The Spanish missions in Georgia comprised a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics in order to spread the Christian doctrine among the Guale and various Timucua peoples in what is now southeastern Georgia.

A plaque showing the locations of a third of the missions between 1565 and 1763

Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout Spanish Florida in order to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France.[1] Spanish Florida originally included much of what is now the Southeastern United States, although Spain never exercised long-term effective control over more than the northern part of what is now the state of Florida from present-day St. Augustine to the area around Tallahassee,[2] southeastern Georgia, and some coastal settlements, such as Pensacola, Florida. A few short-lived missions were established in other locations, including Mission Santa Elena in present-day South Carolina,[3] around the Florida peninsula, and in the interior of Georgia and Alabama.[4]


Missions

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This table includes doctrinas, missions that normally had one or more resident missionaries, but does not include visitas, which never had a resident missionary, and had less substantial church buildings where services were conducted by visiting missionaries.


Spanish missions in the present-day US state of Georgia
Mission Name Location Province
or Region
Documentation of when missions were active is incomplete. Years listed in this column may not represent either the earliest or the latest year in which a mission was in use.}} References
Espogache[a][b] Guale 1605–? [5]
Guale[a] Guale 1568–1570 [6]
Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato[b][c] Guale 1587–1597, 1605–? [7]
Ospo or Talapo[a] Guale 1595–1606 [8]
San Augustín de Urihica Northern Utina 1630-1657 [9]
San Buenaventura de Guadalquini (moved to St. Johns River
as Santa Cruz de Guadalquini)
31.13393, -81.39363[10] Guale/Mocama 1606-1684 [11]
San Diego de Satuache 31.89, -81.20083[12] Guale 1616–1675 [13]
San Felipe de Alabe[d] Guale 1616–1655 [14]
San Felipe (on Cumberland Island) Mocama 1675–1678 [15]
San Joseph de Sapala or San José de Zapala
( Sapelo Island)
31.51544, -81.24218[16] Guale 1616–1684 [17]
San Lorenzo de Ibihica Ibi 1612–1630 [18]
San Pedro de Atulteca
or San Felipe de Athulteca[e]
Guale 1616–1695 [19]
San Pedro de Mocama (Cumberland Island) 30.75415, -81.47263[20] Mocama 1587–1655(?) [21]
San Pedro y San Pablo de Puturiba(to) Guale 1597(?)–1604(?) [22]
Santa Catalina de Guale (St. Catherines Island,
Sapelo Island and Amelia Island, in succession)
31.62534, -81.17348[23] Guale 1595–1597,
1602–1702
[24]
Santa Catalina or Santa María de Guale Mocama 1689–1702 [25]
Santa Clara de Tupiqui (Sapelo River) Guale 1595–1597 [26]
Santa Cruz de Cachipile 30.66337, -83.20622

[27]

Arapaha 1655–1657 [28]
Santa Cruz de Guadalquini
Moved from San Buenaventura de Guadalquini
Mocama 1684–1695 [29][30]
Santa Isabel de Utinahica Unknown[f] 1616 [31]
Santa María de los Angeles de Arapaha Arapaha 1630–1657 [32]
Santa María de los Yamasee
or Santa María de Guale
Mocama 1675 [33]
Santiago de Oconi
(near the Okefenokee Swamp)
Oconi Early 16th century - 1655 [34]
Santo Domingo de Asao[g]
or Santo Domingo de Talaje[h]
31.36433, -81.41751[35] Guale 1595(?)–1680s [36]
Santo Domingo (Napa or Napoyca) Mocama 1602 [37]
Tupiqui[a][b] Guale 1569–1570 [6]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Place name. Mission name unknown.
  2. ^ a b c Espogache, Tolomato, and Tupiqui were neighboring towns in Guale which seem to have merged, or to have hosted the mission of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in sequence.
  3. ^ Some residents of the mission may have moved to La Natividad de Nuestra Señora de Tolomato near St. Augustine.
  4. ^ San Felipe may have merged with San Pedro de Atulteca.
  5. ^ The Atulteca mission had moved to Cumberland Island by 1675, then to Amelia Island by 1695.
  6. ^ Santa Isabel was located somewhere in the southern part of the Altamaha River basin, northeast of the mission at Santa Cruz de Tarihica.
  7. ^ Originally by the Altamaha River on the mainland, Santo Domingo moved to St. Simon's Island by 1675.
  8. ^ Asao and Talafe were distinct towns that were later merged. Both names of the mission were used at various times.

References

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  1. ^ Cassanello & Stapleton 2013.
  2. ^ "El Camino Real – Division of Historical Resources". dos.myflorida.com. Florida Department of State. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  3. ^ Childers 2004, pp. 24–32.
  4. ^ Worth, John E. (2007). The Struggle for the Georgia Coast. The University of Alabama Press. pp. 10, 19. ISBN 978-0-8173-5411-4.
  5. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 447–449.
  6. ^ a b Hann 1990, p. 429.
  7. ^ Hann 1990, p. 445.
  8. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 449–450.
  9. ^ Hann 1990, p. 470.
  10. ^ "Early History of St. Simons Island Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2024-08-25.
  11. ^ Hann 1990, p. 442.
  12. ^ "Guale Village at Seven-Mile Bend Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2024-08-26.
  13. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 466–467.
  14. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 467–468.
  15. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 498–499.
  16. ^ Jeffries, Richard W.; Moore, Christopher (2009). In Search of Mission San Joseph de Sapala: Mission Period Archaeological Research on Sapelo Island, Georgia 2003-2007. pp. 52–53.
  17. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 456–458.
  18. ^ Hann 1996, pp. 153–154.
  19. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 464–466.
  20. ^ Hellman, Robert (2007). Archaeological Investigations at Dungeness Historical District: Cumberland Island National Seashore (PDF) (Report). Southeastern Archaeology Conference. p. 33. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  21. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 437–438.
  22. ^ Hann 1990, p. 438.
  23. ^ https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/Portals/61/SCI_CAPStudyInitiationReport08Aug17.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  24. ^ Hann 1990, p. 440.
  25. ^ Hann 1990, p. 498.
  26. ^ Hann 1990, p. 446.
  27. ^ "Borderland Conferences". Aucilla Research Institute. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  28. ^ Hann 1990, p. 471.
  29. ^ Hann 1996, pp. 270–71.
  30. ^ Milanich 1999, p. 174.
  31. ^ Hann 1990, p. 463.
  32. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 470–471.
  33. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 497–498.
  34. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 463–464.
  35. ^ "Site of Early Spanish Mission Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  36. ^ Hann 1990, pp. 443–445.
  37. ^ Hann 1990, p. 452.

Sources

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