St. Augustine on Anastasia Island
Posted by: 
Markerman62
N 29° 53.131 W 081° 17.458
17R E 471904 N 3306135
Located just north of St. Augustine Alligator Farm on FL A1A.
Waymark Code: WMTQ92
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 12/28/2016
Views: 4
St. Augustine, the oldest European-settled city in the United States was located on Anastasia Island from 1566 until 1572. Spanish settlers had founded the city on the west shore of the Matanzas River on Sept. 8, 1566. They built homes and a fort. The fort and the supplies inside burned. On May 18, 1566, a council voted to relocate the city to the barrier island for protection from hostile Native Americans and European enemies entering the port. Documents describe in detail the city's 6-year presence on the island-two forts, government buildings, barracks, a jail, times, wells and fields for corps. No physical evidence has yet been found. Quarrying in the 17th and 18th centuries and erosion probably destroyed the remnants of the city on the island. Sixteenth-century reports not the that the island city was two leagues (5-6 miles) from a strong house on San Julian Creek, placing the city on this general area of high ground and near the 16th-century inlet. The relentless ocean eroded the town's location. In 1572 St. Augustine returned to the mainland.
Marker Number: None
Date: 2016
County: St Johns
Marker Type: City
Sponsored or placed by: St. Augustine Historical Society
Website: Not listed
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