Fort Caroline National Memorial

Before the British, there was a French settlement in northern Florida that attempted to rival claims made by the Spanish in the New World. When you visit La Caroline, you get a taste of what it was like to be the small kid on the playground. The fort attempts to show what life was like for a small colony of French people trying to find religious freedom in a faraway land.

The exact location of the settlement isn't known, but La Caroline memorializes the area where the French tried to eke out a living among a swampy, wild land. It did not go well. Not everyone was a soldier, and few knew how to survive in an untamed land. Some people brought fine clothing and gold. Artists were on hand to record the events as they unfolded.

Today, a visit to the fort means people in period costume that take you back more than 450 years. The living history exhibit puts you in the middle of a struggle make a home in the New World.

Fort Caroline dates back to 1564 when France wanted to have a piece of North America. The Spanish had already taken over much of South America, but they wanted more when they set up St. Augustine in Florida. Somewhere in the Jacksonville area, around 300 French settlers decided to set up a permanent presence in North America.

The Spanish didn't want any rivals in Florida. When the Spanish attacked the fort in 1565, the French were badly outnumbered. Around 500 soldiers marched into La Caroline. Nearly 50 people escaped onto a French boat and set sail, while the Spanish soldiers spared only 60 of the 200 who were left behind.