This page is dedicated to Florida historical markers near Jacksonville – New France. There are many historical markers in Florida. This marker in Duval County is an excellent example.
New France
This Florida Historical Marker is entitled New France Fort Caroline National Monument Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, and is located in Jacksonville in Duval County, Florida. Marker is on Ft. Caroline Road, on the left when traveling east.
Inscription on the Marker
The inscription reads:
New France. Fort Caroline National Monument. “After… two months… Ribault made port in New France… [where] he discovered a very large and beautiful river … Ribault erected a column of hard stone on the banks of this river … The coat of arms of France was carved upon it.” , René de Laundonnière, 1564, Second-in-command during Jean Ribault’s 1562 voyage., On the morning of May 1, 1562, French navigator Jean Ribault first viewed the river you see before you – St. Johns. He named it the River of May. A day later, staking France’s claim to the New World, Ribault’s men placed a stone marker – similar to the monument behind you – on a sandy knoll near the river’s mouth., Thus began a race with Spain to colonize la Florida. The race ended in 1565 with France’s defeat and Ribault’s death at the Matanzas massacre, south of St. Augustine., (Caption at upper right): This painting by Jacques le Moyne, an artist with the French expedition to colonize Florida in 1564, shows the expedition’s leader, René de Laundonnière, standing with a Timucuan chief, Athore. Le Moyne’s caption described the Timucuans as “worshiping the stone as an idol.”
Marker Sponsor and Install Date for New France
Placed by National Park Service – U.S. Department of the Interior.
Maps & Location Views
Using mapping services from Google, we can show detailed location maps and street views if they are available.
Sometimes you will be able to see the New France Marker in Google Maps. A 360-degree view of the area near the marker is available on the link below. You can see the marker or monument and read it in many cases.
The History of Jacksonville

More than a century before the Pilgrims set foot at Plymouth Rock, in 1513, Florida began its modern-day history, of which Orlando is a part.
During this period, Florida was still part of the United States Territory and not yet a state; therefore, many Native American tribes occupied land throughout Central Florida, including Seminole Indians who had migrated there from Georgia during the First Seminole War (1817-1818).
In 1838, the U.S. Army built Fort Gatlin south of the present-day Orlando City limits to protect settlers from attacks by Indians during the Second Seminole War. During the Civil War, Orlando’s role included supplying the Confederacy with food, cattle, and horses from the vast plantations in the region.
Today Orlando is recognized as a global tourist attraction and entertainment city
About the Florida Historical Marker Program
One of the most well-known and noticeable public history initiatives of the Division of Historical Resources is the Florida Historical Marker Program. It is intended to increase residents’ and visitors’ enjoyment of Florida’s historic places and to increase public knowledge of the state’s rich cultural past.
About Floridamarkers.com & Florida Historical Markers Near Jacksonville New France
This experimental site tests the functionality and capabilities of Programmatic SEO. This site is attempting a new method that helps to improve search engine visibility by creating dedicated landing pages at a large scale. Thumbwind Publications LLC owns this site.