Located on the rear of the monument are four information panels detailing the history of the site as well as a plaque dedicated to the archaeologists who have worked on the site. Mounted above the plaque is a brick taken from a Spanish pottery kiln located near the golf club house. This kiln is the oldest known European pottery kiln discovered in the United States. When excavated it was found to contained many unique pots that gave tremendous insight to the lifestyle of the early Spanish settlers. Near the monument is Fort San Marcos, the Spanish fort that defended Santa Elena from 1577 to 1587.
Concrete blocks mark the fort's outline.
In the center of the fort is a monument to Jean Ribaut and the French Huguenots. For centuries Ribaut's Charlesfort was confused with the Spanish fort, and in 1926, after an archaeological excavation seemed to prove that the site was Charlesfort, the marker was dedicated. But excavations carried out by the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology have confirmed that the site is that of Fort San Marcos. Archaeologist now place the site of Charlesfort within the remains of Fort San Felipe, a later Spanish fortification. If you stand at the monument and look toward the Parris Island Golf Course you will be looking over an area that was once part of the Spanish Empire.