Turnbull Grand Canal

The Turnbull Grand Canal, also known as the Grand Canal, was built by indentured servants brought to the area by Scottish physician Dr. Andrew Turnbull in 1768. As part of the largest single attempt at British colonization in North America, Smyrnea Settlement, Turnbull attracted more than 1,400 Minorcans, Corsicans, Greeks, and Italians who sought the promise of new opportunities in Florida.

Turnbull was impressed by the Egyptian canal system and wanted to replicate it in Smyrnea. Three canals ran east-west and were linked with a fourth, longer canal known as the Grand Canal that ran north-south and connected to Turnbull Bay. These hand-dug canals provided irrigation and drainage for rice, hemp, cotton, and indigo crops, and served as a mode of transportation within the colony.

After nine years of harsh treatment under Turnbull, drought, and crop failures, the colony’s population fell to about 600 people. In 1777, a group of Smyrnea colonists walked 70 miles to St. Augustine to petition British East Florida Governor Patrick Tonyn for release from their indentures. After hearing the case, Governor Tonyn gave them their freedom and granted them land north of St. Augustine.