Little San Felipe

Little San Felipe. . The small pocket park in the block just south of here is dedicated to the memory of the Menorcan families native to Menorca, an island off the eastern coast of Spain. The Menorcans who immigrated to Florida were indentured laborers of an indigo plantation located in what is today New Smyrna Beach. Due to the harsh living conditions and broken or ignored contracts, the Menorcans revolted against the British owners and relocated to St. Augustine in 1777. , Most of the Menorcan families who lived on Spanish and Cuna Streets originated in an area known as San Felipe near the seaport of Mahon. Thus, this area came to be known as Little San Felipe and was almost entirely Menorcan by 1788. The attached map shows many of the homes where they lived in 1788., Residents of Little San Felipe Quarter were mostly farmers, with some venturing across the Matanzas River becoming fishermen in North Beach, today's Vilano Beach., The northern portion of Spanish Street continues to include residential homes among commercial life in downtown St. Augustine. As of 2020, some descendants of the early Menorcan families still reside on Spanish Street in what was once know a Little San Felipe.