Los Floridanos
Florida's First European Families 1565-1763
"Los Floridanos" referred to the children born to the Spanish settlers of St. Augustine during the First Spanish Period (1565-1763). Translated it means "The Floridians" and record of this title can be found in many Spanish Government documents, including Spanish censuses of the time.
In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, along with 600 soldiers and colonists, arrived in "La Florida" to explore and colonize for Spain. The settlers who arrived during the First Spanish Period, whose last names included Aguilar, Diaz, Rodriquez, Sánchez, and Solana, began their new lives in the Presidio de San Agustin. Enduring the Florida elements, diseases, fires, and attacks by pirates, French, English, and Native Americans, their efforts established St. Augustine as the first continuously occupied European city in the United States.
In 1763, Spain ceded the Florida Colony to Britain after the Seven Years War, ending the First Spanish Period. The majority of the Spanish St. Augustine residents, approximately 3,100, relocated to Cuba. Only a few "Los Floridanos" remained in St. Augustine to handle unsold property and settle affairs. Two of these were Manuel Solana and Francisco Sánchez. Their descendants still reside in St. Augustine.
Marker is at the intersection of Orange Street and Cordova Street, on the right when traveling west on Orange Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
