The Spanish Era

When European explorers touched the shores of the New World in the late 15th century, they quickly discovered that they were not alone. The Americas were already inhabited by a diverse and widespread population of native peoples.

The Europeans were treated to a colorful procession of decorated natives emerging from the forests. The Indians, so called because the Europeans thought they had landed in the Asian Indies, came adorned in animal skins, stuffed bird headdresses, and an abundance of jewelry, including dyed fish bladder earrings. The Florida native custom of tattooing oneself from head to toe with rich blues, reds and blacks must have been striking for these first European tourists.

Archaeologists and historians know that Native Americans were highly adapted to their environment. Although their customs and dress were unusual for the eyes of Europeans, they were not the savages often portrayed in Old World literature. In fact, they were a highly sophisticated race of people who, by the time Columbus arrived, had organized themselves into complex social systems in towns and cities throughout the Americas. Their elite political networks were intricate and far-reaching, and their calendar and knowledge of astronomy was advanced. Indigenous medical practices were equal or superior to any of those known in the Old World.

The Native Americans were content in their world and were comfortable with their enduring customs and beliefs. Nevertheless, they became hosts to a foreign group of people and a new way of life. After European contact, they became subject to a variety of social and political pressures. In the name of the Old World doctrine, many of the natives were forcibly converted to Catholicism, cruelly treated, and collected by the thousands as slaves.

Although many resisted Europeans, few natives could combat Old World diseases to which they had little or no resistance. The Europeans unknowingly carried to the New World such deadly diseases as measles, smallpox, typhoid fever, influenza, and bubonic plague. Within two centuries after Columbus's first voyage, millions of Native Americans died in epidemics. It was quiet pestilence, rather than imposed hardship, that ultimately led to the demise of many of the complex and widespread Native American cultures that inhabited the New World.

The first European settlers to the New World, the Spanish (1565-1763), were interested in the area as a military outpost and a point of departure for missionaries to establish missions among the native inhabitants.

However, the English were quick to recognize the importance of the area for its naval stores (tar, pitch, turpentine, and resin used for caulking and rigging wooden ships), the availability of oak for shipbuilding, and the transportation accessibility because of the river to sea link.

In the age of exploration, inlets provided sailing ships with access to fresh water and provisions. Inlets were particularly attractive if they opened into a large bay and provided protected anchorage, for such sites had potential for fortification, settlement, and therefore commerce. A prime example is the inlet leading into Matanzas Bay and present-day St. Augustine. The St. Augustine site had two other attributes as well. The easterly trade winds and the course of the Gulf Stream forced Spanish ships -- homeward bound and laden with gold -- to sale close to the coast until about the latitude of present-day Jacksonville. At that point they would catch the westerly trades and head northeast across the Atlantic. This course induced the French to threaten that shipping, which in turn, compelled the Spanish to found, fortify, and settle in St. Augustine in 1565.

The Spanish had provided land grants to its loyal subjects, but these were quickly invalidated by the British and new land grants were awarded to persons of status. Most of these grants are found along the rivers and again reflect the transportation importance of the river and the sea. A 20,000-acre grant was awarded to Levett Blackburn in 1766, but Blackburn never made use of the grant. Thus, the grant was broken up into smaller parcels and re-granted. Col. John Graham, who had served as Lieutenant Governor of Georgia and district superintendent of Indian Affairs, was awarded five tracts of 500 acres which included much of the corridor. However, development of any settlement in the corridor was probably done by Alexander Paterson. Paterson reported constructing a small house and some outbuildings on his 500-acre plantation. Paterson never secured his claim. Perhaps he could have been referred to as little more than a squatter.

The Second Spanish Period (1783-1821) brought a renewed interest in the corridor, with Spain seeking to turn the colony into a profitable agricultural complex. Josiah Dupont applied for and was awarded (in 1792) two grants, one on the west side of the river, a part of the Graham grant. The second parcel was located in the area from south of Washington Oaks to Fox Cut. The area later was to become plantations of General Joseph Hernandez, Florida's first territorial representative to the U.S. Congress. Dupont chose the Mala Compra Plantation area for his headquarters, where he constructed buildings and farmed. Here he grew cotton as well as corn and other provision crops. With the settlements came conflicts with the Indians, who had often used these areas on a seasonal basis. The Dupont plantation was attacked, but Dupont escaped to join his family in St. Augustine.

To the north, the Marineland area was a plantation owned by Joseph Bonely (Boneli or Bonnely). The Indians attacked this plantation, killing Bonely's son and kidnapping the rest of the family. As a result of the attack, Bonely sold 600 acres of his orange grove to Gabriel W. Perpall, probably to raise ransom money for his family. In 1885 Benjamin Dupont (likely a descendent of Josiah Dupont) was indicated as the owner of Buen Retiro, previously owned by Perpall and Bonely.

After Dupont left Mala Compra in 1802, the Spanish government considered the land abandoned and granted 800 acres to Father Michael Crosby in 1804. Crosby claimed to have inhabited and cultivated the plantation for more than 10 years. In 1816 Mala Compra was sold to Joseph Hernandez, son of Martin Hernandez, a Minorcan leader of the failed Turnbull Colony in New Smyrna. This was one of three plantations Hernandez acquired along the east side of the river. It was the middle plantation between Bella Vista (Washington Oaks Gardens State Park) and Buyks Hammock. Sometimes called St. Ann's, Buyks Hammock was named after Dupont's daughter Ann, who married Augustus Buyk (or Buyck). These plantations were important holdings for one of the largest landowners in the state. Mala Compra (determined to be eligible for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places) was the residential plantation of the Hernandez family.

The plantations of the area were known for their sea island cotton and citrus. The Hernandez and Bulow plantations to the west were known for their sugar production. The ruins of the Mala Compra settlement are located within Bings Landing County Park. (Mala Compra means "bad bargain" or "bad purchase" in Spanish.) Joseph Hernandez became an important political and military leader during the Territorial Period (1821-1845). During the Second Seminole War he was a brigadier general of the Florida Militia and captured Seminole Chief Osceola in a controversial situation. Recognized for his leadership, he not only was the territory's first representative to Congress, but he was also Mayor of St. Augustine.

During the Second Seminole War, the Indians destroyed the plantations. Although there were attempts to revive the plantations after the war, they were relatively unsuccessful.

From the 16th century to the 19th century -- under the successive governments of Spain, Great Britain, Spain again, and finally the United States -- St. Augustine, with its fortifications and harbor, offered a measure of security and economic opportunity to people of diverse cultures. The City of St. Augustine and its environs are filled with structures, artifacts, and customs from these earlier periods.

Remarkable scenic and historic views of the Ancient City and its strategic location can be seen from the Vilano fishing pier, the top of the Usina Bridge, the upper deck of the Castillo de San Marcos, the Bridge of Lions, the top of the St. Augustine Lighthouse, and of course from the streets of the City - all within or close to the A1A corridor.