During World War II, the Hotel was borrowed by the Federal Government and converted into the Barracks and training ground for the Coast Guard. Locals remember the trainees and the gun or cannon fire from training periods throughout the day when gun exercises took place.

In 1968, to save the Hotel from demolition, Flagler's heirs turned the building into an all-women's college. In 1971 with the ascendency of Dr. William L. Proctor to the office of president, the College became co-ed and was accredited.  Since then, Flagler College regularly wins awards and accolades for both academics and athletics. Air conditioning was first installed in Ponce Hall in c.2001. Extensive renovations of Ponce Hall were started in 2022 and are currently ongoing. Flagler College is a small, liberal arts college with one Master's degree in Deaf Education.

In 1975, the Hotel Ponce de Leon was added to the National Register of Historic Places. ]]> Carrere & Hastings]]>
Photograph 1 (c.1886): Graham, Thomas. Flagler’s St. Augustine Hotels: The Ponce de Leon, The Alcazar, and the Casa Monica. Pineapple Press.

Photograph 2 (c.1887): Graham, Thomas. Flagler’s St. Augustine Hotels: The Ponce de Leon, The Alcazar, and the Casa Monica. Pineapple Press.

Photograph 3 (c. 1950s): Courtesy of the Flagler College Archives. https://library.flagler.edu/college-archives/.

Photograph 4 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "Picture of Flagler College." March 24, 2023.

Photograph 5 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Ponce Plaque." October 10, 2025.

Photograph 6 (2025): Owens, Katherine. "NHL Plaque." October 17, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Winsberg, Morton D., compiler. Florida’s History through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places. Institute of Science and Public Affairs/Florida State Univ., 1988.]]> King Street and Cordova Street facing Granada Street.]]>
The Age of Innocence
American Girl
The Belle of Camden County
Dark Cries of Gray Oaks
The Devil's Own Dear Son
An East Florida Romance
Elsie in the South
A Florida Enchantment
Florida Is Closed Today
Frank Merriwell's Life Struggle
A Golden Sorrow
Grandmother in Cellophane
La Vida Vampire
The Ladies' Juggernaut
The Last Resort
Last Vampire Standing
Love and Honors
Mandie and the Seaside Rendezvous
Matanzas Moon
My Mother Is a Violant Woman
Mystery of the Missing Candlestick
Pablo's Search
Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Perpetual Youth
One Summer in the Old Town
Out of Step
The Reaper of St. George Street
Romance of a Kentuckian in St. Augustine
Salt Run
Sand Crabs and Sharks
Secret Missions
Sliding Beneath the Surface
St. Augustine A to Z
St. Augustine Spirits in Our Midst
Stepping Off a Cliff
Sweet Dreams, St. Augustine
Tales of St. Augustine
Things That Hang from Trees
Three Vassar Girls at Home
The Two Salomes
The Vampirate of Matanzas Inlet]]> Historic Tours of Flagler College.]]> 74 King Street 
St. Augustine, FL 32084
https://www.flagler.edu]]> Franklin W. Smith]]>
Photograph 1 (c.1895-1913): Rogero, Beth, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Acadia Publishing, 2008.

Photograph 2 (c.1913-1954): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Acadia Publishing, 2012.

Photograph 3 (2024): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "Chase Bank." September 26, 2024.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Acadia Publishing, 2012.

Visit St. Augustine. “Hotel Granada.” 2024. https://www.visitstaugustine.com/gallery-image/hotel-granada.

Rogero, Beth, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Acadia Publishing, 2008.]]> King Street and Granada Street.]]>
Uncle Sam's]]> The South Beach Alligator Farm
]]>
In 1901, nearby, two businessmen, George Reddington and Felix Fire began showing and charging admission to see their alligators under the title, The South Beach Alligator Farm, although it was in operation (free of charge) in c. 1899. In 1903, Whitney cut ties with the farm and spring which had merged at an unspecified date to begin business ventures elsewhere. Reddington and Fire began an ongoing effort to expand the size and exhibits offered at the Farm shortly after Whitney's departure to include other animals and act as a waystation for animals being sent for scientific study to other locations around the state/country. Their efforts to improve the attraction lead to incorporation in 1909 as The South Beach Alligator Farm and Museum of Marine Curiosities.

