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Just about everything you see in this town is
historic. It is the oldest continuously occupied
European settlement in North America. It was also the
capitol of Florida for 235 years. Here are some of the
places that will show you a bit of history on your
visit.
Downtown Historic District: You can go for a
horse-drawn carriage ride down pedestrian streets in
this area. It re-creates an atmosphere of yesteryear.
Streets here are lined with houses built two centuries
ago and Victorian Houses with broad verandas. There
are many bed and breakfast inns in this area of town.
Gonzalez Alvarez House: This is the oldest house in
town, built in 1723. It's now a museum devoted to the
city's social history. It documents everything from
its spanish Colonial days through the brief period of
British occupation.
The Authenitc Oldest Drugstore, Oldest Store Museum
and Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum: All three of
these are must sees. The drugstore is the authentic
"oldest" of its kind. In fact it does still have a
genuine pharmacy counter. The store museum is a
reconstruction of a turn of the cetery general store.
Ripleys was opened in 1950. It's just a short walk
away from the Fountain of Youth.
Fountain of Youth: This tourist stop is still selling
the legend that this spring was Ponce de Leon's fabled
source of everlasting life. Drink up!
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument: The star
shaped fortress has guarded St.Augustine for more than
300 years. It cost so much to build that the King of
Spain said the walls must have been built with silver.
In fact, the 12 foot thick walls woere made of a
limestone product called coquina. San Marcos is an
otustanding example of military design. Spanish
engineers embellished basic squares by adding diamond
shaped bastions at each corner. This made attackers
were vulnerable to crossfire. You can take daily tours
through the monument to learn more about the
construction and what it was like for those how lived
there. The rangers who lead them explain everything
from gun placements to the sanitary sytems. From
Memorial Day to Labor day, the two cannons are fired
on the weekends. Throughout the year there are special
themed events with volunteers in historical costumes.
Public Burying Ground: Some call it the Huguenot
Cemetery, but it was the graveyard for any
Protestants, not just French immigrants.
City Gate: Cross the street from the burying ground
and you will see one this gate, which is one of the
original entrances to the town since 1718. The wall
was made of earth, palm logs, coquina stone, cactus
and the sharp pointed Spanish bayonet plants.
Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse & Spanish Quarter Village:
Plan to spend extra time in the museum because it
involves a complex of buildings and gardens where
costumed interpreters explain how life was lived in
old St. Augustine. Two cultures are represented in
this presentation. First, the workaday world of the
Spanish settlement in the 1740s. Second, at the Peso
de Burgo-Pellicer House, you'll see how farmworers
from Minorca lived. In 1777 about 600 settlers left
the plantations about 75 north of St. Augustine and
came to this village. Here they plead with the
governor for their freedom. Three original houses
remain in this area.
St. Photios National Shrine: Here you can see the
flags of the United States and Greece. The shrine
shows how Greeks settled in this area with the
Minorcans.
De Pena-Peck House: The house was named after the two
owners. The first floor was built in the 1740s by the
royal treasurer of the Spanish colony. It was enlarged
a centry later by a British doctor, Seth Peck.
Basilica Cathedral of St. Augustine: In existance
since the 1600s, but rebuilt is 1797, the classic
missionary church facade is at odds with the tower. It
is part of a local man's beautification project.
Plaza de la Consitucion: A public marketplace since
1598, this was the site of one of Martin Luther King
Jr's rallies for civil rights in 1964. A statue of
Juan Ponce de Leon stands at the cneter of the plaza,
with his raised arm pointing towards the sea.
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