| HISTORY OF ST. AUGUSTINE by Gil Wilson |
| Planning a visit to St. Augustine? Take the Trolley's! Best value buy in St. Augustine. See all the major sites (3 day value). Pickup at your hotel --- and best service in town. |
| Welcome to the Largest St. Augustine History site on the Web. This site is a full history of the City of St. Augustine including many links to books and other web resources. Dr. Bronson also maintains the largest on-line selection of source materials for St. Augustine. Of course, no site about St. Augustine would be complete without pictures of our beautiful City. Please use the Google Search to find the thousands of names and supplemental pages for the history. Subject Index 1st Spanish Period 1565 - 1600 In the Beginning 1st Spanish Period - The beginnings of the City of Stone Juan Ponce de Leon Statute of Ponce de Leon Voyages of Discovery The French Founding of the City Saint Augustine Landing of Menendez Pedro Menendez removes French Pedro Menendez sends the Juan Pardo Expedition to Explore Florida The Jesuits arrive The First Recorded Medical Practitioner Arrives The Threat of the English Begins Sir Francis Drake St. Augustine Hunts for the Colony of Roanoke The Franciscans The First Recorded Baptism Nombre de Dios Nuestra Senora de La Soledad The Market Place Built Destruction and Hardships Founding of Jamestown Map of Florida Robert Searles Founding of Carolina Building of the Castillo The Watchtower on Anastasia Island Military Duty More Destruction Company of Free Mulatto and Black Militia Nicholas Grammont Attacks on Carolina Spanish and some Timucuan Vocabulary Helps 1st Period Spanish Florida 1700-1763 Attack by Carolina Gonzalez-Alvarez House Fernandez-Llambias House Don Joseph Tovar House The Walled City Bishop Visits Francisco Menendez (part 1) Nuestra Senora de la Leche Founding of Georgia Capture of Picolata by Georgians and 1740 Attack on St. Augustine Francisco Menendez (part 2) Oglethorpe's Return St. Augustine in 1759 End of Spanish Rule British Period 1763-1784 The British East Florida Seal Map of the New Colonies (East and West Florida) Arrival of the British Proclamation of 1763 Departure of the Spanish Arrival of Governor James Grant James Grant Biography Colony Governance Rev. John Forbes Ordnance Appointments The Builders William Stork Military Totals Settlers Wanted Dependence The Postman Schoolmasters Salaries Bartram Visits William Gerard de Brahm The Minorcians British Military John Moultrie Patrick Tonyn Augustin Prevost Bakery American Revolution The Florida East Coast Rangers Revolutionary War Prisoners More Prisoners The Tolomato Cemetery East Florida Assembly End of British Rule 2nd Spanish Period 1784-1821 John Cruden Governor Vizente Manuel de Zespedes An Opportunity of Freedom - Zespedes Proclamation of July 26, 1784 Thomas Bell - Pirates Return of Slaves Father Thomas Hassett The Cathedral Don Manuel Solana House Juan Nepomucceno de Quesada and the Rebellion of 1795 Chapel in the Castillo Runaway Slaves Enrique White and General Jorge Biassou Father Felix Varela Geronimo Alvarez and the 1812 Constitution Monument Father Miguel O'Reilly City Gate Patriot Rebellion Jose Coppinger Green Flag Republic Catholic Church 1819 Description of St. Augustine Onis-Adams Treaty Transfer Territorial Period 1821-1845 City Council Joseph Lee Smith Appointed Judge Joseph Hernandez Treaty with the Seminoles Slavery Lighthouse Presbyterian Church Trinity United Methodist Trinity Episcopal Church Hurricane Business in St. Augustine 1827 St. Augustine 1827 Tax Roll Houses of St. Augustine Newspaper Extracts Seawall From Boarding Houses to Hotels John James Audubon Tours Florida Seminole Wars Public Education David Levy Yulee Charles Downing Tax Records 1837 St. Augustine Patrols Education Struggles on The Escape of Andrew Gue Fort Marion Work Statehood 1845-1861 A Great Country Railroad Route Statehood Fire Notes on the Bar Planters Hotel Sale Public Education After Statehood Troop Movements Mexican War A Hotel Tradition Begins - The Magnolia Hotel Fire Engine March 25, 1848 Shipwreck