Fort St. George (Popham Colony)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Hunt's map
John Hunt's map

Fort St. George was built in 1607 by Popham Colony near Sabino Head, ten miles/15 kilometres south of what is now Bath, Maine, United States. It was abandoned after a year of occupation and is now an archaeological site. [1]

John Hunt, a draughtsman present at the fort when it was built, drew a map showing[2] a star-shaped fort including ditches and ramparts, a storehouse, a chapel and more than fifteen structures. It contained nine guns that ranged in size from demi-culverin to falcon. As a result of espionage by the Spanish ambassador to London, Pedro de Zuniga, the map was passed to King Philip III of Spain, in 1608.[3] It was found in 1888 in a Spanish archive. [4] It is unique as the only plan of an initial English settlement in the Americas known to survive.

[edit] References