The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine is America's First Parish and is the oldest church in the state. The city of St. Augustine was founded and established in 1565 by Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who began his adventure by sailing from the port of Cádiz, Spain. On August 28 of that year, which happened to be the feast day of Saint Augustine of Hippo, his expedition first sighted land along the east coast of Florida (the area that is today Cape Canaveral). Menéndez decided to name the settlement after Augustine to honor the saint. Constructed over five years (1793–1797) and rebuilt in the late 19th century, the cathedral was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970. Several churches stood in the city before this. English explorer and captain Sir Francis Drake attacked St. Augustine in 1586 and the original church burned down. It was rebuilt, this time with large timber, only to be destroyed once more in 1702 in an attack led by British-born South Carolina governor, James Moore. The church was not rebuilt and instead mass was held in the city's hospital. When the British took over Florida in 1763 any thought of rebuilding was put onto the back burner. After the Spanish regained control in 1784, calls for a new church emerged. Finally, the church we see today was built in the mid-1790s. Sadly, a fire destroyed it in 1887, though its walls were sturdy and were used to once again rebuilt the cathedral.
The Government House is a historic structure dating back to the early 18th century. It was built to be the residence of the governor of Florida during the Spanish (1565-1763) and British (1784-1821) colonial periods. In later years it served a number of other purposes as well. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
In 1882, Henry Flagler, a New York entrepreneur and a co-founder of Standard Oil, became interested in the commercial possibilities of tourism along the Florida coast. He explored the potential of the small but historical city of St. Augustine, selecting a location to build a resort that would serve as a winter get-away for wealthy residents of major East Coast cities. This hotel and the railroad and other works by Flagler became the leading reason why St. Augustine and other Florida communities grew rapidly in the first half of the 20th century. Plans for this hotel were completed in 1887 and construction was completed a year later. Flagler and other developers followed the success of this property by funding railroads and other resorts further south in future years. The hotel closed in 1967. The main hotel building has been restored and is now part of the Flagler College campus.
Located in historic St. Augustine across from Flagler College, the Villa Zorayda Museum was originally the winter residence of Franklin Webster Smith. The Villa Zorayda is one-tenth of a replica of one wing of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. The architecture style is Moorish Revival. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
Lightner Museum, previously known as Hotel Alcazar, which houses Otto Lightner’s Victorian-era collection of antiques. Located at 75 King Street St. Augustine, FL across the street from Flagler College (Lightner Museum.) It’s is also St. Augustine’s city hall. The lighter museum is housed in the building formerly known as the Hotel Alcazar was built by Henry Flagler, founder of Standard Oil and the Florida East Coast Railway, when he commissioned the architects Carrere and Hastings to construct the building. The hotel ran from 1889 until 1932 when it closed during the Great Depression. Seventeen years later in 1947, Otto Lightner purchased the building with plans to turn it into a museum to house his Victorian-era antique collection. The museum opened two years later after it underwent much-needed renovations. This building is one of the earliest examples of a poured concrete building and is inspired by the royal palace in Seville, Spain and designed in a Spanish Renaissance revival style.
Located in St. Augustine on historic Aviles Street, the Father O'Reilly House is believed to be one of the oldest structures in the city, second to Castillo de San Marcos. The structure dates back to 1691 and is located in the section of the city that was part of the original 1565 settlement established by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. Father O'Reilly used the house as a place for spirituality and education until his death, then the Sisters of St. Joseph gained care of the home.
The Ximenez-Fatio House is one of St. Augustine's most interesting buildings. First constructed in the late 1700s, the house is one of the city's best examples of the Second Spanish Colonial period (1783-1821; the first one began in 1513 and ended in 1763 when the British gained control of the Florida territory). In addition to its age, architecture and well-preserved condition, the house is also important for women's history. In the 19th century it became a boarding house managed by women who earned the respect of guests, many of whom were wealthy elites from the northeast, and the community. The house is named after the first owner and builder of the original section, Andres Ximenez, and the last owner, Louisa Fatio. The house is a museum and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It has been owned and operated by the The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America since 1939.
Reviewing all final details and will be published in December.
This St. Augustine museum includes exhibits related to medicine in the colonial period and the general history of the Second Spanish Period (1784-1821). The museum is located at the site of a colonial-era hospital that mirrors the history of Florida. The facility known as Hospital West was constructed in the First Spanish Period while Hospital East was constructed during the British Period. The site was later home to an apothecary within the William Watson House which was constructed in the British Period. While the original buildings no longer exist, the current building was constructed on the foundation of the former hospital facility. In addition to exhibits related to the history of medicine, the Spanish Military Hospital Museum has the only educational tour dedicated to the second Spanish period in St. Augustine.
Dedicated in 2011, the Foot Soldier Monument is the latest addition to St. Augustine's Plaza De La Constitucion, a historic park that includes monuments and markers tracing the history of the city from the arrival of the Spanish to the present. The monument depicts images of four non-specific individuals that together represent the hundreds of African Americans from St. Augustine who served as "foot soldiers" by participating in civil rights marches and other peaceful protests against segregation in the 1960s.
In the summer of 1963, Dr. Robert Hayling worked with a sixteen young civil rights activists and organized a sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter at this location. A section of the original Woolworth's lunch counter where sixteen African American teens participated in the sit-in has been placed inside the Wells Fargo bank. The lunch counter depicts four Black students participating in the sit-in, a reference to the four that were sentenced to a reform school for a year because they refused to implicate their advisor or sign a form stating that they would not participate in additional civil rights protests.
Trinity Episcopal in historic St. Augustine, Florida, is the oldest Protestant Church in the state. The original building opened for services in 1831 and was constructed of coquina. Damage incurred during the Civil War resulted in the construction of a new building in 1903. Neo-gothic in appearance, Trinity is well-known for its stained glass windows, including one by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This very short walking tour includes landmarks such as the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine as well as museums, monuments, and landmarks from the colonial period to the modern civil rights movement. We hope to add more locations and additional walking tours soon. Enjoy historic St. Augustine!
