Mission Santa Elena
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Mission Santa Elena was founded on what is present-day Parris Island, South Carolina in the year 1566, near the Spanish Fort San Salvador (later by Fort San Felipe). Never a mission center in the strict sense, Santa Elena nonetheless housed a sizeable community, and became the base of operations for the Jesuits working in the northern zone of Spanish Florida. In 1576, hostilities with the natives of nearby Orista and Escamacu led to the burning of the Spanish settlement and abandonment of the fort, which was also burned. In 1577 the settlement was rebuilt and a new battlement named Fort San Marcos was constructed. The entire settlement was abandoned in the latter half of 1587 when the Spaniards retreated to Florida.
Escamacu natives, Christianized there before the Spaniards abandoned the site in 1587, survived into the early 17th century. In recent years the site has been extensively explored archaeologically.
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