On Oct. 2, 2015, a remarkable discovery was made that will forever alter the city of Pensacola and the way it will be remembered in history.

Most Pensacolians know the story of the famous Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano. His legacy can be seen all over Pensacola. It can be found in street names such as Via De Luna Drive on Pensacola Beach, or by the cross on Santa Rosa Island that commemorates the first Catholic mass in America held by members of de Luna’s crew.

It has been a longstanding conviction amid locals that Pensacola is the earliest European settlement established in the United States. Today, thanks to local historian Tom Garner, the truth is substantiated by a discovery in the dirt of a developed neighborhood close to Pensacola Bay.

Overturned dirt from a recently bulldozed house piqued Garner’s interest that October day. Garner knew the residential area with the bulldozed lot was within view of two shipwrecks previously linked to the Luna expedition. After further investigation, Garner recovered a half rim of an old olive jar, the first of many Luna artifacts to be found.

“The only event in Pensacola history that this pottery could be associated with is the Luna expedition,” Garner said in reference to an unearthed fragment of a Spanish plate made from Columbia Plain pottery. He said the pottery predates all of Pensacola’s history except for the Luna expedition.

Pieces of assorted cookware, liquid storage containers, a copper lacing aglet, wrought iron nails, and glass trade beads are among the artifacts unearthed. “The most intact artifact we’ve found so far is the glass trade bead. We found six of them,” Garner said.

When Garner brought the artifacts to the University of West Florida’s archaeology lab on Oct. 30, associate professor of historical archaeology in the Department of Anthropology John Worth confirmed Garner’s belief that they had finally discovered the long-lost Luna colony dating from 1559 to 1561. The significance of this discovery is that it predates both the Spanish settlement in St. Augustine, Florida, and the English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia.

On Dec. 17, the UWF Archaeology Department made the announcement before a crowd at a press conference held inside the T.T. Wentworth Historical Museum.

UWF then obtained permission from the homeowners to explore the area further.

“Since so many privately owned lots are involved, we hope to work with each landowner to request permission for archaeological work on a schedule that fits with their needs,” Worth said. When asked how long the unearthing of the Luna colony should take, he said, “We anticipate the initial archaeological survey of the entire Luna settlement site to last for many months.”

More artifacts have been found on several lots beyond the original find last fall, according to Worth, the principal site investigator.

“What we already know based on past and current survey is that the Luna settlement site extends across multiple city blocks,” Worth said. “We are continuing to conduct systematic survey to define how big the site is, whether the archaeological deposits are uniformly distributed or patchier, and how much of it is still preserved below ground. The process of discovery and delineation of the site is still very much in its beginning stages.”

Worth said students in the archaeology program will be given the opportunity to work on the site during a 10-week UWF archaeological field school this summer.

For more information on the Luna settlement, click here.

With love,

Kinsey

Kinsey Keys

aspiring memoirist rummaging through my noggin, stubbornly clutching the past to my chest like it’s a newborn babe starved for mother's milk.

See Full Bio