St. Augustine celebrated its Quadricentennial, or 400th anniversary, in 1965. To commemorate the occasion, the United States Postal Service released the Florida Settlement Stamp and a series of collectible first day covers. The Florida Settlement Stamp, designed by New York artist Brook Temple, is printed in red, black, and yellow. It depicts a conquistador with …
Continue reading First Day of Issue: St. Augustine’s Quadricentennial Stamp
Have you ever stopped by Tedi's Olde Tyme Ice Cream on St. George Street? Long before serving sweet treats, the site was home to the Benet family and their store. Let us take a scoop into the past of 65 St. George Street. Located on the southeast corner of Cuna and St. George Streets, the …
Hunter Makin started as an intern at the Governor's House Library during his Spring Semester 2022 at Flagler College. Makin calls the city of Winter Garden, Florida home during his summers and breaks, but Saint Augustine his second home during the school year. As a student at Flagler, Makin is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts …
Continue reading Q & A with Governor’s House Library Intern Hunter Makin
Extra, extra! Read all about it! Today, we have a piece of news that is not so hot off the presses. To be exact this story is over 50 years old: The printing pressed used by the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board from the 1960s until 1990s is a replica! The Board's shop built the …
Continue reading Hot Off The Presses: Printing History At San Agustin Antíguo
Images in Governor's House Library's collection reveal the faces of those responsible for the excavations and reconstruction of colonial St. Augustine between the 1960s and 1980s - many of which were Black men. The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board hired general laborers to systematically recover foundations and source building materials - enabling the restoration and …
Continue reading Unidentified: Looking For Names And Stories In The Archives
Just across the Matanzas River from downtown St. Augustine is Anastasia Island. Today, we know it as a sprawling, lively spot for businesses, tourist attractions, beaches, and residential area. But just 100 years ago, the island was very different. D.P. Davis (Florida Memory) David Paul "D.P." Davis was a Tampa land developer already well known …
Today, many old neighborhoods make up the city of St. Augustine. Each one contains stories and characteristics obtained over generations of inhabitation - first by the Timucua and more recently by us. Join us in exploring one such neighborhood - known as the Model Land Company Historic District. A twenty-block neighborhood located between Cordova, King, …
In 1764, Juan de Rivera lived at present-day 22 St. George Street. He was born around 1732 into a family of either Guale or Yamassee Native Americans from the nearby mission Nuestra Señora del Rosario de la Punta. His father was Pedro de Rivera and his mother María de la Cruz. Rivera followed in his …
In 1513, Spain claimed much of today's Southeastearn United States as their own - naming the large area La Florida. Their colony covered an area already home to a wide variety of Indigenous cultures and tribes. To convert the Native Americans to Christianity, control such a large area, and prevent colonization by other countries, Spain …
St. Augustine's first Catholic parish – Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Our Lady of the Remedies) – met just south of today's Plaza de la Constitución from 1572 to 1702. However, Carolina Governor James Moore's 1702 siege left St. Augustinians without a place to worship - save the chapel of a hospital. Located to the …
Continue reading Nuestra Señora de la Soledad | Our Lady of Solitude
Governor's House Library 