A near full-scale rendering of the fort was created to memorialize the 16th Century French effort to establish a permanent colony in Florida. After initial exploration in 1562, a colony was established in 1564, only to be eliminated by Spanish forces from nearby St. Augustine in 1565. Exhibits in the National Park Service's Visitors Center provide information on the history of the first European settlement on the American mainland, the French colony's interaction with the native Timucuans and the colonists' brief struggle for survival.