St. Augustine, Florida

GLO Record of the Week for April 23, 2023

This week we are headed to sunny Florida! St. Augustine was founded on May 8, 1565, and remains the oldest continuously occupied settlement of European and African-American origin in the United States.

General Land Office Record

Below is a copy of the townsite plat of St. Augustine. This townsite plat, written in Spanish, was approved on April 25, 1788. If you look at the bottom right corner of the plat, you can see Castillo De San Marcos. On the  GLO website , users are able to toggle between the original townsite plat and the copy of the townsite plat.

Copy of the Townsite Plat of St. Augustine, Florida

St. Augustine Historical Timeline

Pre-1942

Pre-Columbian/Pre-historic Period

1513-1565

Discovery Period

1565-1763

First Spanish Colonial Period

1763-1784

British Colonial Period

1784-1821

Second Spanish Colonial Period

1821-1845

U.S. Territorial Period

1845-1861

Early Statehood

1861-1865

U.S. Civil War

1865-1885

Post-Civil War Period

1885-1913

Flagler Era

1913-1919

World War I Era

1920-1941

Florida Depression

1941-1945

World War II

Henry Flagler

After the end of the Civil War, St. Augustine was a crumbling old Spanish town until about 1885 when Henry Flagler, a partner of the Standard Oil Company, decided to turn the town into a winter resort, which would soon become the winter tourist mecca of the United States. He own a railroad company that linked the most populous east coast cities to St. Augustine, and in 1887 his company began construction on two large ornate hotels with a third built shortly thereafter that was planned and started by a different builder. Flagler's architecture style was often used throughout Florida as other cities were being built.

Restoration

The restoration of St. Augustine began in 1935 and was continued in 1965, the 400th anniversary of St. Augustine, with the cooperation of the State of Florida to restore parts of the colonial city. The restoration preserved 36 remaining buildings from the colonial era and reconstructed nearly 40 additional colonial buildings that once disappeared. In 2001, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain visited the city in large part due to the restoration efforts.

Left image: St. Augustine Colonial Quarter - Musket Drill Area Right image: Aviles Street, St. Augustine

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

During the Spaniards' first century in St. Augustine, they were victims of many enemy attacks, which lead the governor of the Florida colony to write to officials in Spain requesting funds to build a permanent defense system. The Spanish crown then approved plans to build a stone fortress, and in 1672 construction of Castillo de San Marcos began. Castillo De San Marcos was built by the Spanish to protect Spain's settlement in St. Augustine and is the oldest surviving fortress in the United States.

In 1924, the fort was established as Marion National Monument, and was later renamed in 1942 to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

Photos of Castillo de San Marcos. Photo Credit:  NPS 

To learn more about the unique history of the fort and take a virtual tour, check out the National Park Service's website.

Copy of the Townsite Plat of St. Augustine, Florida