In September 1920, a nor'easter hit the St. Augustine area and washed away the railroad tracks tourists used to visit the alligator farm. In December a fire in the area tore through buildings although those for the museum were spared. But in April 1921 another fire occured and all was lost, and the remants washed out to sea in a summer storm. Fortunately, before all these disasters befell Reddington and Fire, they had begun rebuilding further inland at the current location near the St. Augustine Lighthouse. In the 1920s, the name was changed again to St. Augustine Ostrich-Alligator Farm & Museum of Marine Curiosities because of public interest in the birds. The opening of the Bridge of Lions in 1927 provided more motor access to the location and visitors increased.

Then in the 1930s, Fire stopped being a co-owner and started being a fulltime taxidermist at the farm, a position he held until his death in 1953. Reddington sold the attraction to W. I. Drysdale and F. Charles Usina in 1937. That same year, there was a fire which burned down the main building, and so the pair built a new building. They changed the orientation though so the new structure faced not Old Quarry Road but SR 140 (now known as A1A). The mission-style building (one of only three buildings built in 1930s St. Augustine) harkened back to the popular 1920s Florida boom style that was reminiscent of St. Augustine's architecture. This building was built by F.B. Meade and Howard McClain, local contractors. By 1992, the main building for the Alligator Farm was of such historic importance, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Through promotion and adding more variety of animals in the 1940s and '50s, the Alligator Farm became nationally known. Although neither Usina or Drysdale were trained zoologists, they recorded the behavior and life cycles of their gators. By the 1960s, the Alligator Farm contributed to the public's knowledge of the poaching of alligators and contributed to awareness of the alligator's near-extention status. In the 1970s, scientists from the University of Florida began doing research at the Alligator Farm, and additions to the site enhanced educational inquiry and not just curiosity seeking. A partnership with Florida's Audubon Society resulted in a rookery for the birds that had long been part of the attraction. A second partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commision focused on exhibits about Florida marine life.

The Drysdales have passed the farm down through the generations after Usina's 1966 passing. The current owner is David Drysdale who is on the Board of Trustees for Flagler College. The Alligator Farm was accredited by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums in 1988. In 2001, a satellite research location was opened, Anastasia Island Conservation Center. A new animal exhibit and feature were opened in the 2010s: sloths and ziplining.]]> Everett C. Whitney]]> The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:

Photograph 1 (1890s): Adams, William R. and Carl Shiver. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm: A Centennial History. St. Augustine, FL: Southern Heritage Press, 1993.

Photograph 2 (c.1920s): St. Augustine. Kansas City, MO: Van Noy-Interstate, c.1920.

Photograph 3 (c.1929): Saint Augustine Florida: The Quaintest City in the United States; The Oldest City in the United States. Saint Augustine Chamber of Commerce, c.1929.

Photograph 4 (1947): Adams, William R. and Carl Shiver. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm: A Centennial History. St. Augustine, FL: Southern Heritage Press, 1993.

Photograph 5 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Alligator Farm." July 25, 2025.

Photograph 5 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Alligator Farm Plaque." October 24, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Adams, William R. and Carl Shiver. The St. Augustine Alligator Farm: A Centennial History. St. Augustine, FL: Southern Heritage Press, 1993.

“St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park: A Story More Than 125 Years in the Making.” St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park. 2024. https://www.alligatorfarm.com/tickets-info/our-history/. 

]]> Anastasia Island.]]>
Chuck: A Story of the Florida Pinelands
Fish of Souls
The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms
Mystery of the Missing Candlestick
One Summer in the Old Town
Pablo's Search
St. Augustine A to Z
The Triplets Go South]]> website for current details.]]> 999 Anastasia Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL 32080
904-824-3337
https://alligatorfarm.com/]]>
When St. Augustine was founded in 1565, Pedro Menendez de Aviles sailed through the northern edge of Anastasia Island State Park, through what was once known as the Salt Run. This land contains features of naturally-occuring coquina that were excavated and used to build various structures in 17th century St. Augustine, most famously, the Castillo de San Marcos.

During the Flagler Era (1883-1913), the future state park was known as South Beach and was a popular destination for winter tourists. A tram railway was built where the Bridge of Lions currently stands to carry passengers from downtown St. Augustine to the beach.

In 1947, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged an inlet further north to connect the Matanzas Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. The tip of this new peninsula was originally named North Point and changed to Conch Island, named after famous local fisherman Florence D. Edge, known as “the Conch.” Following Hurricane Dora in 1964, Conch Island became part of Anastasia Island.

