| Coquina Quarry - Spanish Ruins Anastasia Island, St. Augustine Florida |
| Coquina, tiny shells, is a natural seashell rock found in St. Augustine. The Castillo is the most significant building using this stone, but in St. Augustine 1st, the one remaining British building and 2nd period Spanish buildings are made of coquina. The Island itself was originally called La isla de la cantera (Quarry island) before it was named Anastasia Island. The rock was cut by hand and moved to Quarry creek and floated across the bay to the Castillo and city. The men who worked there were varied in their backgrounds including people from all over the Spanish Empire, Native Americans, Africans, and captured prisoners. An Englishman was actually the quarry master at one time in the Spanish rule. In 1763 King George III declared the quarry pits to be a royal reserve. In Victorian St. Augustine the rock was used in its gravel form with concrete to build: the Ponce de Leon Hotel, Alcazar, Casa Monica, Villa Zorayda, Grace United Methodist Church, Memorial Presbyterian, and other buildings. Henry Flagler used the actions of the tide to move the gravel across the bay. This picture shows the location where the early Spanish workers lived while the quarried the stone. It contains the chimney and the old Spanish well. |