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Welcome
to Point of Interest Road
Signs! A
collection of photos of road and trail signs. Click
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Fountain
of Youth Archaeological Park
Location
of sign - 11 Magnolia Avenue St. Augustine, Florida
Photo
taken- December 2008
Photo
courtesy of Jimmy Wayne
Text
of sign:
Fountain
of Youth Archaeological Park
The
Fountain of Youth Park commemorates the 1513 arrival of Juan Ponce
de Leon in Florida and the legend of the Fountain of
Youth. People
have lived on this site for over 3000 years, since the Archaic
Period of Florida’s history. In 1565 Spanish Admiral
Pedro
Menendez de Aviles established the first successful European colony
in America at St. Augustine and his first settlement was
built here
on the grounds of the Fountain of Youth Park. At that time it was
part of the large Timucua town of Chief Seloy. Within
nine months
Timucua resistance forced the Spaniards to move the colony across
the bay. In 1572 it was moved back to the
mainland to its present
downtown location. In 1587 the first Franciscan mission to the
American Indians was built here and named
Nombre de Dios. The
Mission remained here until the middle of the 17th century.
Archaeological excavations at the Fountain of
Youth Park since 1934
have revealed the shell mounds of the Archaic inhabitants, parts of
Seloy’s town, remains of the Spanish
colony and the church and
cemetery of the Nombre de Dios mission. There is probably no other
single property in Florida that
contains such an array of important
archaeological resources for our state’s early history.
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You
can find more information about the state of Florida here and a Florida
Homepage here
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