Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side 1: In 1633, the province of Apalachee in Spanish Florida received its first full-time resident missionaries. The Franciscan Mission of San Pedro y San Pablo de Patale which was located about one hundred yards north of this marker was one of the first missions with a resident priest to be established in the region after that date. Like other Spanish missions in Florida, this outpost of Spanish domination was designed to convert and "civilize" the Indians. It also served as a center for the civil and military authority of Spain on the frontier. Archeological investigations at the site in 1971 revealed the structural remains of the mission church and other buildings and a cemetery for the burial of Christians containing some 64 graves. Side 2: The mission of Patale evidently continued as an important segment of the mission system until its destruction in June, 1704. By that time, the colonial rivalry between Spain and England had become very keen. In 1703-1704, Colonel James Moore of South Carolina led an English expedition to destroy the Spanish Apalachee missions. On June 23, 1704, Patale was attacked and captured by the English who then used the mission as a base of operations. A counterattack by the Spanish and their Indian allies in July resulted in another victory for the English. After this, the Patale mission site seems to have been abandoned. But during the decades of its existence, it played an integral part in the military, political, and religious background of the Tallahassee area.