In the late 1600s the Spanish established a garrison 18 miles west of St. Augustine on the banks of the St. John's River. This outpost was eventually strengthened and sometime before 1735 became Fort Picolata, with a sister fort San Francisco de Pupo on the opposite river bank. They were situated at the spot where the road to Apalachee crossed the St. John's river, and served to protect travelers from hostile Indians as well as to guard St. Augustine from land attack.

The two simple wooden fortifications, already in a state of disrepair, were described in 1737 by Antonio de Arredonde:

"[A]bout eight [leagues] from San AgustÁn, on each side of the river, there is a sentry box built of boards, eight feet in diameter, named respectively Pupe and Picolata, both of them surrounded by a palisade, very small and light. I saw them myself, and I can vouch that they are ready to crumble down owing to their supports being completely rotten . . . Each one is garrisoned by a squad of eight men, hardly large enought to hold them. There are also two Swivel guns which are used to protect the courriers and the passengers who go and come from Apalache by land, while they cross the river from one side to the other on piraguas [canoes], as they are often harrassed by the Indians while in the act of crossing . . ."

The following year permission was granted to re-build the forts with more permanent materials (ie., bricks and clay) but the construction was never started.

The forts saw action in 1739 when the English of the neighboring colony of Georgia declared hostilities. Georgia's General Oglethorpe ordered a small military force to infiltrate Spanish territory, led by Lieutenant Dunbar. Dunbar was on a reconnoitering mission, to scout the defenses of St. Augustine, which was the primary goal of the campaign. With 40 British soldiers and 10 Native Americans, Dunbar attacked Fort Picolata "with much spirit" on December 28th. The fort was bravely defended by seven men. Even though mortar shells nearly demolished the already deteriorated structure, the Spanish artillerymen were able to drive the English away after a seven hour battle.

The Spanish garrison evacuated the ruined fort and it was burned a week later when the English returned with reinforcements and cannon. The redcoats, led this time by General Oglethorpre himself, attacked Fort Francisco de Pupo, and after a single return volley (which almost cost the General his life) the second fort surrendered. Oglethorpe, having taken the forts, opened the river up to British navigation, and cut off the Spanish from their friendly Native allies, then left a garrison and returned to Georgia.

After the war was over, Spain again took control of the forts. Fort Picolata was re-built by order from the Spanish crown in 1755, and this time it was constructed from coquina stone blocks. But now its time of usefulness was over, and it was deserted and apparently fell into a state of disrepair during the ensuing period of British occupation (1763-1783). The fort was observed by the King's Botanist, John Bartram, during his travels through Florida, but was mentioned only in passing: "at the mouth of Picalota creek, about 6 miles below the fort, there is a pretty large swamp . . . "

Years later, his son William Bartram provided us with a detailed description of the "fortress" when he observed Picolata during a sailing trip up the St. John's :

"[The fort is] "dismantled and deserted . . . very ancient, and . . . built by the Spaniards. It is a square tower, thirty feet high, invested with a high wall, without bastions, about breast high, pierced with peepholes and surrounded with a deep ditch. The upper story is open on each side, with battlements supporting a cupola or roof: these battlements were formerly mounted with eight four-pounders, two on each side. The work was constructed with hewn stone, cemented with lime. The stone was cut out of the quarries on St. Anastasius Island, opposite St. Augustine; it is of a pale reddish colour, and a testaceous composition, consisting of small fragments of sea-shell and fine sand . . ."

Memories of the forts faded, and it is now believed that the river bank has eroded over the centuries and that the fortifications are now underwater. The shifting course of the river had apparently submerged the fort by the mid-19th century, as suggested by this passage from a local guide book published in 1869:

"I was told that the river here had materially altered its course within the memory of these now living. I am certainly unable to account in any other way for the total disappearance of the Spanish Fort which a century ago existed here . . ."


Modern Investigations of Fort Picolata

Twentieth century interest in re-locating the old forts began with the archival research of Kathy Jones and Fred Gaske, of the Florida Bureau of Historic Sites and Properties. Their research, which used historical documents and maps, was conducted at the request of the Bartrum Trail Conference in the early 1980s. They believed that the remains of Fort Picolata were now inundated in about five to fifteen feet of water approximately 650 feet off the eastern bank of the St. John's River near the present day town of Picolata.

The underwater survey to discover the sunken remains of the fort was undertaken in 1981 by student Deane Wood, as his field project for the Florida State University class BSC 5345: Scientific Diving Techniques (currently called "Applications of Diving to Research). The students, along with Academic Diving Program staff members Gregg Stanton, Les Parker, and Scott Andree, set out to find the fort over a six day period in May and June.

Base camp was set up on shore and diving operations were conducted from two small boats using standard scuba gear. The students devised a variety of techniques to re-locate the fort.

Transects were run using the boats and fathometers, in an attempt to reconstruct the original bank and the point where the fort had once stood. Students used transits set up on land to map in the submerged point, as well as other anomalies noted by divers. A rough reconstruction of the early 18th century landform was generated in this manner.

In addition to remote sensing, students attempted to core sediments and to physically search the area with divers. The visibility was very poor, ranging from 2 feet to zero. Divers investigated the site by swimming in tethered search arcs, but found little evidence of the fort. An isolated, teredo-eaten timber was noted, but its relationship to the old fort was uncertain. In addition, one diver felt what he described as a structure, possibly the remains of a wall, but this could not be re-located. Divers did find in situ tree stumps, proving that local lore was accurate and this area had at one time been dry land.

The remains of Fort Picolata remain a mystery. No additional surveys were made at the time, though with the improved technology over the last fifteen years it may be time to again search for these sunken remains.