September 25, 1848 Hurricane New Military Force The Florida House Soldiers Passing Through March 6, 1849 Mardi Gras Indian Troubles Light House Gets Safety Equipment City Patrols A Day in the Life of St. Augustine July, 1850 Prewar Slavery Celebration of the Fourth of July at St. Augustine 1851 Death of Father Varella - Feb 1853 1851 Slave Escape City Council Records City Taxes in 1855 (Costs) Tax Records 1855 Putnam Appointed Judge Shipwrecks Fugitive Slaves Kidnapping (September 1858) Coastal Survey New Railroad Deaths Private Schools And Union Soldiers are Born Cornelia Leslie Miss Mather's School The St. Augustine Examiner Sat Oct 27, 1860 The St. Augustine Examiner Dec 1, 1860 - The Independent Blues The St. Augustine Examiner 29 December 1860 Another Year has Passed Civil War 1861-1865 St. Augustine Examiner, October 1860 Bishop Verot Leaving the Union The Ordinance of Succession St. Augustine Examiner, 19 Jan 1861 - The Revolution Progresses Capture of the Fort by the Confederates The Dana Jefferson Davis Inaugural Address February 22, 1861 Lincoln's First Inaugural Address - March 4, 1861 Commander of the Dept of the South Naval Blockade War (St. Augustine Examiner), 20 April, 1861 U. S. Military Department St. Johns Rail Road (St. Augustine Examiner) 4 May 1861 St. Augustine Units Mustered Ladies Aid Society (St. Augustine Examiner) June 8, 1862 City of St. Augustine (St. Augustine Examiner) Saturday June 29, 1862 2 Quarter 1862 Financial Post Office Notice (St. Augustine Examiner) Sinking of the Jeff Davis The Lighthouse - Arnau's Coast Guard Port Royal Expedition Buckingham Smith Seeks Help Attack and Surrender of St. Augustine Official Report Add the US Marines to the 4th New Hampshire Regt Report of General H. G. Wright Abraham Lincoln's Appreciation U. S. Military Department Confederate Order to Evacuate the Troops from St. Augustine Hdqrs. Prov. Forces, Dept East and Middle Fl., Tallahassee, March 19 1862 Weekly Columbus (GA) Enquirer, April 1 1862 St. Augustine in the Civil War p2 Provost Duties (See Office of Provost Marshal) Oath Pass Local Reply Bell Promoted (March 18, 1862 The Women Were the Most Difficult Col Bell's Order No Reinforcements Citizens Defend Yourselves Arrests Warning Letter Capture of the (Empire City) British Empire Supplies Arriving The St. Augustine Examiner Returns (April 9, 1862) The World Changes St. Augustine is Placed Under Martial Law Report to Brig. Gen. H. W. Benham What was Martial Law in the Civil War Regimental Band (Leander Harris) University of New Hampshire, May 11, 1862 Deportation Order Troop Life Lots of Hazards (Sergeant Abner L. Knowlton) June 13, 1862 The Case of William Keyes People Removed June 25, 1862 Fourth of July, 1862 Philip Fraser appointed to U. S. District Court, Northern District of Florida Staudenmayer Removed Rumors of Attacks Col Bell and General Hunter have a conflict An Opinion of a 4th Regiment Soldier sent to The Farmers' Cabinet (a New England Newspaper) An Opinion of Col Bell Lieut Col. Gilman Sleeper The Picket Lines Union Deserters (Leander Harris) September 6, 1862 4th Regiment Leaves St. Augustine St. Augustine and the Civil War page 3 The 7th New Hampshire Takes Over (Regimental History) Benjamin Carr (from Little's Regimental History) Joe Manucy and Antonio Bravo (from Little's Regimental History) False Alarm (Regimental History) Expel or not to Expel Picket Duty Could be Hazardous (New Hampshire Sentinel) September 25, 1862 Another False Alarm (Regimental History - October 5) Troops view of the town (Calvin Shedd Papers) Meeting at the Presbyterian Church Accidents Yankee Atrocities in Florida (Charleston Mercury) 2nd Lieut Calvin Shields talks about St. Augustine (October 12, 1862) Captain Dickison's Account of October 1862 An Accidental Death (November 27, 1862) - Calvin Shedd Letters Schools for the Freedmen Deserters (Calvin Shedd December 5, 1862) Judge Putnam Returns (Calvin Shedd Dec 7, 1862) Deserters (Regimental History) Federal Court Marshals make Deserters (Calvin Shedd December 14, 1862) Col Putna's Cavalry (White's Regimental