Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park - Florida Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

One of the markers is located at the entrance on Magnolia Street and was waymarked by Coinseekers in January 2010. A second marker is located inside the park near the pay booth.

The historical marker reads as follows:

"The Fountain of Youth Park commemorates the 1513 arrival of Juan Ponce de Leon in Florida and the legend of the Fountain of Youth. People have lived on this site for over 3000 years, since the Archaic Period of Florida’s history. In 1565 Spanish Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles established the first successful European colony in America at St. Augustine and his first settlement was built here on the grounds of the Fountain of Youth Park. At that time it was part of the large Timucua town of Chief Seloy. Within nine months Timucua resistance forced the Spaniards to move the colony across the bay. In 1572 it was moved back to the mainland to its present downtown location. In 1587 the first Franciscan mission to the American Indians was built here and named Nombre de Dios. The Mission remained here until the middle of the 17th century. Archaeological excavations at the Fountain of Youth Park since 1934 have revealed the shell mounds of the Archaic inhabitants, parts of Seloy’s town, remains of the Spanish colony and the church and cemetery of the Nombre de Dios mission. There is probably no other single property in Florida that contains such an array of important archaeological resources for our state’s early history."

Marker Number: F-637 Date: 2008 County: St Johns Marker Type: Roadside Sponsored or placed by: The Fraser Family and the Florida Department of State Website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.

Please post a photo at the marker location.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   01/12/2023 Metro2 visited it 03/13/2022 stevepre2 visited it 06/25/2018 wildernessmama visited it 07/21/2016 BoomersOTR visited it 07/14/2016 BuckeyeFinnigan visited it 03/28/2015 the federation visited it 11/04/2013 Queens Blessing visited it 05/27/2013 whttiger visited it 05/26/2013 BackyardBeekeepers visited it 04/08/2012 PeterNoG visited it 08/10/2011 Dulcimoore visited it 06/06/2011 petendot visited it 08/07/2009 Markerman62 visited it

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