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World video travel guide
News • Florida • United States • 2011-09-20
The Treasure of Fort Mose, America\'s First Community of Free Blacks
St. Augustine, founded 42 years before Jamestown and 55 years before the Pilgrims arrived on American soil, can boast of the only 17th century fort still standing in North America, the site of the continent\'s first Catholic congregation and the nation\'s narrowest street, designed just seven feet wide to impede easy getaway for robbers raiding the nearby treasury.
Yet even among those superlatives, one of the city\'s most important contributions to American history remained shrouded in myth and mystery until just 25 years ago, when archaeologists uncovered the site of Fort Mose (Mo-ZAY), the first legally sanctioned community of free blacks in what would become the United States.
\"We were close to losing this property to developers. It kind of gives me a sense of enthusiasm to see things that we\'ve done come to fruition.\" –Thomas Jackson, Fort Mose Historical Society
Fort Mose was considered the city\'s northern defense against invading British. It was established in 1739 – more than 120 years before the Emancipation Proclamation and 80 years before Florida became a U.S. territory.
The Fort Mose Historic State Park is part of Florida\'s Black Heritage Trail, a collection of historic sites from Pensacola to Key West that are important in the history of black Americans. The fort is also on the National Register of Historic Places and named as a precursor site on the National Park Service\'s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
Fort Mose is located just two miles north of the center of St. Augustine, making it an easy side trip from the shops and restaurants of the historic downtown.
The fort\'s existence was a testament to the power of a promise from the king of Spain – a pledge that captured the attention of African-born slaves in bondage in the Carolinas. Reach St. Augustine and convert to Catholicism, the king decreed in 1693, and you will be free.
Today, Fort Mose\'s off-the-beaten-path location and the relatively recent discovery of its history combine to inspire and, nearly, require St. Augustine visitors to seek out the Fort Mose Historic State Park. St. Augustine, after all, has just 10,000 people, but several forts: the impressive 23-acre Castillo de San Marcos; Fort Matanzas, built to protect the city from the south; and even a newly built living history .
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