A Walk Through St. Augustine - The Oldest Continuously Inhabited
City in the United States
On our way home from Orlando, a little more than an hour into
our 20+ hour road trip back to Toronto, we stopped in St.
Augustine, "the nation's oldest city", just north of
Jacksonville - indeed the oldest continuously occupied European
settlement in the United States, having been founded by the
Spanish in 1565.
St. Augustin's founder, Don Pedro Menendez, came ashore on
September 8, 1565, and chose to name the settlement after the
patron saint whose feast day coincided with the day of landing.
Of course, before the Spanish ever set foot on Florida soil, the
Timacuan Indians had already been here and they watched Menendez
and the roughly 1500 colonists and soldiers settle here. Over
the last few centuries the city experienced governments from
different countries, including Spain, Britain, and since 1821,
the United States.
The real rise of this community came in the late 1800s when
Henry Flagler (1830 to 1913) built two hotels and took over a
third as part of the Flagler hotel chain. Flagler was the
co-founder of Standard Oil, and although not as well known as
some of the other early magnates of capitalism, he was one of
the wealthiest individuals of his time. Flagler had a major
impact on Florida: he founded the Florida East Coast Railway as
a means of transporting guests to and from the north to his
hotels in St. Augustine, Palm Beach, and Miami. A honeymoon
visit to St. Augustine in 1881 with his second wife inspired
Flagler's vision to transform this sleepy town into a winter
playground for the rich.
Three of Flagler's former St. Augustine hotels are still in use
today: Flagler College (the former Hotel Ponce de Leon), the
Lightner Building - St. Augustine's City Hall (the former
Alcazar) and Casa Monica, redone as a county courthouse in the
1960s, and reopened in 1990 as the restored Casa Monica Hotel.
During the late 19th and early 20th century Flagler also
developed a residential neighbourhood called the Model Land
Company tract.
Within a few short years Flagler's dream of a resort town for
northerners faded and he, and the wealthy northern visitors,
moved further south. He continued to develop the Florida East
Coast Railroad down the peninsula, into and across the Florida
Keys, creating hotels and communities along the way.
St. Augustine is centered around the Plaza de la Constitucion,
which anchors the Lightner Museum / City Hall, Casa Monica and
Flagler College, three stunningly beautiful structures. Located
in the former Alcazar Hotel, the Lightner Museum houses
collections of legendary hobbyist and antiques collector Otis
Lightner.
St. Augustine has a wealth of other historic and architecturally
interesting structures. The most historically significant
structure in St. Augustine is the Castillo de San Marcos, built
by the Spanish between 1672 and 1695. The 19th century
Lighthouse Museum is located in the St. Augustine Lighthouse on
Anastasia Island east of town across the Bridge of Lions. St.
Augustine also houses the oldest store in town dating to the
turn of the last century. Talking about old buildings, St.
Augustine is home to the Gonzalez-Alvarez House, dating back to
1727, known as the "Oldest House Complex", a National Historic
Landmark.
The Mission of Nombre de Dios is located on the west bank of
Matanzas Bay, and it is said to have been the site of the first
Catholic Mass in what is today the United States. The Spanish
Quarter Village is a living history museum composed of a
collection of colonial period houses where guides recreate the
dress and lifestyle as seen in 1740.
Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth National Archaeological Park
exhibits foundations and artifacts of the first St. Augustine
mission and colony. It also houses the Landmark Spring,
Explorers Globe and Navigators' Planetarium. St. Augustine also
houses the Oldest Drug Store and the nation's Oldest Wooden
Schoolhouse, built more than 200 years ago while Florida was
under Spain's rule.
Unfortunately we did not have a chance to explore St. Augustine
in detail, but our brief excursion into this historic city
quickly proved what a unique destination St. Augustine really
is. As a matter of fact, the city welcomes around 2 million
visitors every year who come to discover a unique historic part
of America. A settlement with authentic Spanish roots, complete
with Castillo and all, is a truly unique sight in the U.S. and
it was definitely worth the detour.