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Photo: NPS Photo, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Reconstruction of a 16th-century French fort that was captured by the Spanish.
Fort Caroline was an attempted French colonial settlement in Florida, located on the banks of the St. Johns River in present-day Duval County. It was established under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière on 22 June 1564, following King Charles IX's enlisting of Jean Ribault and his Huguenot settlers to stake a claim in French Florida ahead of Spain. The French colony came into conflict with the Spanish, who established St. Augustine on 8 September 1565, and Fort Caroline was sacked by Spanish troops under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on 20 September. The Spanish continued to occupy the site as San Mateo until 1569.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Late 18th and early 19th-century plantation established in Spanish Florida. It persisted into the antebellum United States and is arguably the best preserved and longest preserved plantation in the state. Even many of the old tabby concrete cabins, where slaves were kept, still stand as ruins.
Old mansion and wedding venue built in 1928 near the site of a long-abandoned Spanish mission.
The park covers the entire 2,500 acre island. Big Talbot Island State Park lies to the immediate north. The park contains maritime forests, dunes, and salt marshes on the western side of the island. Wild life includes river otters, marsh rabbits, bobcats, and a variety of native and migrating birds. Activities include camping, fishing, hiking, swimming, canoeing, nature watching and surfing. Amenities include a full–facility campground, as well as a youth/group tent campground and beachside picnic pavilions. The park also has bath houses, a small boat ramp, a nature trail, and a playground. Bicycles and canoes can be rented at the campground. The park is open from 8AM till dark.
The park is a nature preserve and a location for nature study, bird–watching, or photography. Other activities include hiking, bicycling, fishing, boating, canoeing, and kayaking, and picnicking. Amenities include picnic pavilions, nature trails, a fishing pier, a boat ramp, bike trails and beaches. The park is open from 8AM till sundown year round.