I never gave much thought about the place known as the “oldest city in America.” Growing up in New York City where half the city seemed old and crumbling, when I moved to Florida everything seemed so new all over. I figured St. Augustine was probably more of the same newer style of buildings. I was mistaken.
St. Augustine had that old Caribbean island feel to it. It’s right on the water with a major fort overlooking a quaint anchorage. The Castillo de San Marcos is said to be the oldest fort in America built by the Spanish and opened in 1695. It was briefly taken over by the British just in time for the Revolutionary War and then went back to the Spanish after America gained Independence. The Spanish relinquished Florida as a territory to America in 1821. And Florida became the 27th state in 1846. The fort was primarily Spanish for half of its existence.
The fort itself was fantastic feeling old and mysterious. It was built with coquina, a type of rock with crushed shells in it. I thought it was a cement that was mixed together by people, but its actually a rock that was quarried from somewhere nearby. That stuff is protected now, so no one builds with it anymore. Coquina can last over three hundred years and absorbs the shock of cannon balls. It might get a little hole, but the structure won’t budge at all.
The rooms all had arched ceilings which probably made them stronger, but had to have added a layer of complexity to the building of it. Outside of the fort, the grounds were stepped and arranged in a geometric fashion, which doesn’t seem to have a military advantage but added an enormous amount of work to move that much dirt and build extra walls that weren’t difficult to get over. If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed it had something to do with farming, but no soldiers, Spanish, British, or American were farming there according to the sketchy history I could find.
Then I walked maybe six blocks over to the Flagler College campus which just made the whole trip worth it. The campus was originally a luxury hotel built for 400 guests. This was in addition to the other hotel (Hotel Alcazar) built just a couple of years after by the same person for more guests. I mean why were hundreds of rich people flocking to St. Augustine in 1888 anyway? The natural springs craze wasn’t fully underway until the 1900s. To give you some perspective Central Park was only 30 years old at this time, it was 20 years after the Civil War, everyone was getting around by way of horse and carriage, downtown Manhattan was a polluted industrial area, Carnegie was making his fortune in steel, Edison was putting DC electrical power everywhere and the big stately museums and mansions were just opening during these years.
Florida was on the same Guilded Age bandwagon it seems. It was just fascinating to see the artistry in every detail of the buildings. Gutter spouts were in the shape of a dragon with its mouth open, the fireplace backing plate depicted a dragon wreathed in smoke, the mosaics of the floor, stain glass windows, wooden balconies, and iron work that you just don’t find in present times. These crafts are endangered today and if anyone wanted to claim we were evolving, just look at what we’re producing. No building or road even lasts 50 years, much less two hundred. And they sure don’t look as nice either.
The brick work was very nicely done. Any repair work clearly struggled to match the craftsmanship that the original buildings had. The terra cotta decorations on the rooftops are reminiscent of old style European buildings. How did we manage to lose these skills so that everything built today are just differing sizes of rectangles with no figurative art to grace their facades? It would be great if we could bring that style back, even a little bit.
I could go on and on about the old buildings and how amazing they are, but I will restrain myself. I had a good time in St. Augustine. There are probably old buildings sprinkled throughout the state that are just as awesome, but they are surrounded by all the newer buildings (Miami anyone). It would be great if locals were more knowledgeable about their own history close to home. I find it so interesting and can happily go way down the history rabbit hole. I’m just saying, if you haven’t seen it yet, St. Agustine would make a great weekend away.
