right next to one of the Preserve's visitor centers.  According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know, it may not be reliable) the site is technically independent but managed as part of Timucuan.

"Three hundred colonists left France to establish a permanent settlement in North America. Included were some of the leading families of France, wearing gilded armor and brightly colored clothes. Other representatives of French society included artisans to provide entertainment and produce drawings, and laborers to build the fort. The desire for permanency was illustrated by the inclusion of women, of whom at least four had husbands. Most were Huguenots, but there were also Catholics and agnostics. The colonists were seeking opportunity and freedom in a distant land."
~Fort Caroline website, Explorers & Settlers of Fort Caroline

Starting at the back of the visitor center the "0.5-mile French Memorial Trail leads to a large scaled exhibit of Fort Caroline, a memorial to the first planned French colony established in what is now the United States.  In 1564, France built a fort and village somewhere near here as it was beginning to challenge Spain, the world's leading power, for the resources of the New World.  All but a few of the 300 settlers at la Caroline were Huguenots, Protestants fleeing persecution by Catholics in France and seeking freedom to worship in this new land.  The hopes and dreams of all the colonists were tragically short-lived."
~from exhibit signage

The path wasn't the smoothest, but once again I was grateful that we have a rather rugged stroller that can go off-road.

 The first stop we came to along the path was a recreation of a Timucuan shelter.

At first I thought the structure was an accurate recreation, then I realized it was a look-a-like.  The roof was actually a well camouflaged plastic material that looked just like leaves.

The area also included a dugout canoe in process of being made.  You can read more about it here.

This dock is obviously a quite modern addition, but the girls loved running to the end and watching a ship come up the St. Johns River.

 A tugboat came up to the container ship as we watched.

 As the fort was just for protection the village would have been outside of its walls and colonists would only have retreated inside the walls when it was necessary for defense.

 Speaking of walls the recreated fort includes a moat just outside the walls.

"The original size and exact placement of the colony and fort are still a mystery to historians.  In 1964, 400 years after the establishment of la Caroline, the fort you see before you was built by the National Park Service.  It is not a reconstruction of the original; it is based on educated guesswork and serves only to bring the fort story alive."
~from exhibit signage

 Here you can get a glimpse of the entire side of the fort.

When you walk through the gate of the fort you immediately realize it isn't very large at all.  Several signs explain the history of the area including the massacre that made the place infamous.
"At the break of dawn on September 20, 1565, about 400 Spanish troops under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés stormed the sparsely defended fort and massacred 130 people.  About 70 colonists fled into the woods or to ships anchored in the river.  Those survivors who made it to the ships headed back to France.  On September 23 Menéndez left most of his soldiers behind to hold the fort and with only 50 men rushed back to defend his newly settled colony of St. Augustine."
~from exhibit signage

 Of course there were more cannons inside the fort!

 It was late as we explored the fort, so the sky looked great.  Here you can see quite a bit of the interior of the fort.

 The girls couldn't look over the wall but they could look through it to see the river.

 As the signage I quoted above noted the exact placement of the fort is unknown and there are a number of other mysteries.

 The girls loved running up to the cannons and looking over the walls.

I really liked the entrance with the crest at the apex of the arch.  Who knows if it is accurate, but it makes the fort quite recognizable.

It was another fun fort to explore and a great way to give the kids exercise as they ran down the path to and from the fort.  You can see all of the pictures of the fort that I uploaded in this album.

~Matt