Fort San Juan ( Joara ) Fort San Juan was a 16th – century fort built by the Spanish under the command of conquistador Juan Pardo in the native village of Joara , in what is now Burke County , North Carolina . Used as an outpost for Pardo ' s expedition into the interior of what was known to the Spaniards as " la Florida " , Fort San Juan served as one of six forts throughout modern – day North and South Carolina and Tennessee that were established to extend Spain ' s effective control further in the North American continent . In 1568 , natives from Joara and the region surrounding the fort razed the Spanish settlement . The fort is now recognized has having been the earliest European settlement in the interior of what is now the United States of America . After the fort ' s destruction , its exact location was lost . During the summer of 2013 , archaeologists affiliated with the University of Michigan , Tulane University and Warren Wilson College announced that they had discovered the location of a defensive moat believed to belong to Fort San Juan . Joara and the Pardo expedition . In 1566 , a fleet under the command of Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established the coastal town of Santa Elena on what is now Parris Island in South Carolina . Santa Elena was established to be the headquarters for further Spanish expeditions into the interior of North America , and in this vein , Avilés ordered conquistador Juan Pardo to explore the interior of the new territory , and to find an overland route to Spain ' s silver - rich holdings in Zacatecas , Mexico , located at that time in the Viceroyalty of New Spain . Pardo ' s expedition set out from Santa Elena in December , 1566 , and followed the routes of the Congaree and Wateree Rivers up to the native city of Cofitachequi , which had been visited 26 years prior by Hernando de Soto . The expedition then continued to follow the course of the Wateree past where it becomes the Catawba River ( in modern - day naming conventions ) , arriving at the Native American city of Joara ( spelled " Xuala " in later Spanish maps ) in 1567 . By 1567 , Joara had been occupied consistently since the 15th century A . D . Establishment of the Fort . Pardo ' s expedition was forced to stop at Joara for an extended period of time due to heavy snowfall in the Blue Ridge Mountains , which prevented their forward movement . During their two week stay at Joara , Pardo ' s men constructed Fort San Juan in the style of a blockhouse , and possibly alos utilized a palisade and moat . Further expeditions from Fort San Juan . After two weeks at Joara , Pardo left a garrison of 30 Spanish soldiers at the newly built fort under the command of Hernando Moyano de Morales . Pardo and the remaining Spaniards headed east , exploring away from the Catawba River , towards the modern - day city of Salisbury . While exploring in that direction , Pardo received word that Santa Elena was being threatened by a French expedition . Pardo began the return march to Santa Elena , leaving Moyano without support at Fort San Juan . Pardo returned to Santa Elena on March 7 , 1567 . Meanwhile , Moyano set out on an expedition through the mountains toward the Native village of Chiaha . Pardo was tasked again with returning to Fort San Juan and locating a road to Zacatecas . Upon reaching Joara , on September 24 , 1567 , Pardo received word that Moyano was under attack from a force of Native Americans at Chiaha . Pardo arrived at that town on October 7 , 1567 , and retrieved Moyano and his men , returning with them to Fort San Juan on November 6 , 1567 . Destruction . After resting and replenishing supplies at Fort San Juan for two weeks , Pardo and his men began their return voyage to Santa Elena , leaving a garrison of 31 men at the fort . Along the way back to the coast , Pardo constructed several more forts , including one named Santiago and another named Santo Tomás . Pardo arrived at Santa Elena on March 2 , 1568 , and never again returned to the interior of the continent . The fate of the Spanish garrison at Fort San Juan is not exactly known , but it is known that in May , 1568 , a contingent of Native Americans laid siege to the fort , lured out its garrison , and killed the Spaniards , with the exception of one , Juan de Badejoz , who claimed to have escaped and hidden in the woods . Subsequent to its destruction , the occupants of Joara constructed a ceremonial mound over the site of the Fort . Archaeological work and Location . Joara ' s location has been long disputed , but several archaeologists and researchers , including Robin Beck of the University of Michigan , believe that evidence uncovered at the " Berry Site " , an archaeological site centered on the remains of a large Native American settlement in Burke County , North Carolina , definitively demonstrates that that site contains a portion of Joara . Previously , scholars believed that the site of Joara may have been located near the Qualla Boundary in Swain County , North Carolina , or elsewhere in the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina or Tennessee , between Knoxville and the Catawba River . Commemoration and current status . Despite being unsure of the fort ' s exact location at the time , in 2008 , the State of North Carolina erected a highway historical marker commemorating the fort in Morganton , North Carolina . Excavation work at and educational outreach concerning the site is supported by the nonprofit Exploring Joara Foundation .