ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Third stop:
​'First Landing' State Park, Va.

By Miguel Pérez

​They call it "First Landing" State Park, giving people who visit the beautiful beaches in the northeast tip of Virginia the impression that this was the site of the first European landing in what is now the United States.

But it isn't. Florida may have something to say about that!

There is a "Ponce de Leon Landing" site in Florida that predates this site by 94 years! Ponce de Leon discovered and named Florida on April 2, 1513.

Virginia's First Landing State Park marks the place where British sailors came ashore on April 26, 1607. So it could be called Virginia's First Landing, or British First Landing. But without such clarity, the park's name is misleading.

This is apparently common in Virginia, where Jamestown is called "America's Birthplace" -- ignoring the birth of St. Augustine, Florida, some 42 years earlier.

While some of the stops I'm making on this road trip will undoubtedly help me produce new chapters for this website, some stops are aimed to help me expand and enhance some of the chapters I have already written, as I turn this website into a textbook.

A few days ago, my stop at Walt Whitman's house game me new information to enhance chapter "12. Whitman's Prophetic Letter." Now, First Landing State Park gives me some paragraphs to add to my chapter on Jamestown and St. Augustine. "2. A Tale of Two Cities." 

So, since we are on a road trip, should we go to the real "first landing" site in Florida? Stay tuned! 

En español:
​Tercera parada: ​Parque estatal 'First Landing'