Fort George Island

In prehistoric times it was a center of the Native American Timacua people, who left huge oyster shell mounds, which were used in the nineteenth century to create tabby concrete, present in the foundations of several island buildings.

The Spaniards founded a mission to Christianize the natives; a friar there, Francisco Pareja, studied their language and left in his writings most of what we know about it.

Timucua influence is noted by the presence of middens, large mounds consisting of massive quantities of shells and discarded food byproducts.

The Mission of San Juan del Puerto was started in the later sixteenth century and dominated the area until 1702, when it was destroyed by the English.

The Franciscan friar Francisco Pareja lived at San Juan del Puerto for years, and compiled there his books on the Timucua language, published in Mexico.

The most important of the planters was Zephaniah Kingsley, referred to after his death as the "King of Fort George,",[1]: 845  who leased and then owned the entire island from 1814 until 1839.

[1]: 845 ) Kingsley, who preferred Black company to white and eventually became a Haitian citizen, let his slave recreate an African village.

After the fire that destroyed the hotel, a freeze in 1895 wiped out the oranges, and a yellow fever epidemic in 1897 drove away the remaining tourists.