History) Capture of Lieutenant Cate, Private Oscar F. French and Suttler Samuel Riddell More Recruits for the Colored Regiment Married - In the Cathedral at St. Augustine (The New South, January 17, 1863) Col. Buffington and family returned (New York Herald) Feb 27, 1863 More Banishments (Natchez Daily Courier), February 28, 1863 Attack on the Advanced Picket guard More on Skirmish More Union Deserters (Calvin Shedd) March 26, 1863 More on Mrs. Smith St. Augustine in the Civil War page 4 The Government takes slow steps. General David Hunter and the Creation of the Regiment General Hunter Creates the First Black Regiment James D. Fesseden and the 1st South Carolina Regiment The First Black Soldiers Another view of the enforced enlistment In the Early Days fighting (The New York Herald) June 27, 1862 The Second Confiscation Act - An Act to suppress Insurrection, to punish Treason and Rebellion, to seize and confiscate the Property of Rebels, and for other Purposes. Hunters Letter to Stanton Order to Create Black Regiments Emancipation Proclamation Doboy river Georgia, Beaufort, SC, November 25, 1862 General Saxton's Proclamation Camp Saxton---Proclamation and Barbecue 1863 33rd USCT Regiments Raised Expedition to Florida (Letters from Beaufort During the Civil War) More Drafting (Letters from Beaufort During the Civil War) Abraham Lincoln Commends General Hunter on Jacksonville and USCT Troops More Drafting (Letters from Port Royal during the Civil War) Order Establishing the USCT Bureau Protection for African-American Soldiers Reorganizing the Regiments Consolidation and Name Change Response St. Augustine in the Civil War page 5 7th Conn Volunteers From Mrs. J. Smith Savannah (GA Republican, June 12, 1863) Provost Marshall Administers Oath of Allegiance Deportations Celebration of the Battle of Bunker Hill (Regimental History) A Provost Marshall Report on Dr. Hiems and Stephen Bacon Passes in St. Augustine 4th of July in St. Augustine 10 Conn to Morris Island 48th New York Volunteers Living in St. Augustine (Perry's Saints) Rebels About How the Freedmen Live (Commercial Advertiser) August 21, 1863 Recreation Order for St. Augustine Hospital Given (New York Herald) August 19, 1863 Dr. Seth Rogers and the Purpose of the New Hospital (Dr. Seth Rogers, Letters) Condition of the Townspeople (Brooklyn City News, Undated) Twenty-fourth Massachusetts Replace the 46th New York Lincoln's Plan for Reconstruction Attack on the Wood Cutters First Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation Joseph Remington appointed U. S. Marshal Headquarters, Department of the South, Hilton Head, S. C., Jan. 31, 1864 Who were these freed slaves? Fundraising for a Chapel Tent for the Tenth (Hartford Daily Courant) Feb 2, 1864 Troops move to Picolata Arrival of Rev. Reynolds New Commander for St. Augustine ex-Senator Yulee (Harford Daily Curant 2/24/1864) A Military Hospital for St. Augustine Structure of the Government in 1864 St. Augustine in the Civil War page 6 Structure of the Government in 1864 17th Connecticut Organizing Loyal Floridians (Hartford Daily Courant, 7-12-1864) New Commander for St. Augustine Report on the Captured 10th Soldiers (Hartford Daily Courant 11-29-1864) Getting the Courts Back Into Operation Judge Frasier Tries Again Esther Hill Hawks Visits St. Augustine Unlucky Regiment The New Commander Andersonville Thwarted Release Proclamation Closing the Port of St. Augustine - April 11, 1865 Armistice (April 23, 1865) Lincoln's Death Surrender of the Blues Response to Lincoln's Death Death of Mary Craft End of the War Confederates Surrender in Florida (May 17-20) High Ranking Visitors to Florida (May 18 and 19)] New Troops for St. Augustine (May 310 Post War and the Churches (September 1865) Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address St. Augustine in the Civil War page 7 St. Augustine's Confederate Soldiers General William Wing Loring General Edmond Kirby Smith General Stephen Vincent Benet General Edmund J. Davis General William Hardee (Old Reliable) Civil War Generals who moved to St. Augustine after the Civil