SITE OF THE MISSION OF SAN JUAN DEL PUERTO- Jacksonville, Florida
N 30° 25.671 W 081° 25.544
17R E 459116 N 3366273
This historical marker is located across the street in the overflow parking lot by the entrance gates to the Fort George Island Cultural Center within the historic Ribault Club
Waymark Code: WM7N33
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 11/11/2009
Views: 20
The Marker Reads:
The establishment of missions chiefly for purpose the of Christianizing the Indian population was one of the methods used by Spain in attempting to colonize Florida in the sixteenth century. The Mission of San Juan del Puerto was founded late in the 1500's by the Franciscan Order of friars to serve the Timucuan Indians living in the area. While working at this mission around 1600 Father Francisco Pareja prepared a Timucuan dictionary, grammar and several religious books in that language for use by the Indians. The Mission of San Juan del Puerto continued to exist throughout the seventeenth century in spite of the growing
Continued on Reverse Side
conflict between Florida's Spanish inhabitants and English and French invaders. In 1696, Jonathan Dickinson, a Philadelphia Quaker who had been shipwrecked off the coast of Florida, passed this way and recorded a visit to "the town of St. Wan's, a large town and many people. In 1702, Governor James Moore of the British Colony of South Carolina attempted to take St. Augustine from the Spanish. His effort failed, but in the process of the raid into Spanish territory, Moore destroyed the Spanish missions from St. Augustine northward, including the Mission of San Juan del Puerto.
Marker Number: F-211
Date: 1973
County: Duval
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: Jacksonville Historical Society with Department of State
Website: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
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