Matanzas Inlet
{{short description|Ocean inlet in Florida, US}}
File:Matanzas Inlet Aerial view.jpg and St. Augustine]]
Matanzas Inlet is a channel in Florida between two barrier islands and the mainland, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the south end of the Matanzas River. It is {{convert|14|mi|km}} south of St. Augustine, in the southern part of St. Johns County. The inlet is not stabilized by jetties, and thus is subject to shifting. It is the last remaining natural or undredged inlet on the Atlantic coast of Florida. {{cite web | access-date=2024-05-17 | url= https://www.nps.gov/places/000/matanzas-inlet-river.htm | title=Matanzas Inlet/River, Fort Matanzas National Monument| website=www.nps.gov/places/000/matanzas-inlet-river.htm}}
Historic maps made by Spanish military engineers in the 18th century show that the inlet today has moved many hundreds of yards south of its location during the time of the Spanish Empire. In 1740, a British invasion force from Fort Frederica, Georgia blockaded this inlet, the southernmost access for boat travel between St. Augustine and Havana, Cuba. Shortly thereafter, in 1742, a coquina stone tower {{convert|50|ft|m}} square by {{convert|30|ft|m}} high, now called Fort Matanzas, was built by the Spanish authorities in Florida to safeguard this strategic inlet.
Origin of name
René Goulaine de Laudonnière founded Fort Caroline in what is now Jacksonville, in 1564, as a haven for Huguenot settlers. In response to the French encroachment on what Spain regarded as its territory, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine in 1565. Menéndez de Avilés quickly set out to attack Fort Caroline, traveling overland from St. Augustine. At the same time, the French sailed from Fort Caroline, intending to attack St. Augustine from the sea. The Spanish overwhelmed the lightly defended Fort Caroline, sparing only the women and children, although some 25 men were able to escape. The French fleet was driven off course by a storm, and many of the ships wrecked on the coast south of St. Augustine.{{cite book|author=Charlton W. Tebeau|title=A History of Florida|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1kMTAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Matanzas%20Inlet%22|date=1 January 1971|publisher=University of Miami Press|isbn=978-0-87024-149-9|page=35}} When the Spanish found the main group of the French shipwreck survivors, Menéndez de Avilés ordered all of the Huguenots executed. The location became known as Matanzas (Spanish for "slaughters").{{cite book|author=David J. Weber|title=The Spanish Frontier in North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KOPdX2qaVrkC&pg=PA62|year=1992|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-05917-5|page=62}}{{cite book|author=John William Reps|title=The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ES4m9SedVZkC&pg=PA33|year=1965|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-00618-0|pages=32–33}}
References
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External links
{{coord|29|42|21|N|81|13|42|W|display=title}}
- {{Cite GNIS|308021|Matanzas Inlet|February 18, 2006}}
{{Coastal Waters of Florida}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matanzas Inlet}}
Category:Bodies of water of St. Johns County, Florida