History

The first landing at Port Royal was by Pedro de Salazar, who was sent out of Hispaniola by Lucas de Allyon. Allyon sent other ships to this area in 1520 and came himself in 1525 to build the first fort in North America. He and most of his men perished during the first winter. The Spanish, nevertheless, used this area as a major anchorage in their explorations, and eventually tried to make it the center of their North American empire.

On February 8, 1562, Capt. Jean Ribaut led a group of 50 French Huguenots who sailed from the Port of Havre De Grace, France. Three months later they sailed up a "mightie" river which they named Port Royal. Ribaut wrote that he had found ". . . no faurer or fytter place . . . the Porte Royall."

On what is now Parris Island, the French expedition built a fort named Charles Forte in honor of King Charles IX. Ribaut returned to France for men and supplies and left 30 settlers on the island. When Ribaut did not return by July, the settlers feared the worst. With the help of the native Indians they built a ship (the first ever built in the U.S.), and sailed for home. They floundered at sea, were picked up by English sailors and returned to France.

A Spanish squadron was sent by Philip II to destroy the French colony. When they had destroyed the fort, they carried off the pillar set up by founder Jean Ribaut as a symbol of French domination, and returned with it to Cuba. One year later, they returned to St. Elena to establish their own military port. For twenty-one years, St. Elena was the capital of Spanish "Florida"