Spain established Presidio Santa Maria de Galve on a high bluff overlooking Pensacola Bay in 1698 to ward off French encroachment into Florida from Mobile to the west.

The Presidio consisted of a fort called Fort San Carlos de Austria, a church, and a village. In 1719 the French took over the installation until 1722, when it was given back to the Spanish by treaty. The French burned it to the ground upon their departure.

The Spanish abandoned the location and established a new presidio across Pensacola Bay on Santa Rosa Island, near the location of Fort Pickens.

Presidio Santa Maria de Galve represents the first successful Spanish colonial settlement in Pensacola and the city has been permanently occupied by Europeans since the presidio's founding over 300 years ago. In 1996 the University of West Florida began historical and archaeological research at the First Pensacola site.

This research led to uncovering the fort, village, and church and learning about the everyday lives of those on the frontier of the Spanish colonial empire. A fort reconstruction, and interpretive exhibits are at the site located northeast of the Fort.

Information provided by Visit Florida and the Florida Division of Historical Resources.

Image courtesy of UWF Archaeology Institute.