HISTORIC ST. AUGUSTINE

Transcription

1 HISTORIC ST. AUGUSTINE DON JUAN PONCE DE LEON

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3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE Spanish explorer and treasure hunter, Don Juan Ponce de Leon, had heard Indians tell of Bimini, a fabulous island in the North. Historians do not unanimously honor at full value the romantic story that Ponce was seeking to find the fountain of youth. Yet it was not incredible to men of that day - when the very existence of a New World was hardly believable to those who had not seen it with their own eyes - that those who had touched these shores should believe in greater magic in this strange realm. And certainly there is no legend more appropriate to the beginning of America than that this new land should offer a vision of eternal youth. In 1513 Ponce de Leon, at his own expense, equipped an expedition to the North. With his able navigator, Anton Alaminos, Ponce sailed and charted the ocean s main artery, the Gulf Stream, shaping the destiny of oceanic transport for all time to come. The mainland of the North American continent was first sighted by Ponce de Leon on Easter, March 27, He claimed the land for Spain and named it La Florida, meaning "Land of Flowers." Between 1513 and 1563 the government of Spain launched six expeditions to settle Florida, but all failed. The French succeeded in establishing a fort and colony on the St. Johns River in 1564 and in doing so, threatened Spain's treasure fleets which sailed along Florida's shoreline returning to Spain. As a result of this incursion into Florida, King Phillip II named Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spain's most experienced admiral, as governor of Florida, instructing him to explore and to colonize the territory. Menendez was also instructed to drive out any pirates or settlers from other nations, should they be found there. On June 20, 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles sailed from Spain for Florida with 19 ships and 1,000 people. The expedition at one time had swelled to more than 1,500 people but after storms at sea, the expedition diminished in size to five ships and 500 soldiers, 200 sailors and 100 noncombatants. This was primarily a military venture. When Menendez arrived off the coast of Florida, it was August 28, 1565, the Feast Day of St. Augustine. Eleven days later, he and his soldiers and settlers came ashore at the site of the Timucuan Indian village of Seloy with banners flying and trumpets sounding. He hastily fortified the fledgling village and named it St. Augustine. Utilizing brilliant military maneuvers, Menendez destroyed the French garrison on the St. Johns River and, with the help of a hurricane, also defeated the French fleet. With the coast of Florida firmly in Spanish hands, he then set to work building the town, establishing missions for the Church, and exploring the land. Thus, St. Augustine was founded forty-two years before the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia, and fifty-five years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts - making it the oldest permanent European settlement on the North American continent.

4 Maintaining St. Augustine became a mighty task over the next two hundred years. In 1586, English corsair Sir Francis Drake attacked and burned the town. Then in 1668, the pirate Captain John Davis plundered the town, killing sixty inhabitants. Without the courage, perseverance and faith of its early settlers it is doubtful that St. Augustine would have survived. Finally, after the British established colonies in Georgia and the Carolinas, Spain authorized the building of a stone fort to protect St. Augustine as assaults from the north became more frequent. The Castillo de San Marcos took twenty-three years to build but, once in place, stood as the town's stalwart defender. Major attacks were made against her in 1702 by Governor James Moore of South Carolina and in 1740 by General James Oglethorpe of Georgia. Neither siege was successful and to this day, the fort has never fallen to enemy attack. It was not until 1763 that Spain ceded Florida to England in order to regain the capital of Cuba, ushering in twenty years of British rule in Florida. This period coincided with the American Revolution, during which Florida remained loyal to the Crown. In 1783, under the Treaty of Paris, Florida was returned to Spanish rule for a period of thirty-seven years. The Spanish departed for the last time when Spain sold Florida to the United States of America. At a colorful military ceremony on July 10, 1821, US troops took possession of the territory and Spain relinquished control of Florida forever. Soon after the American occupation, St. Augustine suffered a series of setbacks. In 1821, a yellow fever epidemic brought death to many newcomers. Also, uprisings by the Seminole Indians culminated in the Seminole War of 1836, which called a halt to development of St. Augustine's economy. In 1845, Florida became the twenty-seventh state admitted to the Union. The Castillo de San Marcos was renamed Fort Marion in honor of a Revolutionary War hero, and the capital of East Florida was moved from St. Augustine to become part of the state capital in the new town of Tallahassee. The town had finally begun to prosper when the American Civil War broke out in Although Florida had seceded with the rest of the Confederacy, St. Augustine was occupied by Union troops throughout most of the conflict. When the war ended in 1865, the town was three centuries old. THE HENRY FLAGLER ERA The war's end brought speculators and land developers to Florida along with the beginnings of the visitor industry. The arrival of Henry Flagler in 1885 marked the beginning of a golden era for St. Augustine that extended through Enticed by the city's temperate climate and

