Place Information
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St. Augustine is a city in St. Johns County, Florida, in the United States. It lies in a region of Florida known as The First Coast, which extends from Amelia Island in the north south to Jacksonville, St. Augustine and Palm Coast. According to the 2000 census, the city population was 11,592; in 2004, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau was 12,157 [1]. It is the county seat of St. Johns County. It is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the United States.
History
St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish. The first Christian worship service held in a permanent settlement in the current United States was a Catholic Mass celebrated in St. Augustine. A few settlements were founded prior to St. Augustine but all failed, including the original Pensacola colony in West Florida (founded 1559), with the area abandoned in 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes, and Fort Caroline in what is today Jacksonville, Florida in 1564. The city was founded by the Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés on August 28, 1565, the feast day of Augustine of Hippo, and consequently named by him San Agustín. Martin de Arguelles was born here one year later in 1566, the first child of European ancestry to be born in what is now the mainland United States. This came 21 years before the English settlement at Roanoke Island, in Virginia Colony, and 42 years before the successful settlements of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Jamestown, Virginia. In 1586 St. Augustine was attacked and burned by Sir Francis Drake. In 1668 it was plundered by pirates and most of the inhabitants were killed. In 1702 and 1740 it was unsuccessfully attacked by British forces from their new colonies in the Carolinas and Georgia. The most serious of these came in the latter year, when James Oglethorpe of Georgia allied himself with Ahaya the Cowkeeper, chief of the Alachua band of the Seminole tribe to lay siege to the city.
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War and gave Florida and St. Augustine to the British, an acquisition the British had been unable to take by force and keep due to the strong fort there. St. Augustine came under British rule and served as a Loyalist (pro-British) colony during the American Revolutionary War. A Treaty of Paris in 1783 gave the American colonies north of Florida their independence, and ceded Florida to Spain in recognition of Spanish success during the war. Florida was under Spanish control again from 1784 to 1821. During this time, Spain was being invaded by Napoleon and was struggling to retain its colonies. Florida no longer held its past importance to Spain. The expanding United States, however, regarded Florida as vital to its interests. In 1821, the Adams-Onís Treaty peaceably turned the Spanish colonies in Florida and, with them, St. Augustine, over to the United States.
Florida was a United States territory until 1845 when it became a U.S. state. In 1861, the American Civil War began and Florida seceded from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Days before Florida seceded, state troops took the fort at St. Augustine from a small Union garrison (January 7, 1861). However, federal troops loyal to the United States Government quickly reoccupied the city (March 11, 1862) and remained in control throughout the four-year-long war. In 1865, Florida rejoined the United States. Spanish Colonial era buildings still existing in the city include the fortress Castillo de San Marcos. The fortress successfully repelled the British attacks of the 18th century, was occupied by Union troops during the American Civil War, and later served as a prison for the Native American leader Osceola. It is now the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. In the late 19th century the railroad came to town, and led by northeastern industrialist Henry Flagler, St. Augustine became a winter resort for the very wealthy. A number of mansions and palatial grand hotels of this era still exist, some converted to other use, such as housing parts of Flagler College and museums. Flagler went on to develop much more of Florida's east coast, including his Florida East Coast Railway which eventually reached Key West in 1912. The city is a popular tourist attraction, for the rich Spanish Colonial Revival Style architectural heritage as well as elite 19th century architecture. In 1938 the theme park Marineland opened just south of St. Augustine, becoming one of Florida's first themed parks and setting the stage for the development of this industry in the following decades. Research ResourcesLocal Societies and AssociationsSt. Augustine Historical Society The St. Augustine Historical Society maintains a research library with collections that include:
Library hours 9:00 am to 4:30 pm Tuesday through Friday. Menorcan Cultural Society The Menorcan Cultural Society members trace their lineage to the failed New Smyrna colony founded by Andrew Turnbull in 1768. Many survivors of that colony found shelter in St. Augustine and their descendants live in the St. Augustine area today. Fort Mose Historical Society Fort Mose is the first settlement of free ex-slaves and was founded just north of St. Augustine in 1738. The Fort Mose Historical Society works to preserve the history of this settlement and its people. St. Augustine Genealogical Society The St. Augustine Genealogical Society meets monthly at the Southeast Branch Public Library located on U.S. 1 South. They have catalogued the local cemeteries as part of the RootsWeb Cemetery Records project.
Military HistorySt. Augustine National Cemetery is located at 104 Marine Street just south of St. Francis Barracks, headquarters of the Florida National Guard. The first interment is recorded in 1828. Burials included casualties from the Seminole Wars and the Spanish American War. More information on this cemetery can be obtained at the Veterans Association and RootsWeb. The Florida National Guard web site includes a Heritage Center section with a history of "Florida's Army". Included in this section:
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