Here’s some unfolding (geographic) US History
St. Augustine may have a "Fountain of Youth", but Pensacola has the oldest “Presidio" (Fortified Spanish Colony) —or, more accurately, what’s left of it…
The University of West Florida uncovered what they believe to be the original Presidio established by Don Tristan de Luna in 1559, located (on shore) near the wreck of one of de Luna’s ships (the oldest shipwreck of record in Florida) that had been discovered on the bottom of Pensacola Bay in October of 1992.
"The longstanding mystery is solved. The location of the oldest established European multi-year settlement in the United States is indeed in the heart of Pensacola.
Discoveries by local historian Tom Garner in October and research afterward by University of West Florida archaeologists confirmed where Don Tristan de Luna established his Spanish colony in August of 1559 – six years before the St. Augustine settlement and nearly 48 years before the English settled in Jamestown, Va.
The historical site is in an urban downtown neighborhood within view of the two shipwrecks linked to the Luna expedition in Pensacola Bay.”
That brings the local total to four:
1559 - Presidio Santa Maria de Ochuse (near Pensacola Bay)
1698 - Presidio Santa Maria de Galve (near the Naval Air Station)
1722 - Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (near Fort Pickens)
1754 - Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (near downtown Pensacola)
One of the interesting things about the ocean and the littoral wilderness preserve is that most of it appears the same today as it did in 1559. I enjoy that thought every time I approach the entrance to Pensacola Bay from the Gulf of Mexico.
-fl