5 unique ambiance, Flagler saw great potential for St. Augustine as a winter resort and playground for rich Northerners. Flagler, a co-founder of the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller, immediately put his vast fortune to work building his dream. He constructed two lavish hotels, the beautiful Alcazar, and his masterpiece-the Ponce de Leon. These hotels allowed St. Augustine to accommodate the wealthiest of travelers with luxurious lodgings and a fine array of leisure activities. His Florida East Coast Railway ensured a transportation link between New York and St. Augustine, and he built a two-story depot to properly receive arriving guests. Flagler was also responsible for building the town's hospital, city hall, and several churches. Flagler expanded his dream south toward Palm Beach when he moved there in the early 1900's, but had given St. Augustine an era of prestige and prosperity - the effects of which are still evident today. Flagler's vision would forever change the face of St. Augustine, but natural disaster also altered the town's appearance. In 1887 and 1914, fires wiped out many historic buildings between the plaza and the north city gates. In 1959, the state began an ongoing preservation effort, meticulously restoring many colonial structures to their original appearance, and historic St. Augustine has become a center of colonial Spanish culture and an important destination for travelers from all parts of the world. 1. What Spaniard first discovered and explored Florida? When? 2. Who founded St. Augustine? When? 3. Why did Spain authorize the building of The Castillo de San Marcos? 4. Why was it important for the Spanish to colonize Florida? 5. Why was Henry Flagler so important to the development of St. Augustine? 6. Mr. Flagler built several hotels in St. Augustine. What else did he build? CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS (THE FORT) This is St. Augustine's most impressive historical landmark and it tells a lot about the past. From the time of its founding, St. Augustine always had a fort to defend it against attack.

6 The first forts were of wood, which soon decayed and were periodically rebuilt. Finally, as advancing English colonies to the north threatened to engulf Florida and St. Augustine, officials in Spain authorized the building of a great coquina stone fortress here. Its construction was begun in 1672, a century before the Revolutionary War. It was essentially completed in 1695 although some of the outer work was added during later periods. Free artisans, impressed Indian labor, convicts, and slaves were used in its construction. The stone used in this fort, and later in many of St. Augustine's other buildings is called coquina, which is made up of tiny shells and sand, fused together over thousands of years. Coquina was quarried on Anastasia Island across the Matanzas Bay, cut into blocks, hauled to the pier at Quarry Creek by oxen, ferried across the bay on barges, and then laboriously lifted into place by hand operated derricks. As a thick wall, the coquina was able to withstand cannon fire because of its porous (sponge-like) quality. The cannon balls only became embedded in the walls, and were unable to crack or shatter them. After the fort was completed, it successfully withstood two English sieges and was never captured by an enemy. 7. What material was used for the construction of the Castillo? 8. Where did the Indian laborers get this material for the Castillo? 9. Why was the fort able to withstand cannon attack? 10. When was construction of the Castillo completed?

7 THE SPANISH MILITARY HOSPITAL MUSEUM The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is a reconstruction of a Military Hospital that stood on this site from (during the second Spanish Colonial Period). Students will visit the Surgeon s Office and view the tools of the trade (a few of which are still used today). Since mortality rates were high, a Mourning Room was part of the Hospital. Here the Priest gave blessings to patients before death occurred. Patients were housed in the Hospital Ward and the Apothecary is where medicines were dispensed. Students will tour all of the above as they role play being a patient in the Spanish Military Hospital in the year MISSION OF NOMBRE DE DIOS SHRINE (Our Lady of La Leche) On this site, September 8, 1565, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles landed with a band of settlers to found St. Augustine, so named because his ships first sighted the Florida coast on St. Augustine's Day, August 28. Father Francisco Lopez, Chaplain of the Spanish fleet, offered here the First Mass in the nation's first Parish. Father Lopez and a detail of soldiers had come ashore the evening before. When Menendez and his principal officers landed, amid the roar of the cannon and the blare of the trumpets, the priest went out to meet them holding aloft a cross and singing the hymn "Te Deum Laudamus," the same hymn that is sung in church services today. Curious Indians watched both proceedings. Thus St. Augustine came into existence and was launched upon its span of over four centuries. During the next two hundred years this area was the site of an active Indian Mission named "Nombre de Dios"-"Name of God. It was the first mission in what is now the United States and is still administered by the Catholic Church. To commemorate the Mission's 400th Anniversary, which occurred in 1965, the Catholic Church erected a new Votive Church and a 200 foot high cross to mark the place where Christianity first took root in this country.

