April 2, 1513

Recent scholarship puts the precise date in question, but on or around April 2, 1513, explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first stepped foot on the Florida coast near present-day St. Augustine and claimed the land for Spain. Ponce de Leon gave the state its name, which means “full of flowers.” Over the next three centuries, portions of Spanish Florida – which originally stretched as far west as the Mississippi River, including much of the lower half of Alabama – was passed among the Spanish, French and British. Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, U.S. officials asserted that the colony of Spanish West Florida belonged to them, but it wasn’t until acts of Congress in 1811 and 1812 that the nation laid unofficial claim to the area between the Pearl and Perdido rivers. U.S. troops ultimately occupied Mobile during the War of 1812, with the Spanish surrendering Fort Carlota (also known as Fort Conde) without a shot on April 13, 1813.

Read more at the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries.

Portrait of Juan Ponce de León. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

This 1772 map by British engraver John Lodge shows the colony of West Florida. Originally held by Spain after 1513, it fell under British control in 1763 and was retaken by Spain in 1783. The United States took possession of the colony in 1813. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

Portrait of Juan Ponce de León, 17th century engraving. (Wikipedia)

The 1725 map depicts the original Colonial-era size and location of Fort Condé in the town of Mobile when it was controlled by France. The top drawing shows the fort in profile. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Fort Condé, located in Mobile, is a scaled-down reconstruction of the original French fort built in 1723 on the site. It is now part of the History Museum of Mobile. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive, Library of Congress)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.