In 1949, Anastasia State Park was formed, which included the historical coquina quarry. This quarry was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972.

Before the 1980s, a section of A1A went directly through Anastasia Island State Park, following the coast and continuing to the St. Augustine Lighthouse. However, a series of storms took out these portions of the highway and it was built further west beyond park boundaries.

In 1999, an archeological dig uncovered a prehistoric artifact in the state park. The artifact, a ceramic shard, was dated to sometime between 700 BC and 1500 AD.]]>
Photograph 1 (1993): Adams, William R. and Paul L. Weaver, III. Historic Places of St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Visitor’s Guide. St. Augustine, FL: Southern Heritage Press, 1993.

Photograph 2 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. Anastasia State Park. July 25, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Adams, William R. and Paul L. Weaver, III. Historic Places of St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Visitor’s Guide. St. Augustine, FL: Southern Heritage Press, 1993.

Adams, William R. St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Historical Guide. Pineapple Press, 2009.

Florida State Parks: The Real Florida. “Spanish Coquina Quarries at Anastasia.” 2024. https://www.floridastateparks.org/Anastasia/spanish-coquina-quarries-anastasia.

Florida State Parks: The Real Florida. “Anastasia State Park.” 2024. https://www.floridastateparks.org/Anastasia.

Harvey, Karen G. St. Augustine Enters the Twenty-First Century. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 2010.]]> Anastasia Island.]]> coquina quarry is part of Anastasia State Park.]]> Florida State Parks system.]]>
Beautiful Dreamer
Blinding Tide
Black Blood
A Bone in Her Teeth
Cracker Cop
The Florida Snow Party
Golden Blood
Pure Blood
Storm and the Mermaid
There Is a Season]]> Anastasia State Park.]]> 300 Anastasia Park Road
St. Augustine, FL 32080
Anastasia State Park]]>
Andrew Anderson Jr., their son, lived elsewhere in St. Augustine while guests filled both homes. The per night rental cost of the cottage was $100 a night, one third of the cost of the main house. The money accrued from the rent paid for the usual costs and was supplemented greatly by the orange grove prior to the onset of “die-back" disease which affected all St. Augustine groves at an unspecified date.

Anderson Cottage faced onto King Street and was located east of Markland. In 1885, Anderson, Jr., sold the family land east of Markland to Henry Flagler for the building of the Hotel Ponce de Leon. To better build and beautify his new hotel, Henry Flagler moved and remodeled Anderson Cottage to look more in keeping with the appearance of the Hotel Ponce de Leon (poured concrete and red-tiled roof). After the sale, Anderson, Jr., married and moved back into Markland House and remained life-long friends with Henry Flagler.

In 2006, local artist, Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert and her husband Dr. Robert Ellert bequeathed Flagler College their home, Anderson Cottage upon their deaths. Dr. JoAnn predeceased her husband, but in 2008 or 2009, upon his death, Anderson Cottage rejoined Markland House under the same ownership for the first time in over 120 years.

In 2016-2017, the College began transforming Anderson Cottage into Alumni House with lecture/event space on the first floor. The Proctor Library’s The Heritage Collections department frequently hosts events in this space, conveniently located next door to the Library.]]> Clarissa Fairbanks Anderson]]>

Photograph 1 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "Photograph of Anderson Cottage/Alumni House." March 11, 2023.

Photograph 2 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Photograph of Anderson Cottage Plaque." June 10, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Mariner, Cosmos. “Anderson Cottage.” Edited by Bernard Fisher. HMdb.org: The Historical Marker Database. August 20, 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=100592.

]]> Proctor Library on Sevilla Street.]]>
Pablo's Search]]> WShafer@Flagler.edu.]]> 74 King Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
https://www.flagler.edu]]> The Spanish laid-out the street system of St. Augustine in the First Spanish Period. They did not give streets formal names, but rather referred to them based on an important building alongside the road or to where the road led. 

From 1572 to 1702, the Catholic parish church, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, faced Aviles Street just south of King Street.

