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Top Attractions in St Augustine

Castillo de San Marcos

The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States . Located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, the fort was designed by the Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza. Construction began in 1672, 107 years after the citys founding by Spanish Admiral and conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, when Florida was part of the Spanish Empire. The forts construction was ordered by Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega after the destructive raid of the English privateer Robert Searles. Work proceeded under the administration of Guerras successor, Manuel de Cendoya in 1671, although the first stone was not laid until 1672. After Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 pursuant to the Treaty of Paris, St. Augustine became the capital of British East Florida, and the fort was renamed Fort St. Mark until the Peace of Paris when Florida was transferred back to Spain. In 1819 Spain signed the Adams–Onís Treaty which ceded Florida to the United States in 1821; consequently the fort was designated a United States Army base and renamed Fort Marion, in honor of American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion. In 1942 the original name Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by an Act of Congress. The fort was declared a National Monument in 1924, and after 251 years of continuous military possession, was deactivated in 1933. The 20.48-acre site was then turned over to the United States National Park Service. Castillo de San Marcos was twice besieged: first by English colonial forces led by Carolina Colony Governor James Moore in 1702, and then by Georgia colonial Governor James Oglethorpe in 1740. Possession of the fort has changed six times, all peaceful, amongst four different governments: the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Confederate States of America and the United States of America . Under United States control the fort was used as a military prison to incarcerate members of various Native American tribes starting with the Seminole—including the famous war chief, Osceola, in the Second Seminole War—and members of various western tribes including Geronimos band of Chiricahua Apache. The Native American art form known as Ledger Art had its origins at the fort during the imprisonment of members of the Plains tribes such as Howling Wolf of the Southern Cheyenne.

Villa Zorayda

Villa Zorayda is a house at 83 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It was inspired by the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. It was built by the eccentric Boston millionaire Franklin W. Smith in 1883 as his private home in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. On September 23, 1993, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is owned by former St. Augustine mayor and local real estate investor Edward Mussallem . Franklin W. Smith was an amateur architect and pioneer experimenter in poured concrete construction. His winter home, Villa Zorayda, was the first residence built in the Moorish Revival style in Florida. His concrete building material and method was adopted by Henry Morrison Flagler, a Standard Oil partner and Florida developer, for his nearby hotels and churches on an even grander scale. Villa Zorayda could also be considered the first example of fantasy architecture in Florida, and in some ways the progenitor of Disney World. He was an early member of the Republican Party, and danced with his wife at Abraham Lincolns inaugural ball in 1861. He was also a founder of the Boston YMCA, and was involved in many reform efforts and schemes for public improvement in the course of his long life. He is buried in the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Just one block east of Villa Zorayda is the largest building Smith constructed in St. Augustine, the Casa Monica Hotel . The villa contains luxurious interior details, including most notably cast plaster work matching that of the Alhambra in Spain, plus tropical hardwood furniture and the "Egyptian Room" which includes a 2,400 year-old rug made from woven cat fur. Over the years, this unique building has been used as a home, Club with dining, dacing, and gambling, a speakeasy, movie set, and a museum. The building underwent renovations beginning in 2003 and reopened to the public in 2008. Audio tours are available in English, Spanish, and French.

Anastasia Island

Anastasia Island is a barrier island located off the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States. It sits east of St. Augustine, running north-south in a slightly southeastern direction to Matanzas Inlet. The island is about 14 miles long and an average of 1 mile in width. It is separated from the mainland by the Matanzas River, part of the Intracoastal waterway. Matanzas Bay, the body of water between the island and downtown St. Augustine, opens into St. Augustine Inlet. Part of the island (the Davis Shores and Lighthouse Park neighborhoods) is within St. Augustine city limits, while other communities on the island include St. Augustine Beach, Coquina Gables, Butler Beach, Crescent Beach, and Treasure Beach. Fort Matanzas National Monument, a Spanish colonial-era fort built in 1740–1742, is located at the southern end of the island on Rattlesnake Island in the Intracoastal waterway within the park boundaries; it was designed to protect St. Augustine from attack via the Matanzas River.

World Golf Hall of Fame

The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world. The Hall of Fame Museum Building is designed by the museum architecture specialist firm of E. Verner Johnson and Associates of Boston, Massachusetts. They also produced the museum master plan that established the overall size, mission and qualities of the overall museum and the surrounding facilities and site. The Hall of Fame Museum features a permanent exhibition and a rolling program of temporary exhibitions. Designed by museum design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the Hall of Fame and exhibition area contains exhibits on the games history, heritage, and techniques; major players and organizations; golf course design, equipment, and dress; and new directions, such as ecological concerns in course management.

