Of the three European countries vying for control of what would become the United States; Spain was the first to establish a colony more than 40 years before the English founded Jamestown. Three monuments tell the rich story of colonial Spain in the South. Monuments in this Program: Fort Matanzas and Castillo de San Marcos National Monuments - These two monuments tell the rise and fall of the Spanish Empire in what would become the United States (Florida), Fort Frederica National Monument - Today a colonial ghost town, where the pivotal battle between English Colonists and Spanish colonists took place (Georgia)