Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who formed settlements away from slavery. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos.
Overview: Pilaklikaha: also known as "Abraham's" Old Town
Fast Fact: "Abraham's Old Town" was named after Abraham, who came to the area after escaping slavery in Pensacola around 1826. Abraham served as a skilled interpreter and the voice of the Seminoles during treaty negotiations with the United States government.
Overview: Fort Mose: The Original Underground Railroad.
Fast Fact: Enslaved people from the Carolina and Georgia vicinity fled servitude and made their way to Spanish Florida. One of the earliest accounts documenting people who escaped enslavement was in 1687, the Spanish governor reported (to the Spanish Crown) the arrival of the first runaway slaves from the English, in Carolina.
Overview: The Negro Fort was located on a bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River.
Fast Fact: Towards the conclusion of the War of 1812, in May 1814, the British warship, Orpheus, was anchored at the mouth of the Apalachicola River and Major Edward Nichols was placed in command of an expedition charged with the recruitment of Indians and blacks to assist the British fight. (Blacks were offered the opportunity to immigrate to the West Indies at the war's end if they wished.) In carrying out these orders, Nicholls built a strong fort in the fall of 1814 on Prospect Bluff, on the eastern bank of the Apalachicola, fifteen miles from its mouth.