Spent the Day in America's Oldest City
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118814)
Gainesville, Florida
February 14, 2016 11:22am CST
Yesterday morning, the gf, kids and I piled in my truck and headed to St. Augustine, FL for the day. It was such a beautiful day, that we decided we wanted to spend it in one of our favorite little towns!
St. Augustine celebrated its 450th anniversary in 2015, and is the oldest continually occupied city in the United States. The Spanish established St. Augustine long before the English colonized Roanoke, Virginia.
My favorite part of St. Augustine is the coquina stone fort the Spanish constructed in 1769. The fort is still standing, and is in pretty good shape for a fortress that is almost 250 years old, and sees hundreds of thousands of visitors annually (and has survived countless sieges from the English, French and pirates). It is a National Landmark, and is operated by the National Park Service.
We also spent time exploring the Mission del Nombre de Dios, (Mission of the Name of God), the location where Pedro Menendez de Aviles first landed in Florida on September 8, 1565. Archaeological ruins discovered on the property (just to the north of the fort), and very detailed records of Menendez's voyage verify the location as to where the Spanish first came ashore to claim all of Florida for Spain.
I am a huge history buff, and love learning about our nation's exciting history. Because the majority of our nation's history is written from an English standpoint, there is very little in our nation's history books that give the Spanish account of our nation's early history. But in the early days, the English, French and Spanish fought continuously for control of Florida. The English, well established to the north in Virginia and Carolinas, and also to the south in Jamaica and Caribbean islands, never could conquer St. Augustine to wrestle control from the Spanish. The French briefly had success with a military establishment to the north (Fort Caroline in Jacksonville), but also never could conquer St. Augustine.
Does your hometown, nearby city, or state have an interesting history story that never made it into the history books?
11 people like this
11 responses
@Juliaacv (48624)
• Canada
14 Feb 16
We live in the vicinity of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Which was the end location to the underground railroad that the slaves used when they came up from the south, crossed the border into Canada. Its very rich in history, and I too, love reading about such local facts.
My grandfather, who was born and raised in Belgium, visited St Augustine, and he told us that it was the most beautiful city in north America.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
I concur with your grandfather's assessment of St. Augustine! I also consider it one of the most beautiful towns in America! And speaking of Uncle Tom's Cabin, I was just talking to my kids about it yesterday!
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (48624)
• Canada
14 Feb 16
@moffittjc Isn't that coincidental? We live about 25 minutes away from that location. And there is another settlement, called North Buxton, where many families settled, they have a huge "Homecoming" celebration on Labour Day weekend, many come back from various points in the US to celebrate over the long weekend. Its such a wonderfully warm weekend, we love going for the parade that they have.
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
@Juliaacv I learned another interesting tidbit of history while visiting St. Augustine yesterday. Apparently, when Florida was still under Spanish control, the governor welcomed escaped slaves from the English colonies to St. Augustine, where they were given freedom and accepted in with the population. I never knew this, but St. Augustine was a true "melting pot" of people throughout its illustrious history, as slaves, indentured servants, native Americans, French, Spanish, English Minorcans and more made their homes in St. Augustine. Pretty cool to learn about all that history!
1 person likes this
@amadeo (111948)
• United States
14 Feb 16
well I am sure that we do.We had a man name Franklin Pearce who became President.
We hav e lot of history not in my town but the state of New Hampshire and many more.
Come on over and see for your self.The history there is great.Never been in the part of Florida
Thank you
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
That's pretty significant to be able to claim a US President! I would love to visit the upper New England region! I have never been, and would love to one day explore Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine!
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
14 Feb 16
Our small town has a little history to it, but none that I believe went undocumented.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
15 Feb 16
@moffittjc none that I can think of. Pretty boring little town.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
Any major claims to fame from you town that I might have heard about or read about?
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@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Feb 16
@ElusiveButterfly A quiet, boring little town is not always a bad thing!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
It would be even nicer if all that history from Germany wasn't necessarily related to war and fighting! I know there is also a lot of good, peaceful things that have happened in Germany. It's unfortunately that sometimes the good things get overlooked due to the bad things that happened as a result of war and conflict.
1 person likes this
@VivaLaDani13 (60682)
• Perth, Australia
11 Mar 18
@moffittjc That sounded like an awesome day! I am sure there are much more exciting places here in Perth to look but even in the city there are really old buildings that I love to look at. Some buildings have dates on them to show how long they have been up for and that alone excites me. It makes me wonder what it was originally used for, who worked there and who has walked by etc.
