1565: The Spanish created the first permanent Settlement at St Augustine, Florida
King Phillip II of Spain named Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spain's most experienced admiral, Governor of Florida, and instructed him to explore and to colonize the territory. When Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida, it was August 28, 1565, the Feast Day of St. Augustine. Eleven days later, he and his 600 soldiers and settlers came ashore at the site of the Timucuan Indian village of Seloy with banners flying and trumpets sounding. He hastily fortified the fledgling village and named it St. Augustine.
Utilizing brilliant military maneuvers, Menendez destroyed the French garrison on the St. Johns River and, with the help of a hurricane, also defeated the French fleet. With the coast of Florida firmly in Spanish hands, he then set to work building the town, establishing missions to the Indians for the Church, and exploring the land.
Thus, St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent
1607: Jamestown, Virginia -- First English permanent settlement.In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America's first permanent English colony.
1619: First Slaves from Africa brought to America
1620: Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts settlement - Pilgrims
1623: New Netherlands (New York) - Dutch settlement
1630: 10 year migration to New England - The Great Migration many from England and Ireland
1820: Records of arrivals began: There were passenger lists created prior to 1820 by some State and local authorities. Some are available on line in Ancestry.com. Some records are not there and can be found in books. Not so convenient, I know. This might help those of us that are researching Patrick Cragun. He did jump ship in Boston Harbor, but there may be a local or state record not yet found.
1892: Ellis Island opens as main immigrant processing station