Pedro Menéndez did a lot more than just establish St. Augustine; he also built 15 other forts and missions. But, eventually, they all failed.
Part of Menéndez’s contract was to build missions and forts on the Florida peninsula. He built missions on Cumberland Island, Estero Bay, Tampa Bay, and Miami with a nearby garrisoned fort for protection.
Archaeologists have found and studied the mission/forts on Tampa and Estero Bays on the Gulf coast. Mission San Antón de Padua was on Mound Key, the capital of the Calusa people near today’s Cape Coral. The Spanish fort was located on top of a 30-foot-tall, man-made mound of shells and the mission was on another mound just across a canal.
Archaeologists found that the fort wall was made of posts set in a trench and filled with a crude cement mixture called tabby. Spanish artifacts include iron spikes, an iron hoe, pieces of large olive jars, and colorful majolica tableware.
Mound Key is now a state park in Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands, but to visit you need to bring your own boat.
Unearthing Florida is a project of WUWF Public Media, the Florida Public Archaeology Network(FPAN), and its founder, Dr. Judith Bense, since 1998. FPAN's Michael Thomin is a contributor to the program. WUWF's Sandra Averhart is executive producer.
