Secretary Detzner Announces Recent Designation of Menéndez Encampment Site on the National Register of Historic Places

Tallahassee –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today the listing of the Menéndez Encampment Site on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

“I am pleased to announce the addition of the Menéndez Encampment Site on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Secretary of State Detzner. “This nationally significant site in St. Augustine is the location of the first permanent European occupation in the United States.”

The Menéndez Encampment Site in St. Augustine, St. Johns County, is an archaeological site associated with Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Aviles. The site includes the intact remains of the original settlement of St. Augustine, which was founded by Menéndez on September 8, 1565. St. Augustine was the first successful Spanish settlement in La Florida, and is the oldest continuously-inhabited, European-established settlement in the continental United States. Today, the site is part of the Fountain of Youth Park, a popular tourist destination begun in 1904. The first professional archaeological excavations at the park were conducted in 1934 by the Smithsonian Institution. Subsequent excavations have positively identified the park as the location of the Menéndez Encampment. Today, visitors to the park can view exhibits of Native American and Spanish Colonial artifacts.

Menéndez Encampment Site, St. Augustine

For more information about the National Register of Historic Places program administered by the National Park Service, visit nps.gov/nr.

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About The National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is a list maintained by the National Park Service which includes historical or archaeological properties including buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts, that are considered worthy of preservation because of their local, statewide and/or national significance. Nominations for properties in Florida are submitted to the National Park Service through the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources. Florida has over 1,700 listings on the National Register, including 292 historical districts and 173 archaeological sites.  There are more than 50,000 sites contributing to the National Register in Florida. For more information, visit flheritage.com/preservation/national-register.

About The Bureau of Historic Preservation

The Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Historic Preservation (BHP) conducts historic preservation programs aimed at identifying, evaluating, preserving and interpreting the historic and cultural resources of the state. The Bureau manages the Florida Main Street Program, and under federal and state laws, oversees the National Register of Historic Places program for Florida, maintains an inventory of the state's historical resources in the Florida Master Site File, assists applicants in federal tax benefit and local government ad valorem tax relief programs for historic buildings, and reviews the impact that development projects may have on significant historic resources. For more information, visit flheritage.com/preservation.