Fort San Ferdinano de Las Barrancas (1796-97)

Fort San Ferdinano de Las Barrancas (1796-97) is a Tennessee historical marker in Shelby County.

Shelby Co. Memphis, at Auction Park

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Hereabouts, in 1795, the Spanish built Fort San Fernando de Barrancas. It was here that Don Miguel Gayoso De Lamos, first governor, hoisted the flag of Spain for the first time, and took possession of the territory in the name of his sovereign. Louisiana's lieutenant governor, Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, erected Fort San Fernando de las Barrancas near this site in May of 1795. He named the structure for Spain's crown prince and future king, Ferdinand VII. Conforming to Pinckney's Treaty, Spain evacuated the fort in March of 1797. Although Spain occupied the area for less than two years, continuous habitation of the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff dates from the fort's construction.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1802 · United States 2. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1829 · Tennessee (A. Finley, 1829) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1835 · Chickasaw Cession, Mississippi (1835) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1836 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1901 · Memphis. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

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