I know it's nothing exciting compared to what you guys got up to but it's all I have to share for now. 
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Mar 18
Just recently, a construction company was digging in a woman's back yard so they could add a deck or expand her house, or something, and they unearthed very old skeletal remains of a horse and a Spanish soldier. They were able to determine the time period of when the horse and soldier lived in St. Augustine by the size of the horse. When the Spanish first settled Florida, they brought tiny horses with them on the ships, because they were easier to transport on the long journey across the Atlantic. Pretty fascinating stuff. Some historians say that you can dig anywhere in St. Augustine and find artifacts. I would love to live there and experience that for myself, since I am such a history buff.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Feb 16
Really, no good stories about Columbia?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
17 Feb 16
@Kboy26 Wow, South Carolina is not an ideal place for a married woman to live! LOL What do you think would happen if a husband actually dragged his wife down to the state house on a Sunday and started beating her? I'm willing to bet he'd get arrested and thrown in jail! It would be interesting to watch that court case unfold, especially if the defense lawyer points out that the man did not break any laws!
1 person likes this
@Kboy26 (143)
• Columbia, South Carolina
16 Feb 16
@moffittjc We have a law that allows a man to beat his wife on the state house steps on Sunday. That is crazy.
@Blondie2222 (28611)
• United States
17 Feb 16
Sounds like a nice lovely day. Yes we have a few places that have history and do try to visit often but don't always get the chance.
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
14 Feb 16
I think the only parts of our city's history that didn't make into the history books were the many early pioneers who went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. I have also heard the underground railroad went through here as well.
@pgiblett (6524)
• Canada
15 Feb 16
@moffittjc In the time I have lived here there are many people whose ancestors tried the stunt. Not sure how many such stories are true.
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Feb 16
@pgiblett Well, many of those who attempted the stunt probably didn't live to tell others about it, so there is not any reliable way to verify if the stories are true or not.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
Some of those Niagara Falls barrel riders made it into the history books! I remember reading about them as a kid! Maybe they weren't in history books, but I definitely remember reading about them!
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247216)
• United States
14 Feb 16
My grandfather lived there for many years. It is one of the most beautiful cities, too. My hubby and I stayed in St. Augustine on our way to our FL home last year and again, this year. My husband loved it as much as I. You brought back such wonderful memories of family trips. Up North, we live close to where the fathers of history lived.
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
That's nice that you not only loved St. Augustine, but that you had a chance to stay there! If you don't mind me asking, did you stay in a hotel, or one of their many quaint bed and breakfast inns?
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247216)
• United States
14 Feb 16
@moffittjc We used to stay at my grandpa's house on the river. We stayed in hotels the last two trips.
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
@DianneN When I plan trips to the beach, I usually stay in hotels right along the beach. If I stay in the downtown/historic part of town, I usually try to stay in a B&B.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326727)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Feb 16
The French, Dutch and others landed on our shores well before the British claimed us. Sometimes it would have taken a very small incident for the whole of history to be changed - if the French had settled here first for instance.
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Feb 16
There certainly is a lot of history that goes unreported in the history books. And you are so right about one incident changing the entire course of history! in our country's fledgling years, when multiple languages were still spoken in the Colonies, our Congressional delegates voted to establish the official language of the United States. English beat out German by just one vote. If that vote had gone the other way, German would have been our official language, and it could have changed the entire history of the world (especially if we would have ended up being close allies of Germany in WWII instead of enemies).
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
16 Feb 16
@JudyEv Wow, I never knew the Japanese bombed Australia! I guess they just wanted to piss everybody off back then!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326727)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Feb 16
@moffittjc Wow, that's amazing. I'm about to write a post about the Japanese bombing Darwin. More bombs were dropped on Darwin than on Pearl Harbour but the incident was never fully reported to the Australian people - not the extent of the bombing anyway.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118814)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Feb 16
It's a quaint little town, full of history and charm. Directly across from the Castillo de San Marcos (fort), is the historic downtown area. St. George Street still has the look and feel of early St. Augustine, and many of the buildings are historic. There's just so much to see and do in St. Augustine (including world-class beaches), that you can spend countless hours and days visiting everything!
