by Overton G. Ganong

Created on: May 07, 2008

In an America infatuated with youth and novelty, there is one place where "old" is the adjective of choice. That place is St. Augustine, Florida. Founded in 1565 by the Spanish, St. Augustine is the oldest continually occupied settlement of European origin in the continental United States.

For most of its history, St. Augustine was a "presidio," a military garrison town. Its principal functions were to maintain a foothold for Spain in southeastern North America and to defend the routes of the Spanish treasure fleets, which sailed along the east coast of Florida before turning toward home. Spain controlled the Florida peninsula for 198 years before losing it to Great Britain at the end of the Seven Years War. Between 1763 and 1784, St. Augustine served as the capital of British East Florida, but Spain got the territory back as a reward for supporting the rebellious American colonies in their bid for independence. Thirty-seven years later, in 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States.

St. Augustine was Spanish for 235 years. The United States will have to wait until 2056 before it can claim equal tenure.

Although time and modernity have frayed much of the city's historic fabric, enough remains to give St. Augustine an old-world ambience unique in the United States. Streets barely more than lanes or alleys, houses with overhanging wooden balconies, arched loggias, and walled gardens offer a striking contrast to the usual American streetscape. One of the delights of St. Augustine is simply to wander about, paying attention to the details: the rough texture of a wall made of native shell stone, called coquina; compact gardens filled with sub-tropical foliage, wooden balconies overhanging streets, moss-draped trees, sail boats bobbing in the bay.

Soon after falling into American hands, St. Augustine began to attract visitors from the northern states. The first were "invalids," usually people with tuberculosis, who came for the mild temperatures and fresh breezes. Soon healthier people joined them, drawn by the exotic ambience of the once foreign town. During the Civil War, Federal troops occupied St. Augustine. When they returned home, their accounts sparked further interest in its antique charms.

However, St. Augustine was not easy to reach. From New York or New Jersey, one had to travel to Jacksonville by rail or ship, then take a steamer up the St. Johns River to Picolata, from which a train ran the sixteen miles to St. Augustine. The city's isolation ended

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