The mainland of the North American continent was first sighted by the Spanish
explorer and treasure hunter Don Juan Ponce de Leon on Easter, 
March
27, 1513. 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 the 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 of other nations, should they be found there.
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 600 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 to the Indians 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.
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.
Old Senator 
Cathedral of St. Augustine 
"The Love Tree" - This tree is named such, because you have a palm
tree going out of an oak tree
Tolomato
Cemetery 
City Gates 
In
1882, Henry Flagler, New York entrepreneur and cofounder of Standard Oil, became
interested in the historic city of St. Augustine and its potential as a winter
resort. Flagler's subsequent development of transportation and resort facilities
in St. Augustine and along the east coast of Florida spurred rapid development
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 
A
focal point of this development was Flagler's Hotel Ponce de León. Flagler
chose the Spanish Renaissance Revival style so that the hotel's design would
compliment its historic surroundings. Retained to decorate the interior of the
hotel, Louis C. Tiffany used stained glass, mosaics and terra cotta relief on
the walls and ceilings and commissioned several grand murals. The hotel was the
first large scale building constructed entirely of poured concrete. The
popularity of "the Ponce" and its style strongly influenced the
architecture of southern Florida for the next fifty years. The success of the
Hotel Ponce de Leon was short-lived, however, as a series of weather related
disasters struck Florida's coast in the 1890s. The Great Depression and World
War II forced the closing of the hotel. In 1967 the hotel was sold to Flagler
College. It has been renovated and retains most of its original integrity.
The
Lightner Museum, formerly Alcazar Hotel, also built by Henry Flagler.
The
Light-house 
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