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A photo of The Alcazar, taken in the 1890s by photographer William Henry Jackson

St. Augustine's History

Discover the stories of St. Augustine’s past.

Founded by the Spanish in 1565, St. Augustine is the "Oldest Continuously Occupied European Settlement in America" or simply "The Ancient City". Trace the threads between the people and places that make up the tapestry that is St. Augustine’s history. Browse Resources to uncover this centuries-long story.

Gigi Best-Richardon smiles alongside her husband, Mr. Richardson, inside the BRADLC Museum.

Gullah Geechee Legacy: A Historian's Insights into History and Heritage

Local historian illuminates the enduring legacy of enslaved Africans.

A colored image of Dr. R. B. Hayling, circa 2014. He is an old Black man with white hair and perceptive eyes.

Dr. Robert B. Hayling

Leader of the St. Augustine Civil Rights Movement.

Collage with red pattenred background. B&W bust of Zora Neale Hurston in foreground, she is smiling wide and has a drumstick in one hand.

Zora Neale Hurston

Anthropologist, author, preserver of memories.

Shoulders-up B&W portrait of Dr. King gazing into the camera.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK was an orator, Reverend, and iconic Civil Rights activist.

The historical marker for the Lincolnville Historic District.

Lincolnville Neighborhood

Historic District founded by freed people in 1866.

A photograph of the exterior of 102 Martin Luther King Ave, the Excelsior High School. It is a beige building with two stories, surrounded by palm and oak trees.

Lincolnville Museum & Cultural Center

First Public school for Black students in the city.

An older Black man dressed in the garb of a 1700s Spanish Soldier standing in the green space of Fort Mose Historic State Park.

Francisco Menendez

Leader of the fort and town of Mose.

A black and white photograph of a street in St. Augustine, Florida, circa 1915. In the foreground is a coquina wall that runs parallel to the street, which is sand. In the middle of the image is a row of historic houses. Power lines can also be seen. On the top border of the image, the words MOTOR AGE is superimposed over the sky in a serif font.

St. Augustine — Patriarch of American Cities

1915 Motor Age Magazine article about St. Augustine's history.

Vine-covered exterior of the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, a Spanish mission style building surrounded in Florida greenery.

National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios

Site of the city's founding, now a religious pilgrimage site.

Minerva King speaks with visitors at the Boone Hall Plantation.

Oral Historian Discusses The Gullah Geechee Language

Charleston historian shares stories in a dialect unique to the southeastern United States.

Sepia photograph of an old Black man (Luis Fatio Pacheco) in a hat and suit. His white beard circles his chin from ear to ear.

Luis Fatio Pacheco

Polyglot, Interpreter, Freedom-seeker.

Two bronze plaques mounted on an outside wall above a set of brick steps.

Rabbi Mass Arrest Monument

TEXT

Collage with red patterned background. Foreground shows a sepia bust portrait of Dr. D.W. Roberts.

Dr. D.W. Roberts

Trailblazing physician, public servant.

Collage with red patterned background. Bronze scuplture with 4 busts and a coquina base.

Foot Soldiers Monument

Dedicated to honoring the local activists in St. Augustine's Civil Rights Movement.

St. Augustine Under Three Flags front cover

St. Augustine Under Three Flags: A Pictorial History of Fort Marion

A 1925 article about the history of the Castillo de San Marcos

St. Benedict Catholic School in the Lincolnville neighborhood, shot in 1922

St. Benedict the Moor Catholic School

Catholic school for city's Black students.

B&W, classroom of young Black students seated at desks, priest and Sister stand behind.

Sisters of St. Joseph

One of the first Catholic orders to educate Black people after the Civil War.

The interior of St. Paul AME Church, with the altar in the background and pews in the foreground.

St. Paul A.M.E. Church

Founded in 1873.

The Stono Rebellion at a Glance

What was the Stono Rebellion? Discover a South Carolina Freedom Struggle

A woman turns the pages of her family album.

Three Tips for Tracing Family History.

Gigi Best-Richardson, local historian, shares genealogy insight.

B&W portrait of Richard Twine, edited to add drop shadow.

Richard Aloysius Twine

St. Augustine’s first professional Black photographer.

A long shot of the Charleston Museum on a sunny day.

Unearthing Gullah Geechee History

Inspired by the wealth of knowledge in material culture, Charleston archaeologists explore African American history.

Barbara Vickers (an older Black woman wearing glasses) stands in front of the bronze monument to the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers.

Barbara Henry Vickers

Local WWII patriot and Civil Rights activist.

The St. Augustine Beach Hotel, facing the Atlantic Ocean. A coquina brick building, two stories, with a series of coquina pillars north.

Waves of Change Exhibit

Outdoor exhibit commemorating Civil Rights.

Coquina sign with red details, blurred background of trees. The sign bears the City of St. Augustine emblem, West Augustine CRA emblem, and the words "Historic West Augustine."

West Augustine Community

A significant historic community.

Collage with red patterned background. B&W cut out of men sitting at a Woolworth's Lunch Counter, seats extend to foreground.

Woolworths Lunch Counter

Site of student-led sit-in protests.

Sepia-toned lined portrait of Black Seminole leader Abraham. He holds the muzzle of a gun, a headwrap, and furs on his shoulders.

Abraham

Counsel to Seminole Chief Micanopy.

Illustration of a Black man in Seminole garb. dark cloudy BG.

Nero

Leader during the First Seminole War.

A Black woman in 1800s garb holding out laundry in front of her.

Rosa

Enslaved woman who lived during the Second Spanish Period.

A large coquina house with a white fence extending into the foreground, the house sits on Aviles Street in St. Augustine, Florida

Ximenez-Fatio House

Built in 1798, revived in 1939.