St Augustine itself is the oldest city in the USA, it is home to the oldest wooden school house in the USA and it is the location of the oldest street in the USA. The St Augustine tourist authority describes the destination as full of old-world charm, historical monuments, unique attractions, world class shopping, sunny weather and beaches just minutes away. On that basis St Augustine makes an ideal holiday destination for everyone.
Aviles Street in St. Augustine is the oldest street in the USA. Archaeologists digging down several layers under the brick paving, have found pottery shards from the early 1600s. The Pilgrim Fathers didn’t land on the continent until 1620. This historic street is also St. Augustine’s original artist district, dating back to the 1930s when the Hamblin Hardware warehouse at 11 Aviles Street was transformed into studio and gallery spaces for artists. The street also boasts some of St Augustine’s oldest historical sites.
The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is one of the best preserved colonial buildings in the town and is preserved to recall the first tourist boom in Florida from the 1830s to 1850s. The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is an authentic reconstruction of a military hospital that stood on this site during the Second Spanish Colonial Period (1784–1821) and depicts the state of care that was on offer during the 1790s.. Finally the Father O’Reilly House Museum that was constructed in 1691, purchased by Father Miguel O’Reilly in 1785. Father Miguel, an Irish priest in the service of the preserving the old values.
The Oldest Wooden School House is cited as being the oldest wooden school building in the United States. The exact date of construction is unknown, but it first appears on tax records in 1716. We know that it cannot have been built before 1702 because the British burnt the City to the ground. Since 1937 the building has been encircled by a large chain, to help anchor it to the ground in case of a hurricane. The classroom was one of the first in the US to be co-ed educating both boys and girls since 1788.
In 1982, the Bridge of Lions was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was built in the mid-1920s as a way for cars to travel from St. Augustine on the mainland to Anastasia Island The bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge, also known simply as a drawbridge, which allows commercial and recreational boats to pass through a center channel when the moveable span is in the up position. It poses a magical image at dusk as it is all lit up.
There is plenty more to see in St Augustine. We haven’t even mentioned the pirates!! I hope that the video above by “Dawes” has inspired you to find out more about this beautiful city, often forgotten as a holiday destination due the bright lights and thrill rides of destinations like Miami and Orlando.
