Saturday, July 11, 2009

St. Augustine, FL


St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States. It was founded in 1565, making it 444 years old. The city was 256 years old as the US took possession of the province of East Florida in 1821.

A self-made millionaire, Henry Morrison Flagler decided to develop St. Augustine into a winter resort for the northern rich. He then set about the task of building a great Gilded Age empire of hotels and railroads that extended from St. Augustine to Key West.



Most of the buildings are of Spanish Renaissance Revival style. This architecture features clay-tile roofs, towers, rounded arches and extensive red terracotta ornamentation and poured concrete supports and walls.











In 1883, Franklin Smith built his Villa Zorayda, which is 1/10 the scale of a small portion of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.


We got in a little beach time, wading in the ocean and collecting shells.

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