Tolomato Indian Village
A 1737 map of the city of St. Augustine describes the site of Tolomato Cemetery as "the church and village of Tolomato, an Indian village served by Franciscan priests." The Tolomato Indians were Guale refugees fleeing attacks on their mission village in South Georgia. Their 18th century church was built of wood and had a four-story coquina-stone bell tower. The Christian Tolomato Indians buried their dead under or around the church.
When Florida was ceded to the British in 1763, the Spaniards and the Indians left, together with their priests. The church was torn down by British troops for firewood but the tower survived into the 1790s, when the stones were used in the construction of present day Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.
Marker is on Cordova Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
