The Building of la Caroline
Fort Caroline National Monument
"Every one of us - noblemen, soldiers, workmen, sailors - worked hard to get our post ready to shelter us from the weather and protect us against enemies."
Jacques le Moyne, 1564 la Caroline colonist and artist
Measuring a piece of ground in the shape of a triangle, the colonists laid out their fort and settlement. Using shovels, cutting hooks, and hatchets, they cleared the site of trees. The fort and storage barns were erected quickly, with other buildings soon to follow.
The first guardhouse, built in the center of the fort, stood too high and was blown over by fierce winds. Baking ovens were placed outside the fort to keep fire away from the fort's powder magazine. Once the common buildings were completed, the colonists set to work building their homes.
The original site and exact placement of the colony and fort are still a mystery to historians. In 1964, 400 years after the establishment of la Caroline, the fort you see before you was built by the National Park Service. It is not a reconstruction of the original, it is based on educated guesswork and serves only to bring the fort story alive.
Marker can be reached from Ft. Caroline Road, on the left when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