The name for Aviles starting in the 1700s was Hospital Street because in the early 1700s, Don Francisco Menéndez Marquez, a wealthy treasury official in St. Augustine, owned a large two-story house that was converted into the Spanish Military Hospital after his death in 1743. In 1770, the British converted the hospital into a courthouse and jail, but it reverted to and was expanded as a hospital under Spanish rule during the Second Spanish Period (1784-1821). The Spanish Military Hospital included hot water, as well as rooms for soldiers, an apothecary shop, procedure rooms, a kitchen, and a morgue. The hospital operated until the original building burnt down in 1818. In 1924, as a tribute to Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the founder of St. Augustine, and because of the off-putting nature of the name, Hospital Street was renamed Aviles Street.

Today, Aviles Street is home to some of the oldest buildings in the city, including the Gaspar Papy House, the Father Miguel O’Reilly House, the Don Manuel Solana House, the Ximénez-Fatio House, and the Seguí-Kirby Smith House, which is now the St. Augustine Historical Society's Research Library. The Spanish Military Hospital Museum is a reconstruction of the hospital that stood on Aviles Street during the Second Spanish Colonial Period. The street is lined with restaurants and art shops, showcasing local St. Augustine artists.]]> The Spanish]]>
Map 1 (c.1770s): Reynolds, Charles B. The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth. St. Augustine, FL: C.B. Reynolds, 1895.

Map 2 (1884): Bloomfield, Max. Bloomfield’s Illustrated Historical Guide, Embracing an Account of the Antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida (with map). To Which is Added a Condensed Guide of the St. John’s, Ocklawaha, Halifax, and Indian Rivers. St. Augustine, FL: Max Bloomfield, 1884.

Photograph 1 (c.1920s): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Roaring Twenties. Acadia Publishing, 2012.

Photograph 2 (c.1933-1937): Historic Picturesque St. Augustine Florida. Jacksonville, FL: Duval News Co., [1933-1937].

Photograph 3 (c.1942): Historical Old St. Augustine Florida. St. Augustine, FL: Florida Souvenir Company.

Photograph 4 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Aviles Street." June 17, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Acadia Publishing, 2008.

City of St. Augustine, Est. 1565. “Nuestra Señora de los Remedios.”  https://www.citystaug.com/795/Nuestra-Seora-de-los-Remedios.

Gordon, Elsbeth “Buff.” Walking St. Augustine: An Illustrated Guide and Pocket History to America’s Oldest City. Univ. of Florida Press, 2015.]]> Spanish Military Hospital Museum is located on this street.]]> St. Augustine Historical Society's Research Library is located on this street.]]> The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is located on this street.]]>
The First Gentlemen of America
Gullible's Travels, Etc.
Love and Honors
Redfish Oak
Tales from the Oldest City: St. Augustine
Things that Hang from Trees]]>
During the British Period the stretch of road in front of the Castillo and running north for an indeterminite length was part of the King's Road and paved with shells. In the 19th century, this led to the name Shell or Old Shell Road, while within the city gates, it was Bay Street.

The land north of the Old City Gates was primarily used for agriculture and farming until 1839, when Peter Sken Smith of Philadelphia and his partner William G. Davis created a subdivision plan and began selling lots along the Old Shell Road. Lucy Abbott and Mr. and Mrs. William Van Ness moved in in the 1870s and helped popularize this section of town. Ms Abbott's name lent itself to the Abbot Tract Historical District east of San Marco Avenue, north of the Castillo, and south of the Shrine due to the number of homes she built and sold. Shell Road became popular for building homes and became primarily a residential street while the streets within the Abbott Tract have remained residential although San Marco is  now commercial. The size of the homes within the Tract indicate if they were built by newly freed slaves or Caucasian homeowners.

In 1883, Dr. Reuben Garnett purchased twenty acres of land along Shell Road. His home and orange grove became a tourist destination in St. Augustine known as “Dr. Garnett’s Orange Grove.” Dr. Garnett was so influential that when, in 1889, Shell Road was paved with wood, he suggested renaming the street San Marco Avenue, which was accepted. The name of the street came from the hotel and not the other way around.

Meanwhile Bloomfield's 1884 guide to St. Augustine lists Bay Street as the widest street in St. Augustine. Even so, on his map, the road takes a detour by merging with Charlotte Street to go around the St. Augustine basin for mooring boats before continuing south of the Plaza to the Barrack's.

In the 1920s, when Highway A1A was being created, it merged with San Marco Avenue/Bay Street from May Street to the Bridge of Lions.

