St. Augustin's founder, Don Pedro Menendez, came ashore on September 8, 1565, and chose to name the settlement after the patron saint whose feast day coincided with the day of landing. Of course, before the Spanish ever set foot on Florida soil, the Timacuan Indians had already been here and they watched Menendez and the roughly 1500 colonists and soldiers settle here. Over the last few centuries the city experienced governments from different countries, including Spain, Britain, and since 1821, the United States.
The real rise of this community came in the late 1800s when Henry Flagler (1830 to 1913) built two hotels and took over a third as part of the Flagler hotel chain. Flagler was the co-founder of Standard Oil, and although not as well known as some of the other early magnates of capitalism, he was one of the wealthiest individuals of his time. Flagler had a major impact on Florida: he founded the Florida East Coast Railway as a means of transporting guests to and from the north to his hotels in St. Augustine, Palm Beach, and Miami. A honeymoon visit to St. Augustine in 1881 with his second wife inspired Flagler's vision to transform this sleepy town into a winter playground for the rich.

Three of Flagler's former St. Augustine hotels are still in use today: Flagler College (the former Hotel Ponce de Leon), the Lightner Building - St. Augustine's City Hall (the former Alcazar) and Casa Monica, redone as a county courthouse in the 1960s, and reopened in 1990 as the restored Casa Monica Hotel. During the late 19th and early 20th century Flagler also developed a residential neighbourhood called the Model Land Company tract.

Within a few short years Flagler's dream of a resort town for northerners faded and he, and the wealthy northern visitors, moved further south. He continued to develop the Florida East Coast Railroad down the peninsula, into and across the Florida Keys, creating hotels and communities along the way.

Nation's oldest city St. Augustine is centered around the Plaza de la Constitucion, which anchors the Lightner Museum / City Hall, Casa Monica and Flagler College, three stunningly beautiful structures. Located in the former Alcazar Hotel, the Lightner Museum houses collections of legendary hobbyist and antiques collector Otis Lightner.


Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth National Archaeological Park exhibits foundations and artifacts of the first St. Augustine mission and colony. It also houses the Landmark Spring, Explorers Globe and Navigators' Planetarium. St. Augustine also houses the Oldest Drug Store and the nation's Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, built more than 200 years ago while Florida was under Spain's rule.


This city welcomes around 2 million visitors every year who come to discover a unique historic part of America. A settlement with authentic Spanish roots, complete with Castillo and all, is a truly unique sight in the U.S. and it was definitely worth the detour.