8 OLD FLORIDA MUSEUM Students will experience history first hand at the Old Florida Museum. Costumed Guides will lead your class through an interactive trip through Florida s History. A take home project is included in each program. The four featured programs are: Florida Indian Program - Experience the daily life of the Timucua Indians firsthand. Students will participate in Native American games, jewelry making, corn grinding, gardening and will practice using a bow drill. Student take home project - Indian jewelry. Spanish Colonial/ Fort Mose Program - Learn about daily life in Spanish Colonial times and discover the story of Fort Mose, the first free Black Settlement in Colonial America (which was located just a bit north of St. Augustine). Candle dipping, rope making, colonial games, tabby making, weaving, and woodworking are hands on activities for young people. Student take home project - hand dipped candle taper. Early Florida Pioneer Program - Attend class in a one room school house and experience a day in the life of a child in the 1800s. Students will participate in corn shelling and milling, write with a quill pen, draw water from a pitcher pump, play pioneer games, try their roping skills and garden with a push plow. Student take home project - Quill pen writing sample on parchment paper. Archaeological Dig Program - In this new program students will learn about the field of archaeology. A mock dig to uncover and identify findings on their own will be included in this great hands on activity planned especially for young people. Student take home project - Record of findings. THE OLD JAIL This Building served as the county jail from 1890 to Today it is a museum depicting various forms of punishment, weapons used by famed criminals and related exhibits. It has recently been placed in the Register of National Historic Buildings. 11. When was the Old Jail built? 12. What was your favorite part of the Old Jail Tour?

9 THE SPANISH QUARTER This is an outdoor, or "living", museum for visitors to the nation's oldest city. Here you will have a guided tour behind the garden walls of busy St. George Street, where interpreters in period dress recreate the daily life of St. Augustine in the mid-1700's. By the end of the First Spanish Period ( ), St. Augustine was a frontier garrison town that increasingly benefitted from outside trade. Spanish Soldiers from the nearby Castillo de San Marcos lived in houses clustered in barrios (neighborhoods). Their wives were usually Indian or "mestiza" (mixed blood) women. Their neighbors might be shopkeepers, priests, tavern keepers, ranchers, fishermen, sailors, loggers, or artisans. Trade with the Indian nations and the English colonies improved their economy. The population was on the rise. The Spaniards' departure, making way for England's takeover in 1763, stalled the development of the Florida colony. THE CITY GATE This gate, opened in 1739, provided the only access through the defense lines on the north side. For a long period, it was only a log and earthen gate. In 1808 the present coquina pillars were built and the wall strengthened by stone work on either side. THE LIGHTNER MUSEUM Enjoy wandering through the museum's setting the former Hotel Alcazar, built in 1887 in the Spanish Renaissance style. Railroad magnate Henry M. Flagler commissioned architects Carrere and Hastings to design the Alcazar and the Ponce de Leon Hotel (across the street). The two young architects later designed the New York Public Library and the U.S. Senate office building. After years of accommodating vacationing wealthy patrons, the elegant resort hotel closed. Today, relics of America's Gilded Age are elegantly exhibited on the museum's three floors. Costumes, furnishings, mechanical musical instruments and other artifacts give you a glimpse into 19th century daily life. The Lightner collection includes beautiful examples of cut glass, Victorian art glass and the stained glass work of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

10 THE OLDEST HOUSE (the Gonzalez-Alvarez House) The Gonzalez-Alvarez house is one of the country's best documented and studied houses. For more than a century after its founder, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, landed in 1565, St. Augustine was a military outpost and was considered a threat to other nations. Raided and burned by Sir Francis Drake in 1586, sacked by English pirates in 1668, and reduced to ashes again by English troops from Carolina in 1702, its early history was marked by violence and force. Despite that violence, archaeologists can show continuous occupancy of the Oldest House site from the early 1600's to the present day. Palm thatching and logs or boards formed the earliest shelters here. An early structure on this site, built of those materials, was burned, probably in the 1702 fire. New construction was more substantial, for royal permission was granted to use coquina from the island, across the bay. At the Oldest House site, a floor for the two main rooms was laid of tapia (tabby), a mixture of lime, shell and sand. That, with the coquina walls, mark this oldest part of the house as typical of Spanish St. Augustine. Tomas Gonzalez y Hernandez, an artilleryman at the Castillo, came from the Canary Islands, married a local girl in 1723, and it is recorded that their baby died in the house in For forty years the Gonzalez family lived here. When Florida was ceded by Spain to England in 1763, the town's 3,000 Spanish residents including Gonzalez and his family, had to leave. Major Joseph Peavett, a retired English officer, purchased the house and started the chain of alterations which brought the little building to its present shape and size. Two years after Spain regained control of Florida in 1783, Peavett died. His widow Mary, married John Hudson, a young Irish adventurer with little money sense. To pay off Hudson's debt, in 1790 the house was auctioned off to a newly arrived Spaniard, Geronimo Alvarez. He and his descendants after him, lived in the house for almost a hundred years. Here they lived through the dangers of the Seminole Indian Wars and the Civil War. Finally, in 1882 the house passed into other hands. In the next four decades it was home to various occupants, including those who first opened it to the public as "The Oldest House in the United States." 13. When was the Oldest House site first occupied? 14. What construction material was used for the Old House? 15. What evidence do we have to prove the Gonzalez-Alvarez House really is the Oldest House? 16. Why is the second floor of the Oldest House so different from the first floor?

