The Spanish missions in Georgia comprised a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholics in order to spread the Christian doctrine among the Guale and various Timucua peoples in what is now southeastern Georgia.
Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout Spanish Florida in order to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France. Spanish Florida originally included much of what is now the Southeastern United States, although Spain never exercised long-term effective control over more than the northern part of what is now the state of Florida from present-day St. Augustine to the area around Tallahassee, southeastern Georgia, and some coastal settlements, such as Pensacola, Florida. A few short-lived missions were established in other locations, including Mission Santa Elena in present-day South Carolina, around the Florida peninsula, and in the interior of Georgia and Alabama.
Missions
This table includes doctrinas, missions that normally had one or more resident missionaries, but does not include visitas, which never had a resident missionary, and had less substantial church buildings where services were conducted by visiting missionaries.
+Spanish missions in the present-day US state of Georgia Mission NameLocation Provinceor Region Documentation of when missions were active is incomplete. Years listed in this column may not represent either the earliest or the latest year in which a mission was in use. References Espogache Guale 1605–? Guale 31.62534, -81.17348 Guale 1568–1570 Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Tolomato Guale 1587–1597, 1605–? Ospo or Talapo Guale 1595–1606 San Augustín de Urihica Northern Utina 1630-1657 San Buenaventura de Guadalquini (moved to St. Johns River as Santa Cruz de Guadalquini) 31.13393, -81.39363 Guale/Mocama 1606-1684 San Diego de Satuache 31.89, -81.20083 Guale 1616–1675 San Felipe de Alabe Guale 1616–1655 San Felipe (on Cumberland Island) Mocama 1675–1678 San Joseph de Sapala or San José de Zapala( Sapelo Island) 31.51544, -81.24218 Guale 1616–1684 San Lorenzo de Ibihica Ibi 1612–1630 San Pedro de Atulteca or San Felipe de Athulteca Guale 1616–1695 San Pedro de Mocama (Cumberland Island)30.75415, -81.47263 Mocama 1587–1655(?) San Pedro y San Pablo de Puturiba(to) Guale 1597(?)–1604(?) Santa Catalina de Guale (St. Catherines Island, Sapelo Island and Amelia Island, in succession) 31.62534, -81.17348 (on St. Catherines Island) Guale 1595–1597,1602–1702 Santa Clara de Tupiqui (Sapelo River) Guale 1595–1597 Santa Cruz de Cachipile30.66337, -83.20622 Arapaha 1655–1657 Santa Isabel de Utinahica Unknown 1616 Santa María de los Angeles de Arapaha Arapaha 1630–1657 Santiago de Oconi (near the Okefenokee Swamp) Oconi Early 16th century - 1655 Santo Domingo de Asao or Santo Domingo de Talaje31.36433, -81.41751 (on the mainland) Guale 1595(?)–1680s Tupiqui Guale 1569–1570
See also History of Georgia Missions in Spanish Florida Viceroyalty of New Spain — Spanish colonial North America Spanish Louisiana — colonial region
Notes
References
Sources
External links "Spanish Missions" in The New Georgia Encyclopedia