 Blacks (70 to 100 percent shown in
red) are concentrated south of King
Street, north of which is the tourist Spanish district, which turns into
Bridge of Lions. Compare this census map with the topographic one above. |
Hotels. Near the end of the 19th century, oil magnate Henry Flagler
envisioned St. Augustine as "America's Riviera," preserving much of its
centuries-old structures and building a new resort hotel,
Ponce de Leon -- making the city one of
Florida's earliest resorts. A second luxury hotel, Alcazar, was also built.
Examine these hotels.
|
St. Augustine was founded in 1565, 42 years before
the English colonized Jamestown and 55 years before the pilgrims landed at
Plymouth Rock. Spanish explorer Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles established
this
presidio against British expansion
from the north. The city is the oldest, continuously-occupied European
settlement in the continental United States. 
The Spanish built Castillo de San Marcos, 1672-1695, which
served as an outpost of the Spanish Empire and to protect the sea route for
Spanish ships. During the 18th century, the Castillo went from Spanish
control to British and back to the Spanish, until the area was purchased by
the United States in 1821.
View
more of the Spanish settlement.