First Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts? Some say it's this popular city in Florida

Need a fresh conversation starter during Thanksgiving dinner?

How about this: Ask where the first Thanksgiving in North America was celebrated.

Was it in 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, as is commonly believed and taught? Or was the first day of thanks celebrated even earlier and somewhere else?

Maybe even in Florida? Here's what we know about the first Thanksgiving.

Was there a Thanksgiving service in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565?

Fifty-six years before the Pilgrims sat down for a three-day feast in Massachusetts, a Thanksgiving feast was held in Florida.

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, along with 800 Spanish settlers, founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish La Florida in 1565.

As soon as they came ashore, the landing party celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving. Afterward, Menéndez laid out a meal on Sept. 8, 1565, and invited the native Seloy tribe, according to the National Park Service.

This was the first community act of religion and thanksgiving in the first permanent European settlement in North America, the park service said.

Many historians agree, saying this Florida celebration may have been the true site of the first Thanksgiving in North America, according to History.com.

Was the first North American Thanksgiving celebrated in Newfoundland in 1578?

A Thanksgiving service held by Europeans in North America occurred on May 27, 1578, in Newfoundland, according to the Smithsonian, and 13 years after the event recorded in St. Augustine.

English explorer Martin Frobisher landed in the area 1578 as he searched for the Northwest Passage. The Thanksgiving service was held to give thanks for his safe arrival in the New World, according to Archival Moments.

Thanksgiving was not declared a national holiday in Canada until 1879.

Maine lays claim to Thanksgiving 14 years before Massachusetts celebration

The Popham Colony in Maine held a “harvest feast and prayer meeting” with Abenaki people, according to the Library of Congress.

The colony struggled from the beginning and was abandoned after a year, but not before the feast of 1607 with local Natives.

Virginia also lays claim to title of first Thanksgiving in America

Just over a year before the Pilgrims' celebration in Plymouth, a group of English settlers led by Capt. John Woodlief landed at what is known today as Berkeley Plantation.

In the same year, Jamestown colonists gave thanks for their safe arrival, and another service was held in 1610 when a supply ship arrived after a harsh winter.

After landing on the shores of the James River, they gave thanks for their safe passage.

"There was no traditional meal, no lovefest with Native Americans, no turkey. America’s first Thanksgiving was about prayer, not food," according to the Washingtonian.

A declaration was made that their arrival in what is now Virginia “be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.”

That lasted for two years, until Powhatan attacked, killing 347. Soon after, the settlement was abandoned and "Virginia’s first Thanksgiving was lost to history."

Texas points to history − twice − to lay claim to where first Thanksgiving was held

El Paso residents claim the first Thanksgiving in North America occurred in Texas.

Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate ordered a day of thanksgiving on April 30, 1598, after surviving a grueling expedition, according to Texas Almanac.

There's a second Texas claim.

The Texas Society of Daughters of the American Colonists placed a marker just outside Canyon. It declared the expedition of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in May 1541 celebrated the first feast of Thanksgiving in Palo Duro Canyon, well before Menéndez arrived in what is now St. Augustine.

So who's 'right' on the location of the first Thanksgiving?

“Florida, Texas, Maine and Virginia each declare itself the site of the First Thanksgiving and historical documents support the various claims,’’ according to an article published on Plimoth Plantation’s website.

“We are historically aware of them, but none of those other events contributed to this holiday as we know it in the slightest,’’ said Richard Pickering, deputy director of Plimoth Plantation.

“Yes, these other events occurred, but emotionally and traditionally this holiday began in New England, and we took it to the rest of the country.’’

Were there really two Thanksgivings?

Yes.

Was there a Thanksgiving in August?

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared two national Thanksgivings.

The first was on Thursday, Aug. 6, 1863, following the Union's victory at Gettysburg.

The second was Lincoln's official declaration of Thanksgiving as a nationwide holiday, to be observed on the last Thursday of every November. This is the one we celebrate today.

Celebrating Thanksgiving in the U.S.

1777: After British General John Burgoyne surrendered to the Americans in October 1777, the Continental Congress suggested a national day be set aside to recognize the victory.

Commander of the Continental Army, Gen. George Washington agreed, proclaiming Dec. 18, 1777, as the first national thanksgiving day. The Continental Congress supported similar thanksgiving proclamations through 1784.

1789: President George Washington issued a proclamation designating Nov. 26 as a national day of thanksgiving to recognize the role of providence in creating the new United States and the new federal Constitution. The "Day of Publick Thanksgivin" didn't establish a permanent federal holiday.

1863: President Lincoln issued a proclamation making Thanksgiving an official annual holiday to be commemorated each year on the last Thursday of November.

1939: To stimulate economic recovery, President Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to the second to the last Thursday of the month to extend the holiday shopping season after the last Thursday fell on the last day of the month. Thirty-two states issued similar proclamations but 16 states kept the holiday on the last Thursday.

1941: To alleviate confusion, Congress passed and President Roosevelt signed established Thanksgiving Day as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida claims Thanksgiving holiday originated in St. Augustine