Mission Nombre de Dios - St. Augustine, Florida

It has because been called "the most sacred acre in America" and Mission Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine has truly earned that honor.

Now a beautiful park setting with a magnificent steel cross facing Matanzas Bay, the restored Chapel of Nuestra Senora de La Leche, historic cemetery and interpretive signs detailing the history of the site, the mission commemorates the planting of the first permanent Christian church in the United States.

On September 8, 1565, a Spanish flotilla commanded by Pedro Menendez de Aviles arrived in Florida's Matanzas Bay. He had been ordered to drive away the French who had built Fort Caroline on the St. Johns River and to plant a permanent settlement that would firmly establish Spain's title to the region. Spotting the Timucuan town of Seloy, Menendez came ashore and quickly established friendly relations with the leaders and inhabitants of the town.

On the same day, the fleet chaplain conducted a Mass of Thanksgiving to thank God for the safe arrival of the settlers in the New World. The Mass marked the firm establishment of the Catholic Church at St. Augustine and its presence has continued there without interruption for nearly 450 years.

Over the years that followed, Mission Nombre de Dios and its Chapel of Nuestra Senora de La Leche served as the mother of a chain of missions that stretched across Florida and up the East Coast as far as Virginia. The stone chapel was bombarded and destroyed by the Spanish themselves to prevent its use by English attackers during the 1700s, but was restored in 1875.

Today the site is open to the public daily and is a major landmark in the history of Christianity in the United States. Please click here to learn more about Mission Nombre de Dios: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/nombrededios.

Greenwood, Florida - Antebellum Community in the Panhandle

Founded in 1824 and settled even earlier, the town of Greenwood is a very special Florida community. It boasts an outstanding collection of antebellum homes and is a place where visitors can walk along the sidewalks and enjoy Southern hospitality at its finest beneath the shady oaks of the Sunshine State.

Established largely by residents who moved down from Georgia and the Carolinas to build plantations on the rich lands of central Jackson County, Greenwood was located at a strategic intersection where two important east-west roads crossed. It provided a likely spot for a trading community and as the surrounding farms grew more prosperous, so did the town that provided the planters with supplies, churches, a school and legal and medical services.

By the time of the War Between the States (or Civil War), Greenwood was a thriving little center of commerce and political strength. Many of the planters of the area had built "town" homes there, leaving the day to day operations on their plantations to their overseers. A number of these homes still stand.

Among the best known are the Erwin House (ca. 1830), the Hayes Long Mansion (1840) and Great Oaks (1860). None of the town's homes are open to the public, but historical markers stand in front of many and visitors can walk along the sidewalks of Greenwood to take pictures and enjoy the views.

The Methodist and Baptist cemeteries both date back to before the Civil War and buried in both are key figures not only from the founding days of the town, but also from Florida's early political era and the Confederate and U.S. military service.

To learn more about historic Greenwood, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/greenwood.