Use your mouse to find more information about
some of the Trackers' favorite people, places and things.
St. Augustine is the place of many forts. One of them, the Castillo de San Marcos is maintained as a national monument by the National Parl Service. The Castillo has been in place since its completion in 1695 and was used as a military post until 1900.
For more than 175 years the remains of the first free black town in the North American colonies lay forgotten in a salt marsh north of St. Augustine. Known as Fort Mose, after an Indian name for the area, it was in 1738 the northernmost outpost protecting the captail of Spanish Florida. Fort Mose gave sanctuary to blacks when they made their escape from their British slave masters in South Carolina. A National Historic Landmark, Fort Mose is a precursor site of the Underground Railroad, demonstrating that resistance to slavery was both early and fierce.
In the late 1600s the Spanish established a garrison 18 miles west of St. Augustine on the banks of the St. Johns River. This outpost eventually became Fort Picolata. They were situated at the spot where the road to Apalachee crossed the St. Johns River and served to protect travellers from hostile Indians as well as to guard St. Augustine from land attack.
Palatka is centrally located and to arrive at many of the destinations within or outside this city, you'll cross a few bridges along the way. Bridges to Adventure
For a quick peek at restaurants, shops, places to stay and events in and around Palatka, head for DriveFlorida.com. You can also take an historial tour of Palatka during the turn-of-the-century by visiting The Gem City on the St. Johns.
The brackish waters of the St. Johns flow north from somewhere in the Everglades to Jacksonville. It makes the west boundary of Volusia County from Lake George south to Lake Monroe.
The St. Johns River is the longest in Florida, 310 miles long. It is one of the few American rivers to flow north. The river varies in width. A broad marsh at its head waters, the St. Johns averages more than two miles in width between Palatka and Jacksonville.
The first Europeans to sail the St. Johns River were Spanish explorers who sailed the St. Johns River in 1520 and then French explorers in 1562.
In March 1998, Barry Breen contacted Dr. Roger Smith regarding shipwrecks in Black Creek, just off the St. John's River in Clay County. Local legend provides information from Spanish colonial vessels to Civil War-era barges. Due to time constraints, only one vessel could be investigated, however.
With the year 2000 approaching, finding all the problems that make the lower St. Johns River ill and correcting these problem won't be easy. Keep track of the River Agenda 1998-2000 and find ways in which you can help maintain this vital part of northeast Florida.
Share your ideas with others at the Info2Action site, St. Johns River Native Network or take a peak at the Eastern Florida Photo Album.
For more sights of the St. Johns River, try the Upper Basin with is wading birds or read about the adventures of Bill and his cruising into St. John.
| 