Santa Elena: The collapse of la Florida's Frontier

The small military presidio of Santa Elena established in 1566 with the construction of Fort San Salvador (burned within months during a mutiny) was soon replaced by Captain Juan Pardo with Fort San Felipe as dozens of colonists began building homes.

Not until three years later would Santa Elena, the capital for Commander Pedro Menendez’s ambitions in La Florida, have some 40 houses and more civilians (200+) than soldiers.

Thereafter, Santa Elena struggled to remain a viable colony, deserted in 1576 and reoccupied as a presidio the following year to eventually grow into a sizable town of 60 houses — only to be abandoned permanently in 1587. It is this exciting story of Santa Elena, the first European capital in North America and the setting for Captain Pardo’s two fateful expeditions into the interior, that must be retold as a prelude to the yet to be United States of America.