Before Plymouth: St. Augustine’s First Thanksgiving in 1565

Long before Thanksgiving became associated with November, a gathering on Florida’s Historic Coast brought Spanish newcomers and local Indigenous people together for a meal. On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine, celebrated a Catholic Mass of thanksgiving with his expedition and invited the residents of Seloy to share food. It happened 56 years before the 1621 harvest gathering at Plymouth.

Today, that history offers a different perspective on a familiar American story—and a reason to explore the waterfront places connected to St. Augustine’s beginnings.

A September Gathering on Florida’s Coast

Menéndez’s expedition included approximately 800 soldiers, sailors and settlers. Their arrival marked the beginning of a Spanish colony, but the place they reached was already home to a Timucua community. Archaeological research at today’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park has documented evidence of Indigenous occupation before the Spanish arrived.

On September 8, Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales, the expedition’s chaplain and St. Augustine’s first pastor, celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving. Afterward, Menéndez hosted a meal and invited the Indigenous residents of Seloy to participate. The religious service and meal became the basis for St. Augustine’s claim to an earlier Thanksgiving.

What Was on the Table?

The menu is one of the most intriguing parts of the story—and one that requires some care.

There is no confirmed list of dishes served that day. Drawing on knowledge of Spanish shipboard provisions, the National Park Service suggests cocido, a stew of salted pork, garbanzo beans and garlic, accompanied by hard sea biscuits and red wine. These foods represent a plausible meal rather than a documented menu.

The Florida Museum of Natural History offers possibilities for local contributions, too. If the Timucua supplied food, it might have included corn, fresh fish, berries or beans. Researchers have found remains of foods eaten at the settlement, but they have not identified archaeological evidence that can be tied specifically to this single gathering.

An Earlier Chapter in Thanksgiving History

So, was St. Augustine home to the first Thanksgiving?

The National Park Service recognizes the 1565 event as a community observance of religion and thanksgiving associated with the founding of a permanent European settlement. It also draws an important distinction: this gathering did not begin the annual national Thanksgiving tradition celebrated today.

Its significance reaches beyond a claim to being first. As Florida Museum researchers explain, the story broadens an account of early American history often centered on English colonies. Here, Spanish colonists and Timucua people were part of an encounter that took place more than half a century before Plymouth’s harvest gathering.

Find the Story in St. Augustine Today

At Mission Nombre de Dios, visitors can explore the religious history connected to Menéndez’s landing. The mission identifies the area near the present Rustic Altar as the location associated with the 1565 Mass. Nearby, the Great Cross commemorates the city’s founding and its Catholic heritage; it was erected during the 1960s as part of St. Augustine’s 400th anniversary observance.

Continue exploring at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, where excavations have revealed evidence associated with Menéndez’s original settlement and the Timucua community that preceded it. Those discoveries connect the founding story to the people who already called this waterfront home.

A visit brings this lesser-known chapter of Thanksgiving history into view: a September religious observance, a shared meal and an encounter between communities at the beginning of Spanish St. Augustine.