Section 2.2 – Spanish Exploration & the Birth of St. Augustine

Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States, stands as a powerful reminder of Florida’s Spanish colonial past. Photo courtesy of Emergent Media.

The Spanish colonization of Florida began in April 1513 with the arrival of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who landed on the northeast coast of the land he called “La Florida” for its lush appearance and because it was the Easter season’s Pascua Florida (“Feast of Flowers”).

Visitors explore Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, where centuries of Spanish colonial history come to life along the waterfront. Photo courtesy of Emergent Media.

Ponce de Leon’s initial landing was followed by a parade of galleons from Spain, whose expedition leaders established colonies on opposite ends of North Florida in what are now Pensacola and St. Augustine. Although the Pensacola settlement was technically first, the St. Augustine colony, founded in 1565, holds the distinction of being the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the United States.

The former Hotel Ponce de Leon, now Flagler College, showcases the grand Gilded Age architecture that helped shape Florida’s early tourism industry. Photo courtesy of Interpret Studio.

With its historic forts, homes and buildings, including the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, a visit to St. Augustine will transport your clients back to colonial Spain. It’s not an exaggeration to say the city is in a state of constant heritage celebration with historic reenactments, storytelling and impressive attractions and historic sites, from the Fountain of Youth to Aviles Street—oldest street in the Oldest City—and the imposing Castillo San Marcos, oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. Closer to the present day, the legacy of Standard Oil magnate Henry Flagler—whose Florida East Coast Railway opened the state to tourism—is seen in his original Gilded Age architecture, especially the palatial Hotel Ponce de Leon, now Flagler College.