War General John McAllister Schofield General Martin Davis Hardin African-American Education The Ex-Slaves Reconstruction in St. Augustine 1865-1877 Military order, Dec. 1, 1865 Presidential Pardons Mayors of the Reconstruction Period Freedmen Bureau Schools Continue Getting to St. Augustine St. Augustine Becomes Part of the World St. Mary's Academy Cobb House Military Rule Sisters of St. Joseph Beginning of St. Johns County Public Schools Society of Benedict the Moor and the St. Augustine Benevolent Society for Catholics First African-American Voter Election Hotel St. Augustine and the Beginning of the Hotel Industry Lincolnville and New St. Augustine Bishop Augustin Verot Buckingham Smith William Van Dyke Confederate Civil War Monument H. W. Chatfield Post and John A. Logan GAR St. Paul AME and First Baptist Church Plains Indians stay at Fort Marion Hotels of St. Augustine Death of Dr. Oliver Bronson Bronson Cottage St. Mary's Missionary Baptist Church Constance Fenimore Woolson St. Johns Carries Out a Clean final Reconstruction Election Post Reconstruction in St. Augustine 1877-1885 Growth of the St. Johns County School System John Papino Communications Presidential Visits The 1880's Olivet Methodist Episcopal Church (Grace United Methodist) Founding of the St. Augustine Historical Society Restoration of the Castillo Fire Department Apache Indians Come to Fort Marion Flagler Era 1885-1900 1887 Fire William G. Warden Isaac Cruft Brings a Quality Hotel Experience to St Augustine the San Marco Hotel Villa Zorayda and Franklin Smith Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Ponce de Leon, Alcazar, Sunnyside Hotel The Ponce de Leon Hotel The Alcazar The Casa Monica Opening and Dedication of Grace Episcopal Methodist Church McGuire and McDonald, Dr. Anderson, and Osborne Seavey Hotel Life Technical Innovations Cordova Hotel Return of Carrie Semple Dr. F. F. Smith and Dr. Anderson Florida East Coast Railway Telephone Havana & St. Augustine Cigar Joe Perry exPresident Grover Cleveland Returns to the Ponce de Leon Frederick Douglass Memorial Presbyterian Built The Alicia Hospital East Coast Hospital Dr. Alexander Graham Bell Visits St. Benedict the Moor Thomas Hastings, Henry Flagler and the founding of the Town of Hastings Old Jail Flagler Buys an Orange Grove in San Mateo Ancient City Baptist Tatler Magazine W.C.T.U. D.A.R. Villa Flora and Amarylla St. Cyprian Episcopal Church Sons of Israel School System Ida Alice Shrouds Schools at the Turn of the Century The Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection The Last Pirate The Progressive Era to WWII 1900 - 1941 E Reynold's 1900 School Report St. Joseph's Academy Ponce de Leon Hotel Gets and Important Visitor --- Admiral George Dewey and Wife Casino Bowling Alley Cake Walks 1901-1902 State School Report Soldiers in the Philippines Shooting of Councilman John Pappino The Rebuilding of Trinity Episcopal Cordova becomes the Alcazar Annex Rural Schools On again/off again Y.M.C.A. Theodore Roosevelt Visits the Ponce de Leon The Film Industry Comes to St. Augustine Dr. Brown's Hospital Carcaba's Cigar Factory Orange Street School and 1st Methodist Church Frank Genovar and the Cuban Connection The Town of Hastings 1910 Grand opening of the Ponce de Leon Hotel in 1910 Casino's Washington Day Dance Airplane Flights Health Department D. D. Corbette Becomes School Superintendent Death of Henry Flagler Dixie Highway 1914 Fire A Florida Enchantment Old Jail (County) Nombre de Dios Chapel Sister Mary Thomasine Alicia Hospital Schools Cut Back First Airport World War I Florida Memorial College Dr. D. W. Roberts 1919 Sees Largest Enrollment in Public Schools due to new state law Rudolph Valentino Comes to St. Augustine Flagstaff (World War I Monument) Webb Building and Dr. Dewitt Webb Monument to Juan Ponce de Leon Fort Marion and Fort Matanzas Become National Monuments Hastings High School Construction Starts Dr. Wilma Davis St. Johns Welfare Federation Return of Pedro Menendez Steven Vincent Benet Excelsior School Evelyn Hamblin Center Bridge of Lions First National Bank