Florida, Spanish Land Grants, 1763-1821

What is in This Collection?

The collection, Florida Spanish Land Grants, 1763–1821, contains maps and property records associated with the transfer of Florida from Spain to the United States in 1821. Spanish rulers granted settlers areas of land in Florida to encourage settlement. As part of the treaty that transferred Florida to the United States, the United States agreed to honor all Spanish Land Grants. In 1822, the Board of Land Commissioners was established to verify titles and claims to land in East and West Florida. The board confirmed or rejected these claims, as claimants had to prove their ownership. The records are in folders containing one or more papers related to a person or families claim to a tract of land. Supporting documents in the folders may include petitions or memorials to a governor for land; survey or plats; attests; deeds of sale, gifts wills bequests, and exchanges; applications; and translations of Spanish documents (not all documents were translated). Claimants had to provide a description of land granted; date of grant; size of grant; property boundaries; and proof of residency and cultivation. Therefore, these records may contain surveys and plats, copies of royal grants, testimonials, correspondence, deeds, wills, and translations of Spanish documents. Many grants conflict and overlap with each other, so not all information is accurate. Some surveys were not verified. The original records are located at the State Archives of Florida in Tallahassee.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Land Grants

• Primary owners name
• Second owners name
• Geographic location of the property
• Date of Grant or filing
• Status of the claim (confirmed or unconfirmed)