Fort Caroline National Memorial

Fort Caroline National Memorial preserves the site of a 16th-century French Huguenot settlement on the south bank of the St. Johns River, about 10 kilometres upstream from the river's mouth. The visitor centre explains the history of the French attempt at colonisation and the subsequent Spanish massacre through exhibits and a well-presented film. Outside, a replica of the original triangular fort stands in a clearing near the river.

The surrounding Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve extends across both sides of the river estuary and protects one of the largest remaining undeveloped estuaries on the US Atlantic coast. Trails through the preserve lead to the Ribault Monument, which marks the spot where French explorer Jean Ribault landed in 1562, and to areas of salt marsh, coastal hammock, and tidal flat that give a sense of the landscape the first European settlers encountered. The Spanish Pond Trail is particularly good for birds.

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A story
Fort Caroline was established in 1564 by French Huguenots led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière — one of the earliest European settlements in what is now the continental United States. It lasted barely a year. In September 1565, Spanish forces under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés marched overland and massacred nearly all of the French settlers, citing both territorial and religious grounds. Menéndez then went on to found St. Augustine, 60 kilometres to the south, ten days later. The site of the original fort has never been definitively identified, and the memorial features a replica constructed in the 1960s.