Building The Great Depression Government House Return of Castillo de San Marcos Nathan Collier St. Augustine Airport World War II and Post War 1941-1960 Majorie Kinnan Rawlings Coast guard Takes over Ponce de Leon Hotel Zora Neal Hurston Army Signal School Death of Miss Evelyn Hamblin World War II Guard Casualties Florida Memorial Airport Lightner Museum Snow Florida Memorial Accreditation Death of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Gary Cooper More Florida Memorial Creation of Richard J. Murray High School Palm Valley Gets Its School St. Augustine Civil Rights 1960-1965 Civil Rights Era Early NAACP First Sit-in Henry Thomas Suit to Desegregate St. Johns County Public School Dr. Robert B. Hayling Vice-President Johnson Actual School Desegregation Shelley Elected Mayor Mrs. F. Fullerwood Summer Demonstrations, 1963 Florida Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights More Demonstrations School Integration Cattle Prods and Dogs KKK Rally Death of William David Kincaid More Violence against Blacks Spring Vacation 1963 and Mrs. Mary Peabody School Integration Continues with a twist The Mayor Issues a Warning Street Demonstrations - Hoss Manucy, Connie Lynch, J. B. Stoner and L. O. Davis Dr. King and Rev. Abernathy Arrested Monson Swimming Pool St. Augustine Beach Wade-Ins U. S. Congress Passes the 1964 Civil Rights Act Aftermath Creating the Myth St. Augustine Rebounds 1965-1990 Airport Authority Great Cross End of the Ponce de Leon Beginning of Flagler College St. Johns Welfare Federation and Nursing Care St. Photos Shrine ECHO House Athalia Lindsley's Murder Statue of Father Camps Allen B Nease High School W. D. Hartley Elementary School The Burning of Hastings Dr. Martin Luther King Avenue |
| More than just History St. Augustine and St. Johns County is a naturalist paradise. There are many animals, plants, insects, etc. To discover here. For a list of the possibilities (Species and Natural Community Summary for St. Johns County) Look for: Basin Swamp Baygall Beach Dune Coastal Grassland Coastal Interdunal Swale Coastal Strand Depression Marsh Dome Swamp Estuarine Tidal Marsh Floodplain Swamp Hydric Hammock Maritime Hammock Mesic Flatwoods Sandhill Scrubby Flatwoods Scrub Xeric Hammock |
| See the new online book by Gil Wilson "An Introduction into the History of Slavery in Prince George's County, Maryland" |
In 2011 major additions to the site
include:
United States Army Department of
the South in the Civil War
* * *
Port Royal Experiment
* * *
33 United States Colored Troops
* * *
34 United States Colored Troops
* * *
History of the Freedmen's Bureau
* * *
Inspectors Report of Schools for
the Freedmen's Bureau
2012
Understanding Civil War Pensions
Freedmen's Aid Societies
include:
United States Army Department of
the South in the Civil War
* * *
Port Royal Experiment
* * *
33 United States Colored Troops
* * *
34 United States Colored Troops
* * *
History of the Freedmen's Bureau
* * *
Inspectors Report of Schools for
the Freedmen's Bureau
2012
Understanding Civil War Pensions
Freedmen's Aid Societies
| The Hibiscus is the city's official flower, and the Spanish Bayonet its official plant. The Southern Red Cedar is the official tree. |
| Spanish Bayonet |
| Hibiscus |
| Southern Red Cedar |
Why should you go to the Fountain of Youth?
See the site of the Menendez landing and the building of a Chalupa!
The Chalupa is a 37-foot boat being recreated was a landing craft from
the Spanish ships that once anchored offshore from the park, thought to
be where Menendez and his party landed in 1565. This boat is being
hand crafted using the same tools that would have been used to build an
original Chalupa.
Fountain of Youth Park
See the site of the Menendez landing and the building of a Chalupa!
The Chalupa is a 37-foot boat being recreated was a landing craft from
the Spanish ships that once anchored offshore from the park, thought to
be where Menendez and his party landed in 1565. This boat is being
hand crafted using the same tools that would have been used to build an
original Chalupa.
Fountain of Youth Park