FIRST PENSACOLA

This is the site of the Spanish Presidio Santa Maria de Galve (1698-1719). It was the first permanent settlement in Pensacola and only the second successful permanent settlement in Florida. It was founded in 1698 by Captain Juan Jordan de Reina and Anfres de Arriola, Governor, with a force of 357 people. The largest feature of the settlement was a large square wooden fort with walls 300 feet long and large diamond-shaped bastions on each corner. Just east of the fort was a church and a cemetery. Farther east was a small village where the Spanish and Indians lived until 1707. After that time, the entire community of up to 500 people had to live inside the fort for protection. Many facilities were then constructed in the fort including living quarters, cistern, hospital, bake ovens, offices, guardhouses, and a garden area. Poorly manned and supplied, this small settlement managed to survive under almost constant attacks by Indians allied with the British. The French took the settlement by force in 1719 and burned the fort. The Spanish rebuilt in 1723 on Santa Rosa Island across the bay. For 300 years, this site was lost, but between 1995-1998, archaeologists from the University of West Florida rediscovered it and found that much of the settlement still survives below the ground. The fort, cemetery, and village were located and are preserved, with only a sample of the remains taken for study.