11 SCENIC CRUISE Come aboard the St. Augustine Scenic Cruise s Victory III and discover St. Augustine as its original founders did - by water. Your friendly Captains are from the Usina family. The Usina s first came to St. Augustine in 1777 from the island of Minorca (just off the coast of Spain). During this fully narrated tour you will see historical landmarks including the Bridge of Lions, The St. Augustine Bayfront, the Castillo de San Marcos (Old Fort), the Cross where explorer Pedro Menendez landed, the St. Augustine Light House and the Ponce de Leon s Fountain of Youth. Beyond the history you will enjoy St. Augustine s extraordinary flora and fauna. Herons, pelicans, cormorants and sea gulls are commonly found bathing in the Sun on an island of sand, palm trees and oyster beds. It is not unusual to see Dolphin swimming along side the boat as you journey along the Matanzas River, Matanzas Bay, St. Augustine Inlet and Salt Run. THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH When you enter our site you will pass beneath the archway of this world famous attraction, you are stepping onto the very property on which U.S. history began. Seloy was the name of the Timucua Village, before the arrival of the Spanish in 1513, and with Ponce de Leon's claim of possession for the Spanish King, La Florida was born. It is within the boundaries of this property that the oldest continuously occupied European settlement within our continental United States was formed -- St. Augustine. Over the next 350 years the property was farmed and citrus orchards grew here until 1901 and with the arrival of Dr. Louella Day McConnell known as Diamond Lil, who traveled here from the Klondike and purchased the estate. Being a bright and enterprising woman of the day, she began to charge an admission price to drink from the waters of the free flowing spring found on the property. Over the last 100 years, many thousands of guests have visited in order to sip the world famous waters and hear the history behind its legendary benefits. While here, please also visit our Discovery Globe, Navigator's Planetarium, Indian Burial Grounds, and Shipwreck Exhibit.

12 RIPLEY S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! Ripley s is the finest collection of oddities and curiosities in the World, containing well over 4,000 different specimens. It contains items that the younger generation would call freaky or weird, but the greatest proportion are important pieces that any public museum would be glad to display. The collection was started in the 1920's by Robert Ripley. Strange artifacts found in faraway places had a fascination for people. Museum experts scoured sites everywhere and carried away shiploads of archaeological treasures to satisfy the curiosity of the people back home. With the discovery of strange artifacts came even stranger stories. Encyclopedias and periodicals dug up tales of primitive superstition and bizarre native rituals. Newspapers best reporters were sent out to remote areas, including the jungles of Africa, to get the stories. Ripley continued to travel looking for souvenirs. The more bizarre items normally neglected by museums made great conversation pieces at parties. He brought home huge crates of foreign curiosities. His home was crammed with massive furniture and works of art from China and the South Seas. Hundreds of items lay in warehouses unseen. Ripley himself had never examined half of them. It was not long before friends were urging him to put his treasures on public display. The first exhibition of Ripley s treasures was in Chicago in By 1940, there were three Odditoriums running simultaneously and a number of trailer shows toured the country. Everywhere they went, the public received them with enthusiasm. Robert L. Ripley died in In 1950, his heirs began the first serious attempt to bring together and catalog the vast accumulation of curios. From the various storage warehouses, homes of Ripley, and trailer shows, the first permanent Ripley s Believe It or Not! Museum at St. Augustine got its start. Ripley s collection is now housed in eight Believe It or Not! Museums throughout the country. No one museum houses the best of Ripley. Each offers a carefully structured assortment of the unique, the bizarre, the beautiful and the monstrous. We must all pay tribute to the man who put it all together for our wonder and our learning. 17. Where was Ripley s first exhibition? 18. Where did Ripley collect these oddities for his exhibitions? 19. What was your impression of Ripley s Believe It or Not!? 20. How many Ripley s museums are there?

