Historians Say America’s First Thanksgiving Happened in Florida — Not Plymouth

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Move over, Pilgrims. New research and long-established records are reminding Americans that the nation’s first Thanksgiving didn’t take place in Massachusetts in 1621 — it happened 56 years earlier in what is now Florida.

According to historians, the earliest known communal thanksgiving feast in what would become the United States was celebrated on September 8, 1565, when Spanish settlers led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed on the shores of St. Augustine and held a thanksgiving mass to mark their safe arrival.

After the ceremony, the Spanish explorers and the local Timucua people shared a meal — an event that predates the Plymouth feast by more than half a century and challenges long-held popular narratives about the origins of the American holiday.

A Menu Far From Turkey and Pumpkin Pie

Unlike the iconic images of roast turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie associated with the Pilgrims’ 1621 celebration, the St. Augustine feast featured a decidedly Mediterranean and maritime menu.

Historical accounts describe a spread that likely included:

• Salt pork

• Garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

• Ship biscuits (hardtack)

• Red wine brought aboard the Spanish vessels

• Local seafood and game possibly contributed by the Timucua

The meal was humble, hearty, and — by definition — a thanksgiving feast.

A Forgotten Chapter in American History

For decades, textbooks and cultural traditions have credited the Pilgrims with hosting the “first Thanksgiving.” But scholars note that the Spanish carried a tradition of thanksgiving masses and communal meals throughout their explorations of the New World.

St. Augustine, founded that same year, holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the United States — and its early records make clear that a day of thanks was part of its very beginning.

A Friendly Feud Over Thanksgiving’s True Home

The revelation has sparked a good-natured historical rivalry. While New Englanders point to the Pilgrims’ harvest celebration as the symbolic foundation of modern Thanksgiving, Floridians counter with documentation that their ancestors did it first — and with a menu that would make any modern foodie raise an eyebrow.

And it seems some traditions never die. Witnesses to history joke that the Spaniards and Timucua likely ended the day with the same debate that continues to divide American households today:
Is it stuffing or dressing?

Reframing the American Story

While the St. Augustine feast hasn’t displaced the Plymouth narrative in popular culture, historians hope the renewed focus encourages Americans to view Thanksgiving as a multilayered tradition, shaped by Indigenous peoples, Spanish explorers, English settlers, and centuries of evolving customs.

What is clear, they say, is that the first known feast of thanks in America didn’t involve buckle-hatted Pilgrims in New England — it started with garbanzo beans, salt pork, and a prayer under the hot Florida sun.

The Forgotten Feast and the Politics of Memory

Why did Plymouth become the center of the Thanksgiving story while St. Augustine faded into historical shadow?

Historians point to several forces:

1. English-Centric Narratives

Early American education systems were built on English colonial heritage, sidelining Spanish and Indigenous histories.

2. The Power of Mythmaking

The Pilgrims’ tale offered a tidy, harmonious symbol for a divided nation — especially when President Abraham Lincoln needed unity during the Civil War.

3. A Less Palatable Reality

The Spanish-Timucua relationship was complex, fraught, and far less convenient for nation-building mythology.

But facts, once resurfaced, have a way of demanding attention.

Voices Rising From the Past

Today, St. Augustine historians, archaeologists, and descendants of Indigenous communities are working to correct the record.

“We’re not rewriting history,” says Dr. Ortega.
“We’re restoring it.”

Artifacts uncovered in the last decade — including Spanish cookware, Timucua tools, and early religious items — support the narrative of a shared meal rooted in both necessity and diplomacy.

Some historians believe the event might have included tense moments, cultural misunderstandings, and the fragile beginnings of an alliance that would later erode. But that complexity, they say, is precisely what makes the story real.

A New Understanding of an Old Holiday

As Thanksgiving approaches each year, millions of Americans imagine Pilgrims and turkey-laden tables. But behind that comforting tradition stands another story — older, hotter, saltier, and far less sanitized.

A story of:

• exhausted sailors

• Indigenous hosts

• a shoreline ceremony

• and a pot of garbanzo beans simmering under the Florida sun

The truth is simple:

**America’s first Thanksgiving didn’t happen in New England.

It happened right here — in St. Augustine — and we’ve overlooked it for more than 450 years.**

And now, finally, the forgotten feast is stepping back into the light.