Ximenez-Fatio House

Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is one of the best-preserved and most authentic Second Spanish Period residential buildings in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a Florida Heritage Landmark in 2012. The museum complex sits just south of the citys central Plaza de la Constitución at 20 Aviles Street, the oldest archaeologically documented street in the continental United States. It is located at the center of Old Town, the citys oldest continuously occupied community. Since 1939, the property has been privately owned and managed by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida . Through their efforts, it was restored and interpreted to reflect its function as a fashionable boarding house during Floridas first tourist boom, which began after 1821. The property is a historic house museum, furnished and presented to tell stories of the visitors who lodged there, the women who owned and managed it, and how people lived during Floridas territorial period.

Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park

The Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park is a privately owned 15-acre park in St. Augustine, Florida, located along Hospital Creek, part of the Intracoastal Waterway. It has been touted as the likely 1513 Florida landing site of Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, although no evidence has been found to substantiate this claim. Recent research by amateur historian Douglas Peck has placed another possible landing site in the vicinity of Melbourne Beach in Brevard County. The park contains an artesian well claimed to be the freshwater source referred to by Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas in his Historia general de los hechos de los castellanos en las Islas y Tierra Firme del mar Océano and supposedly sought by Ponce de Leon, but there is no supporting evidence. Archaeological excavations made by Dr. Kathleen Deagan on the parks grounds in the 1990s uncovered remains of the first Spanish settlement and its fortifications in St. Augustine.

Clapp Octagon House

The Clapp Octagon House is an historic octagonal house located at 62 Lighthouse Avenue in the historic Lighthouse Park neighborhood on the north end of Anastasia Island in St. Augustine, Florida. It was built in 1886 for Rollin N. Clapp of St. Louis, Missouri. It is the only classic surviving octagon house in St. Augustine. It has been called: "One of St. Augustine's most important residential buildings." Later residents include: Mary Antin, author of The Promised Land; Norman MacLeish, artist and brother of Pulitzer Prizewinning poet and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish; and Lea Wells, the first female architect in St. Augustine. In 1989, it was listed as the Octagon House in A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture prepared by the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects and published by the University of Florida Press. It would have been one of some 30 Contributing properties in the Lighthouse Park Historic District which was proposed in 1993 to the St. Augustine city commission for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, but which was turned down by the commission because of the vehement opposition of some residents, who feared that the district would develop into an historic preservation zoning district, as had some of the historic districts on the mainland in St. Augustine. An extensive history of the building was written in 1995 by David Nolan, who worked on the official 1978-1980 survey of historic buildings in St. Augustine. A short listing on the house appeared in his book The Houses of St. Augustine in 1995.

Horace Walker House

The Horace Walker House, also known as Castillo Sebastian is a historic home in St. Augustine, Florida built around 1888. It is located at 33 Old Mission Avenue, near the north city gate. On January 30, 1998, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The house was erected using mold-formed concrete blocks, commonly called "artificial stone". Smith was the first to make concrete blocks that used crushed coquina instead of sand, along with Portland cement. In the late 19th century, this type of construction was new but the blocks used display the same characteristics: smooth/rough opposite surfaces, plus iron rods used for structural reinforcement. The two-story, two bedroom, two bath house is one of St. Augustine's smallest examples of Moorish Revival architecture. The flat roof with decorative parapets are typical for the style; as is the front porch with five Tuscan arches—three facing the street. The interior is ornate, with heart of pine floors; the doors and ceilings feature carved wood. The central element is a double staircase with a landing between. The structure was designed by Franklin W. Smith, who also constructed Villa Zorayda, his personal residence in St. Augustine, and the Casa Monica Hotel, which was sold to Henry Flagler.

Huguenot Cemetery

The Huguenot Cemetery in St. Augustine, Florida located across from the historic City Gate was a Protestant burial ground between the years 1821 and 1884. The Spanish colonial city of St. Augustine, along with the entire Florida Territory became defacto American possessions after the 1819 signing of the Adams-Onis Treaty. The actual physical occupation of the city and Florida territory occurred in 1821. Prior to American occupation the Spanish city of St. Augustine was predominately Catholic and the only burial ground within the city, the Tolomato cemetery, was reserved for Catholics. Recognizing a need for a formal Protestant burial ground an area just outside the city gate was chosen by the new American administration in St. Augustine. The first burials occurred in 1821 just prior to a yellow fever epidemic which claimed the lives of a large numbers of the city's inhabitants. The cemetery until title to the cemetery property was acquired by the Rev. Thomas Alexander, who then turned over it to the Presbyterian Church in 1832, burials continued until 1884 when both Huguenot and Tolomato cemeteries were closed. The cemetery is believed to hold at least 436 burials according to city records. The cemetery although named "Huguenot Cemetery" isn't believed to contain any members of the Huguenots, a French Protestant sect started in the 16th century in France.

