City Gates

The history of Saint Augustine Florida being the oldest European city in the United States.  The area was first visited by Ponce de Leon in 1513, but it was Juan Menendez de Aviles who established the first settlement, almost half a century before the first English settlers landed at Jamestown St. Augustine grew to become the Spanish center of power in North America for almost 200 years.

The Settlers encountered the problems that all colonists in America had to endure: a history of wars with the British, French and Native Americans, famine, plagues and one unique problem hurricanes.  In 1672 the Spanish, under the direction of Queen Mariana, built Castillo de San Marcos, a military fortress, to protect their interest form the ever expanding British Empire.  St. Augustine was attacked twice by the British but the Spanish survived by laying low in the Castillo.

Castillo de San Marcos

The British gained control of the city in 1763 and it remained loyal to Britain during the Revolutionary War.  It was briefly returned to the Spanish in 1784 because of a provision of the Treaty of Paris.   The Spanish who had left during British occupation came back and tried to return the city to it’s former self but were trhwarted by the decline of Spanish fortuneseverywhere.

The Spanish sold Florida to America in 1821 and left the city.  St. Augustine prospered during the Seminole war of the 1830′s due to its military involvement in the war.  The city’s road systems began to improve and the population flourished.  Henry Flagler came to the city and was so impressed that he invested in St Augustine’s restoration and development as a winter restort.  Mr. Flagler contributed some of the cities grandest architecture, such as the Alcazar Hotel (now the Lightner Museum), the Cordova, and the Ponce de Leon (now Flagler College).

The heart of St. Augustine today retains the distinctive plan of a 16th century Spanish Colonial walled town, much of which has been preserved or restored.  The numerous remaining colonial buildings in the historic district present an impressive array of architecture from 1703 to 1898.