Santa Elena: The Missing Piece
By the early 1500s, Spanish explorers had charted the southeast coast of North America, naming it La Florida.
After a series of Spanish voyages from 1514 to 1521, a point of land off a great harbor was sighted, and named La Punta de Santa Elena in honor of Saint Helena. Today, this area is known by its French name of Port Royal. Port Royal Sound remains one of North America’s oldest continuously used geographic names.
Accounts of the region’s abundance inspired such explorers as Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon (Spain) and Jean Ribaut (France) who were actually involved in a race to reach La Punta de Santa Elena to lay claim for their King.
After many starts and stops by the French, Spanish, and English, Santa Elena, in late summer of 1576, the capital of Florida, was burned to the ground by the Indians, while the Spanish soldiers and settlers watched.
In October 1577, Santa Elena was re-settled. With 53 men, a new fort, San Marcos was assembled from prefabricated wooden fort sections in six days. From 1577 to 1580, Santa Elena functioned as a military outpost. By November 1580, more than 30 houses had been rebuilt using lime and mortar construction to better defend against fire and flaming arrows. The population soon swelled to about 400 people. Life in Santa Elena became relatively peaceful and the colony began to prosper.
That is until 1586 when Sir Francis Drake, an English privateer, began raiding Spain’s colonies. In June 1586, Drake’s fleet destroyed San Augustine, then turned North to Santa Elena. Spared destruction when the English fleet missed Port Royal Sound in the dark, the Spanish decided to unite their forces in La Florida at St. Augustine.
In the summer of 1587, everything worth salvaging was loaded onto ships. What remained was destroyed. Santa Elena, once the capital of La Florida, was gone.
To hear the end of the story and fill in all the missing pieces, please visit the Beaufort History Museum.