Government House

The Government House is located at 48 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida, adjacent to the Plaza de la Constitución. The building, constructed of coquina, served as the governor's official residence from ca. 1710, throughout the First Spanish Period , the British Period and until 1812 in the Second Spanish Period . The east wing of the building dates to the original construction between 1706 and 1713, directly to the west of the house was the westernmost boundary of St. Augustine which was defended by the El Rosario Redoubt, a coquina fortification that was part of the Rosario Line, a defensive line which extended from Cubo Line which extended to the Castillo de San Marcos. During the British Period the house was the official residence of the British royal governor of East Florida James Grant who received among his guests Daniel Boone who was in East Florida to inquire about land purchases, and his successor as governor, Patrick Tonyn. The last governor to use the house was Enrique White during the Second Spanish Period, who died in 1811. By the time Florida joined the United States in 1821, the building was in ruins with only the walls remaining. It was redesigned by architect Robert Mills the designer of the Washington Monument incorporating the pre-existing walls. During the American Civil War , Government House was used as a military hospital. After the American Civil War the building was used as a U.S. courthouse and customs house. In 1937, as project of the Works Progress Administration , Government House was enlarged and extensively remodeled for use by the U.S. Postal Service. The State of Florida received title to the building in 1964 and used it as the headquarters for its local historic preservation effort. A history museum was created on the first floor of the building in 1991.

University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

TheUniversity of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is a graduate institution that emphasizes health science education. It has campuses in San Marcos, California, St. Augustine, Florida and Austin, TX, United States. The mission of the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences is the development of professional health care practitioners through innovative, individualized, and quality classroom, clinical, and distance education. The Commission for Independent Education, Florida Department of Education, Tallahassee, Florida, licenses the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences to offer its degree programs. This licensure includes the Doctor of Physical Therapy , the Master of Occupational Therapy , the Dual Degree Option , the Doctor of Education , the Flex Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree, the transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy , the transitional Doctor of Occupational Therapy , the Master of Orthopaedic Assistant , and the Doctor of Health Science degrees. The university is regionally accredited by WASC Senior College and University Commission. The Bureau for Private, Post-secondary and Vocational Education approves the entry-level DPT expansion program in San Marcos, California. The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education accredited the first professional Physical Therapy program in October 1996 and re-accredited the program in April 2001. The entry-level Occupational Therapy program was accredited with no deficiencies by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education in April 1999 and reaccredited in April 2009. The San Marcos, CA MOT program received accreditation from ACOTE in the fall of 2010.

Matanzas Inlet

Matanzas Inlet is a channel in Florida between barrier islands connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the south end of the Matanzas River. It is 14 miles south of St. Augustine, in the southern part of St. Johns County. The inlet is not stabilized by jetties, and thus is subject to shifting. Historic maps made by Spanish military engineers in the 18th century show that the inlet today has moved many hundreds of yards south of its location during the time of the Spanish Empire. In 1740, a British invasion force from Fort Frederica, Georgia blockaded this inlet, the southernmost access for boat travel between St. Augustine and Havana, Cuba. Shortly thereafter, in 1742, a coquina stone tower 50 feet square by 30 feet high, now called Fort Matanzas, was built by the Spanish authorities in Florida to safeguard this strategic inlet.

Memorial Presbyterian Church

The Memorial Presbyterian Church is a historic church located at 36 Valencia Street in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. The church was built in 1889 by business tycoon and St. Augustine benefactor Henry Morrison Flagler and dedicated in honor of his daughter Jennie Louise Benedict, who died following complications from childbirth the same year, hence the word Memorial. Designed by the New York architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings in the Second Renaissance Revival style and inspired by St Mark's Basilica in Venice, the church was built utilizing a novel construction technique pioneered by Franklin W. Smith, builder of the Villa Zorayda. This building method utilizing poured concrete mixed with crushed coquina stone, was utilzed in Smith's Casa Monica Hotel, as well as in Flagler's Ponce de Leon Hotel and Alcazar Hotel, both of which last were designed by Carrère and Hastings, with construction overseen by Smith. Like the Alcazar and Ponce de Leon, many of the architectural details were created with terra cotta. Upon Flagler's death in 1913 he was interred in a marble mausoleum within the church beside his daughter Jennie Louise and her infant Marjorie, as well as his first wife Mary Harkness Flagler.

Oldest House Museum

For the Oldest House Museum in Key West, Florida see Old Island Restoration Foundation The Oldest House Museum is located in St. Augustine, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida. It is operated by the St. Augustine Historical Society and includes the González-Alvarez House, the Manucy Museum (named for Albert Manucy) of local history and the Edwards Gallery. The Oldest House, from which the museum derives its name, is located on a site that has been occupied since the 1600s. Formally known as the González-Alvarez House, it is the oldest surviving Spanish Colonial dwelling in Florida. The building dates back to the early 1700s. The house has been open to visitors since 1893. The United States Department of the Interior designated the house a National Historic Landmark in 1970.
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