Museum of Florida History

The next section, "A Changing World," (1565–1763) examines Spain's efforts to establish and sustain a colony in La Florida with settlements, missions, and forts. Visitors can walk through a replica fort bastion representing the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine and learn about the strongholds the Spaniards built to protect their fledgling colony. Visitors can step inside a recreated early Spanish colonist's home in St. Augustine and view a façade representing a late sixteenth-century town church. These elements give visitors a sense of place as they learn about the establishment of St. Augustine and other settlements, including Fort Mose, the first free black community in the U.S., and the mission system in Spanish Florida.