What comes to mind as the oldest European
settlement in the United States? Jamestown, Virginia? Plymouth (as in: Rock),
Massachusetts ? Not surprising as these are the two that we learn most about in
history classes. But both are wrong. The answer is… St. Augustine, Florida.
Photo by Kristin Wilson via Unsplash
This area of Florida was first explored by
Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. He called the area La Florida and claimed it for
the Spain. At the time, de Leon was the Spanish Governor of Puerto Rico and
searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth. Composed primarily of soldiers
and their dependents, St Augustine was founded in 1565. It is the oldest continuously
occupied European-established city and seaport in the USA.
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| Photo by Paul Brennan via Pixabay |
To guard the fledgling community of St. Augustine
and hold the rest of La Florida for Spain, a wooden fort named Castillo de San
Marcos was built. The original structure was wood as were a succession of
replacement forts. Finally, in 1672 a larger and more permanent fortress was
begun. The new walls were built of a local stone called Coquina. This surprisingly
strong rock was formed by the compacting of colorful shells of the tiny coquina
clam over centuries of changing environmental conditions. The new fort was
completed in 1695 and still stands today in the Castillo de San Marcos National
Monument.
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| Photo by and property of the author |
To augment the Castillo’s defenses,
Spanish authorities also built a watch tower on Anastasia Island between the
town of St. Augustine and the Atlantic Ocean. Just seven years after completion
of the Castillo, British forces from the Carolinas attacked. After a two-month
siege, the British troops were not able to take the fort, so they burned the
town and retreated.
Spanish Florida afforded protection to
enslaved people who escaped to St. Augustine. The city became a principal
destination for the first Underground Railroad. Arriving runaways were given
their freedom by the Spanish Governor if they declared allegiance to the King
of Spain and embraced the Catholic religion. Consequently, plantation owners
and the southern British colonies were hostile to St. Augustine and continued
frequent attacks.
In
1738, Spanish authorities established the first legally sanctioned free
community of former slaves, Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, as part of St.
Augustine’s northern defenses. In 1740, a strong attack on the city, mounted by
the Governor of the British colony of Georgia, General James Oglethorpe, again
failed to capture the fort.
At the end of the French and Indian War in
1763, the Treaty of Paris gave Florida and St. Augustine to the British and the
territory served as a pro-British colony during the American Revolution.
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| Photo from the National Archives |
At the end of the war, a second Treaty of
Paris in 1783 gave America's colonies north of Florida their independence, and returned
Florida to Spain as a reward for Spanish assistance to the Americans. This
began the Second Spanish period for Florida.
During this time, Spain suffered the
Napoleonic invasions and struggled to retain its colonies in the Americas. The expanding United States considered Florida
crucial to its national interests. They negotiated the Adams-Onîs Treaty, which
peacefully turned the Spanish colonies in Florida over to the United States in
1821.
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| Photos by and property of the author |
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In 1845, Florida became a
state. The United States Army took over
the Castillo de San Marcos and renamed it Fort Marion. In 1874, a lighthouse
was built on the site of the old watch tower and two years later a brick lighthouse
keeper’s home was also built there. Both are still standing.
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| Photo by Philip Arambula via Unsplash |
Today, the colonial architecture and other
remaining historic buildings in addition to the Castillo and lighthouse,
provide powerful attractions for history buffs to visit St. Augustine.
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Really interesting history, Ann. Lovely photos, too. Many thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lindsay.
DeleteReally interesting history, Ann. And to think that in all the times I went to Florida, I never visited any of these fascinating places.
ReplyDeleteI understand. When my daughter was young, we used to go to Florida every year. It was only after she became an adult that we discovered St. Augustine.
Delete