If you’ve been to St. Augustine at night - walked along the coast to take in the sharp tang of brine and the close sound of ocean waves colliding with the shore - you probably have seen a light in the distance, revolving in mechanical circles as it sweeps over the dark water below. A …
Continue reading A Cartographic History of the St. Augustine Lighthouse
It's not officially summertime, but it's felt like summer for a while in Florida! When we think summer, we think WATER! So this month, we're going to be diving into the waterways of St. Augustine and learning along with all of you about the ways water shapes our everyday life. Arguably the most recognizable waterway …
Continue reading Life and Livelihood: The Waterways of St. Augustine
Today we're traveling down A1A South to Marineland Dolphin Adventure. You may know it as the home of dolphins and other marine life, but did you know that this site has a rich 82 year history of movie making and marine biology? Today we're going to dive into the history of the world's first oceanarium! …
Continue reading Marineland: Where Movie Stars and Marine Life Met
The Bridge of Lions was built between 1925 and 1927 as a way for automobiles to travel from downtown St. Augustine to Anastasia Island. Florida East Coast Railway bridge expert Henry Rodenbaugh organized the bond to finance the bridge in the early 1920s. Simultaneously, a developer named D.P. Davis was planning to dredge the northern …
The Battista Boazio map of St. Augustine, published in 1589, shows a Spanish watchtower on the northeast corner of Anastasia Island. This eventually approximated the spot where the current day St. Augustine lighthouse, built in 1874, stands. In 1737, the Spanish replaced their early wooden watchtower with one made of coquina. It was important to …
It's Talk Like a Pirate Day! To commemorate this fun holiday, Governor’s House is retelling the tales of Sir Francis Drake and Robert Searles, two feared men who raided our town either to intimidate or gain material wealth. Sir Francis Drake was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I and a sworn enemy of Spain. The …
Continue reading Pirate Attack : Drake and Searles Raid St. Augustine
On May 28 and 29, 1586, Sir Francis Drake orchestrated an attack on St. Augustine. Drake was ordered by Queen Elizabeth I to sail across the Atlantic with 25 ships and raid Spanish strongholds in the Caribbean and South America. Before St. Augustine, Drake and his fleet made stops in Colombia and the Dominican Republic. …
Royal Family of St. Augustine's Easter celebrations, 1965. Florida Memory. Ponce de Leon first arrived in and explored La Florida during the time of the Easter feast, which has always allowed for an extra outpouring of celebration surrounding the Easter holiday in and around St. Augustine, Spain’s first permanent stronghold in what would become the …
The scope of paranormal activity in St. Augustine is usually limited to ghosts, and for good reason - ghost stories have featured prominently in the folklore of the City for a long time. However, the Ancient City also has some good stories of creatures from another corner of the unknown: sea monsters. Verrill, A.E. (1897). …
High winds at Saint Augustine. 1944. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. It’s December 1st, which means that we’ve officially survived another hurricane season here in Saint Augustine. Many are still recovering from both Hurricanes Matthew and Irma, so we’re already crossing our fingers for a reprieve next year. 2017’s hurricane season was certainly one of …
Continue reading Saint Augustine’s First Hurricane? The Storm of 1565
Governor's House Library 