EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS FREE BLACK SETTLEMENT; ARTIFACTS FROM THE 250-YEAR-OLD SETTLEMENT ARE ON DISPLAY AT THE FLORIDA ADVENTURE MUSEUM IN PUNTA GORDA.(LOCAL/STATE)

Byline: Rodney Crouther STAFF WRITER

The site sits a few miles north of St. Augustine, just a mile or so off of U.S. 1 in northeast Florida, but until about a decade ago, only a handful of people knew it existed.

Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, a North Florida settlement and fort, may have been the first, legally sanctioned free black settlement in what is now the United States.

More than 250 years ago it was a haven for early runaway slaves and the first line of defense for Spanish Florida against the British colonies. Now, Fort Mose (pronounced "Mo-zay"), or parts of it at least, has come to Punta Gorda.

The exhibit, "Fort Mose: …