ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Around every holiday there are articles about the history of that holiday.
Instead of the history of Thanksgiving tracing back to what we may have learned in elementary school, does it trace back to the nation's oldest city? Let's Verify.
THE QUESTION
Did the first Thanksgiving take place in St. Augustine?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, the first Thanksgiving did take place in St. Augustine.
WHAT WE FOUND
According to the National Park Service, Pedro Menéndez and 800 Spanish settlers feasted with the Native Americans in St. Augustine when the Spanish came ashore on September 8, 1565. This was 56 years before "Thanksgiving" in Massachusetts.
Historians Light and Smith tell First Coast News the first Thanksgiving took place on the grounds of what is now the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine and that Spanish documents show this. Light says about 200 Timucua Native Americans showed up.
As for what they ate, the National Park Service and local historians say it was whatever the Spanish brought with them, which was most likely beans and salted pork.