13 THE ST. AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE The Spanish Watchtower St. Augustine has always been a challenge for mariners. The conditions of the weather, water, and land are a hazard for citizens and marauders alike. After Pedro Menendez founded St. Augustine in 1565, he decided to build a wooden tower on the north end of Anastasia Island. The tower was to be manned by a single Spanish soldier to help identify incoming ships. Primarily a defensive measure for the settlement, the tower also served as a landmark for sailors attempting to locate the town from sea, amid the wilderness. The watchtower was meant to aid ships to the location of the port but it also showed the way for Sir Frances Drake in May of Drake, an English privateer, pillaged and burned the city and the tower. The Coquina Lighthouse Within six months of Florida becoming a United States territory in 1821, the Territorial Council forwarded a request to President Monroe for lighthouses to be built at Pensacola and St. Augustine. As a result, the Spanish coquina guardhouse/watchtower was converted to a true lighthouse. On April 5, 1824, Juan Andreu was named the first lightkeeper of the first lighthouse in the State of Florida. Ten big oil lamps in front of mirrors produced the light. During the Civil War, Florida joined the Confederacy and the flame was extinguished in 1862 by Captain George Gibbs to prevent Union attack by sea. Paul Arnau, collector of customs in St. Augustine, removed and buried the lens. It was eventually recovered, but the light was not relit until The New Brick Lighthouse In 1885, the Lighthouse Board changed the lamp fuel to kerosene. In 1936, the St. Augustine lighthouse was the last Florida lighthouse to get electricity. Since there was no oil to carry or soot to clean off the lens the number of keepers was reduced to two. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and its duties were transferred to the United States Coast Guard. In 1955, the light was automated. A photocell gauges sunlight intensity and turns the light bulb inside the Fresnel lens on and off. On-site keepers were no longer needed. Lamplighters, Coast Guard employees living off-site, regularly checked on the light. Since automation, the lens rotates continuously. This prevents flat spots from developing on the bronze carriage wheels from the weight of the lens. The movement also breaks up the sun s rays during the day. Statistics The Lighthouse contains an estimated 1.2 million bricks. The St. Augustine Lighthouse, with its distinctive black and white spiral and red top is 165 feet tall. There are 219 steps to the observation deck which is about the height of a fourteen-story building or the bridge of a destroyer.

14 ST. AUGUSTINE WORD SCRAMBLE Can you find these words relating to St. Augustine? (They can be found vertical, horizontal, diagonal, frontwards or backwards.) SPANISH MILITARY HOSPITAL WORD SCRAMBLE CHAMBER POT BONE SAW CLOVES MORTAR MILITARY TOURNIQUET SPAIN HOSPITAL TENACULUM HEN RATIONS WARD ALOE TREPANNING SCALPEL COCHINEAL PILL CHOCOLATE CAUTERIZE SURGEON POULTICE APOTHECARY PRIEST LIMBS PHYSICIAN LAVENDER BALL PESTLE MUSKET M Q E E C H A M B E R P O T Z U M I L I T A R Y C G U C R F S U O S E V O L C I N S A E N K L F R N U R S E T I P U P A E U N O T H E H X L N A T A I T C S D Y A M O W U N I E Z C W A R D E N R S A O A N R N I U N T S E I R P S P P M I I S T Q N N I S I I E V E Y Z N Y E T M Z T L O T N S R M E G H U K U T L O P A O C T A U B P Q S L A U G H L B A L L O O L I B U X S N O I T A R N E H A N M C H O C O L A T E Z X I P R I A L A E N I H C O C M U L U L N A P O T H E C A R Y V A O H E L P L A V E N D E R U C T E T H E A L L N O E G R U S

15 1. Ponce de Leon - April 3, Pedro Menendez ANSWER SHEET 3. Because the British had established colonies in Georgia and the Carolinas 4. To gain a foothold in North America and to protect Spanish treasure ships 5. He built the railroad which connected St. Augustine with the lines that reached the North. He then built luxury hotels to attract wealthy Northerners to the city, promoting the area as a winter resort. 6. Hospital, City Hall and several churches 7. Coquina shell stone 8. From Anastasia Island 9. The cannon balls imbedded in the porous coquina walls instead of cracking them Student responses will vary 13. Early 1600's 14. The walls are made of coquina shell stone, the floors are of tabby (a mixture of lime, shell and sand), roofs were thatched. 15. The record of a death of a small child in the home in Because it was added after the English gained control of St. Augustine and reflects British architecture of the late 18 th century. 17. Chicago 18. Throughout Africa, China and the South Seas. 19. Student responses will vary 20. Eight