Santa Elena -- Zeroing In on Ground Zero

Santa Elena, a Spanish settlement on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina, was the capital of Spanish Florida from 1566 to 1587. It was established under Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the first governor of Spanish Florida.There had been a number of earlier attempts to establish colonies in the area by both the Spanish and the French.  Thus Santa Elena became the first European Colonial Capital in North America, some 100 years before the Jamestown Colony.