Fort Caroline, Where French Ambition Met Spanish Might

We started at the visitor center with a short tour through the small but informative museum. We learned that relations between the French and the Indigenous Timucuan people were amicable but short-lived since Spain claimed the territory was theirs. This dispute led to destructive cascading effects, starting with Spain destroying the fort and slaughtering its inhabitants, then France retaliating, burning down the fort and killing all who could not escape. Spain rebuilt the fort but abandoned it shortly afterward, in 1569.