Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Site of the colony of Denys Rolle, English philanthropist. The settlement, composed of 200 indentured servants from the streets of London, was founded in 1767. It did not prosper and the settlers scattered. Negro slaves were imported to tend cattle, cultivate citrus and extract turpentine. The colony was abandoned in 1783 when Britain ceded Florida to Spain. Rolle returned to England and the Negroes resettled in the Bahamas.