Pensacola's Historical and Archaeological Timeline

1513         Ponce de León credited with discovering and naming Florida
1528 Narváez lands near Tampa and proceeds to Apalache
1539 Hernando de Soto lands in Tampa Bay and winters near Tallahassee
1540 Captain Diego de Maldonado visits Pensacola Bay
1559 Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano leads an expedition fleet of 11 ships and 1,500 colonists to Pensacola Bay. Five weeks after their arrival, a hurricane destroys as many as seven ships
(http://www.flheritage.com/archaeology/projects/shipwrecks/emanuelpoint/)
1693 Carlos de Siquenza y Gongora and Andres de Arriola map Pensacola Bay and recommend settlement
1696 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol is built prior to January 15
1697 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol convoys flotas to the Windward Channel, via Havana, and delivers annual subsidies to the Windward Islands, Cuba and St. Augustine.
1698 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol returns to Veracruz
1698 Presidio Santa Maria de Galve established in Pensacola
(http://uwf.edu/archaeology/projects/colonial/presidio/presido.html)
1698 Andres de Arriola establishs Presidio de Santa Maria Galve at the site of the present-day Naval Air Station, Pensacola
1699 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol involved in the Spanish effort to dislodge Scots from Darien (Panama)
1702 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol stationed in Cartagena
1703 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol overhauled and repaired in Veracruz (600 tons)
1704 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol involved with escort duties for flota
1705 Nuestra Senora del Rosario y Santiago Apostol sinks in Pensacola Bay
1719 French troops capture Presidio Santa Maria de Galve
1722 Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa established on Santa Rosa Island
(http://uwf.edu/anthropology/research/2003fieldwork.cfm)
1743 Dominc Serres illustrates Presidio Isla Santa Rosa
1752 Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa destroyed by hurricane
1752 A hurricane destroys the barrier island presidio forcing the Spanish to relocate on the mainland. They begin by erecting a blockhouse and mission in what is today downtown Pensacola. This site has been documented during excavations by the University of West Florida.
1757 The site of this third Spanish presidio is officially named after the Native American word "Panzacola" which means "place of the long-haired people."
1763 Florida ceded to England by Spain
1763 British take possession of Florida from the Spanish at the conclusion of the French and Indian War
1781 Bernardo de Galvez takes Pensacola back for the Spanish in the Battle of Pensacola.
1781 H.M.S. Mentor lost in Blackwater River (see James A. Servies, ed., The Log of H.M.S. Mentor, 1780-1891: A New Account of the British Navy at Pensacola).
1783 Florida ceded to Spain by England
1813 British occupy Pensacola
(http://uwf.edu/anthropology/research/fort.cfm)
1817 Arcadia, a water-powered industrial complex built
(http://uwf.edu/anthropology/research/arcadia.cfm)
1821 Florida becomes U.S. Territory
1824 Pensacola connected to St. Augustine by road
(http://user.gru.net/leinart/bellamyroad.htm)
1828 Naval live oak preserve established
(http://www.nps.gov/guis/extended/home.htm)
1845 Florida becomes a state
1855 Arcadia Mill burnt
1861 Florida secedes from the Union
1861 William H. Judah, Confederate schooner lost September 14, 1861
(http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/bar/uap/legacy/shipwreck.html)
1863 Union ship Preble burns and sinks in Pensacola Bay
(http://hub.dataline.net.au/~tfoen/preble.htm)
1882 English bark Rhoda sinks in Pensacola Bay
1894 Norwegian lumber ship Catharine grounds off Pensacola Beach
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0306473895/isbndb-20/1036404028-5590232?creative=327641&camp=14573&link_code=as)
1906 Hurricane destroys much of the fishing fleet at Palafox Pier
(http://www.eglin.af.mil/weather/hurricanes/history.html)
1914 Pensacola Naval Air Station established
1916 Another major hurricane strikes ships docked in Pensacola
1921 USS Massachusetts scuttled in Pensacola Pass
1926 The third major hurricane of the 20th century strikes Pensacola
1989 UWF excavates Deadman's Island Shipwreck
(http://uwf.edu/archaeology/projects/uw/deadmans/deadmans.htm)
1990 Architectural remnants near the main gate of the British fort (1763-1781), stockade lines and wall trenches of the later Spanish fort (1781-1821), and the first complete architectural foundation of an early Spanish period building (1752 - 1763) uncovered in downtown Pensacola
1990 Pensacola Shipwreck Survey conducted by Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research (BAR). More than fifty wrecked or abandoned vessels were documented.
1992 Emanuel Point Ship discovered http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/ep/
1992 Santa Rosa Island Shipwreck site designated as 8ES1905 by Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research
1993 USS Massachusetts designated as fourth Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve
(http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/archaeology/underwater/preserves/uwmass.cfm)
1993 Colonial Archaeological Trail opens
(http://uwf.edu/archaeology/public/archtrail.cfm)
1995 UWF begins five-year study of Presidio Santa Maria de Galve
1995 Hurricanes Erin and Opal strike near Pensacola
1995 UWF records newly uncovered spud barge on Pensacola Beach, the "Opal Wreck."
(http://uwf.edu/archaeology/projects/uw/pcolabch/opalship.htm)
1997 UWF and BAR conduct final season of investigations on the Emanuel Point Ship
1998 UWF enters Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with US Navy to continue shipwreck survey of Pensacola Bay.
1998 UWF documents the Catharine.
1998 UWF relocates the Santa Rosa Island Shipwreck and conducts preliminary survey.
1999 UWF continues investigation of the Santa Rosa Island Shipwreck with the excavation of the vessel's bow
2000 UWF investigates Hamilton=s shipwreck, c. 1920, and the English bark Rhoda
2000 UWF continues excavation of Plaza Ferdinand in downtown Pensacola
2001 UWF continues investigation of the Santa Rosa Island Shipwreck with the excavation of the vessel's centerline structure
2001 UWF begins survey of the Snapper Wreck near Bagdad, Florida
2002 UWF concludes third season of fieldwork on the Santa Rosa Island Shipwreck
2003 UWF investigates the remains of four coastal schooner barges in Blackwater Bay, Palafox, Dinty Moore, George T. Locke and Guanacaste
2004 UWF begins second season of investigation of the Blackwater Bay wrecks; two more wrecks are discovered
2005 UWF conducts remote sensing survey along Pensacola's downtown waterfront. An additional wreck is discovered in Blackwater Bay
2005 UWF continues excavation of British Commanding Officers Compound in downtown Pensacola.