Florida Friday; Fort Caroline Natinonal Memorial

Back in 2013 I was visiting the city of Jacksonville and decided to stop in at Fort Caroline National Memorial on the banks of the St. John's River near Florida State Road 116.

Fort Caroline was an attempted French Colony that was established on the St. Johns River in 1564. The French had made an attempt to colonize what was known as French Florida between 1562 and 1565. The exact site of Fort Caroline is not known and the Memorial is just a replica built by the Park Service based off of research. Fort Caroline was attacked by the Spanish who had staked claims to Florida as early as 1513 and had failed to establish a permanent colony. The French attempt at colonization of Florida spurred the Spanish to put greater effort into colonizing. St. Augustine was established as the first true colony of Spain in 1565 which is occupied to this very day. After the French were run out of Fort Caroline in 1565 it was occupied by the Spanish as San Mateo Until 1569.

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2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley. To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker. Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa. The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language. The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246. CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County. CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward. South of CA 127 ...

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The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...

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