History of St Augustine, Florida, USA

On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed on the shore of what is now called Matanzas Bay and began the founding of the Presidio of San Agustin. Later the settlement would be called St. Augustine, Florida. Built on the site of an ancient Native American village, and near the place where Ponce de Leon, the European discoverer of Florida, landed in 1513 in search of the legendary Fountain of Youth, it has been continually inhabited since its founding.

St. Augustine, a city, port of entry, and capital of St. John's co., Florida, 200 miles E. by S. from Tallahassee, and 160 miles S. from Savannah. It is one of the largest places in the state, and has the distinction of being the oldest town in the United States. It is situated on the northern shore of Matanzas sound, 2 miles from the sea, from which it is separated by the island of Anastasia. The site is a plain only a few feet higher than the level of the ocean. The streets vary from 10 to 18 feet in width; the houses have mostly two stories, the upper projecting over the street. It contains, besides the county buildings, 1 Roman Catholic and 3 Protestant churches, 1 newspaper office, 1 United States land-office, and about 500 dwellings, some of which are in a dilapidated state. The harbor is safe and commodious, but the bar at the entrance prevents the approach of large ships, having only 9 or 10 feet of water at low tide. The mildness of the climate, and the refreshing breezes...

Saint Augustine, a city, port of entry, and capital of St. John's co., Fla; on Matanzas Sound, 2 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, and about 36 miles in a direct line S.S.E. of Jacksonville. The site is a plain only a few feet higher than the level of the sea. It contains a court-house, a Catholic cathedral, 5 churches, a convent, 2 newspaper offices, the Peabody Institute, and several of the finest hotels in the world. The famous Ponce de Leon hotel is a Moorish Palace costing nearly a mil lion dollars. St. Augustine has a commodious, but shallow, harbor, defended by Fort Marion, which was built by the Spaniards more than 100 years ago. The mildness of the climate renders it an attractive place of winter residence for invalids, and it is now pre-eminently the most fashionable winter resort in America. The city was settled by the Spaniards about 1565, and is the oldest town in the United States. It is a Catholic bishop's see, and is situated on the line of the Jacksonville, St. Augustine ...

Seven blocks thickly covered with residences and business houses in St. Augustine, Florida, have been destroyed by fire St. Augustine claims to be the oldest city in the United States, a fort having been built there by the Spaniards in 1563 - long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.