South Carolinians have an impassioned reverence for the history of the Palmetto State, both good and bad. But few people stop to consider the history that long-preceded the American Revolution, specifically, the first colonies established in what is now South Carolina. Seldom do we stop to recognize that more than 200 years prior to the start of the Revolution, present-day South Carolina was home to a very important settlement that is now but a long forgotten secret of North American history.

In the mid-1600s, during American's first century, the French and the Spanish were vying for control of the east coast. During that time, the French built a fort on what is now Parris Island.
Google Maps
After a short time, the French abandoned their fort and settlement known as Charlesfort. The Spanish soon moved in behind them in 1566 to create their own fort, San Salvador, where they built a Spanish settlement called Santa Elena.
Google Maps/Marianne Mashburn
Santa Elena was the first colonial capital established by Spain's Pedro Menendez, also known as the founder of St. Augustine.
Facebook/Santa Elena History Center
Santa Elena was occupied for some 21 years and included at least 200 residents and approximately 40 homes.
santa-elena.org/National Park Service image

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By the 1580s, English colonization had become a real threat to the Spanish colonies along the coast and the Spanish decided to shrink the size of Florida, giving up their stronghold on present-day South Carolina. By 1587, all of the residents at Santa Elena had relocated to St. Augustine.
nps.gov
Today, Charlesfort-Santa Elena is a National Historic Site and even has its own very sizable history center containing many artifacts found during archaeological studies.
TripAdvisor/Chef Forrest Parker
The Santa Elena History Center is located in Beaufort and contains a wealth of information about the site and America's first century.
Google Local/Glenn Hanna
Archaeologists are still uncovering all there is to know about this history of Santa Elena (and Charlesfort).
Google Maps/Steven Schaeber
The site has been studied by archaeologists for more than a hundred years but it's estimated that by 2014, less than 10% had been uncovered.

Long before the American Revolution, the Spanish colony of Santa Elena in present-day South Carolina became the first capital of La Florida. Did you know about this part of present-day South Carolina’s history? What if Spain had stayed to defend Santa Elena? Do you think present-day South Carolina would still be part of Florida? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to join the discussion!

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