Sometime between 1952 and 1971, Bay Street was renamed Avenida Menendez. Today Avenida Menendez is four lanes and the old seawall is buried underneath the current street. The stretch of road around the Castillo is now called S. Castillo Road.]]> The Spanish]]> The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:

Map 1 (c.1770s): Reynolds, Charles B. The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth. St. Augustine, FL: C.B. Reynolds, 1895.

Map 2 (1884): Bloomfield, Max. Bloomfield’s Illustrated Historical Guide, Embracing an Account of the Antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida (with map). To Which is Added a Condensed Guide of the St. John’s, Ocklawaha, Halifax, and Indian Rivers. St. Augustine, FL: Max Bloomfield, 1884.

Map 3 (1952): Vollbrecht, John L. St. Augustine’s Historical Heritage as Seen Today…With Historical Notes on the Oldest House. Photography by J. Carver Harris. Foreword by David R. Dunham. St. Augustine, FL: The Record Press/J. Carver Harris, 1952.

Photograph 1 (1882): Glaser, Louis, fec., St. Augustine. New York: Wittemann Brothers, 1882.

Photograph 2 (1904): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age: 15 Historic Postcards. Acadia Publishing, 2008.

Photograph 3 (1905): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2008.

Photograph 4 (1929): Saint Augustine, Florida. Saint Augustine Chamber of Commerce. 1929.

Photograph 5 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "A View of Bay Street." March 11, 2023.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Adams, William R. St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Historical Guide. Pineapple Press, 2009.

Bloomfield, Max. Bloomfield’s Illustrated Historical Guide, Embracing an Account of the Antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida (with map). To Which is Added a Condensed Guide of the St. John’s, Ocklawaha, Halifax, and Indian Rivers. St. Augustine, FL: Max Bloomfield, 1884.

Graham, Thomas. Mr. Flagler’s St. Augustine. Univ. of Florida Press, 2014.

Harvey, Karen. St. Augustine and St. Johns County: A Pictorial History. Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company, 1980.

Lee, Howard. The Story of Old St. Augustine. St. Augustine, FL: Florida Souvenir Company, 1971.

]]> A1A Aleworks is bordered by Avenida Menendez.]]> Bridge of Lions intersects with Avenida Menendez.]]> Capo's Bathhouse used to be accessed from Bay Street.]]> Castillo de San Marcos is on the San Marco Avenue stretch of this road.]]> Cuna Street deadends into S. Castillo Drive.]]> Davenport Park is located on San Marco Avenue.]]> Highway A1A merges with San Marco/Castillo Drive/Avenida Menendez for several miles through town.]]> Harry's Seafood Bar and Grille is on Avenida Menendez.]]> Huguenot Cemetery is on San Marco Avenue.]]>  intersect with the eastern terminus of Hypolita Street.]]> King Street is Avenida Menendez at the Bridge of Lions.]]> King's Road used to be part of the Shell Road.]]> Marine Street has two intersections with Avenida Menendez.]]> Matanzas River/Bay/Intercoastal is on the other side of the seawall from Avenida Menendez and during hurricanes and King tides, tends to flood the street.]]> O.C. Whites is on Avenida Menendez.]]> The Old City Gates would have merged St. George Street and the S. Castillo Drive section of this road before St. George Street stopped at Orange Street and the Old City Gates became a tourist landmark.]]> The Old Jail Museum is located on San Marco Avenue.]]> Ripley's Believe It or Not! is on the San Marco Avenue stretch of this road.]]> Seawall borders all of the Avenida Menendez stretch of this road.]]> Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche and the church of Nombre de Dios are located off of San Marco Avenue.]]> St. Augustine Municipal Marina is accessed off of Avenida Menendez.]]> St. Francis Street and Avenida Menendez merge at the northeast corner of the St. Francis Barrack's.]]> Treasury Street is Avenida Menendez.]]> The Visitor Information Center and the Old Spanish Trail Zero Marker are both on San Marco Avenue where the San Marco Hotel had been.]]>
After Dark
All the Salt in the Sea
The Belle of Camden County
The Devil's Own Dear Son
Fish of Souls
Matanzas Moon Ablaze
One Summer in the Old Town
Papa and the Gingerbread Man
Sand Crabs and Sharks
Slingshot
Strangers]]>
The current Beachcomber was built in 1984. From 1987-2000, Frank O'Rourke owned and operated the popular restuarant. The Beachcomber was sold in 2014 to Don and Ashley Samora, and Danielle and Steve LeClair. The LeClair/Samora's The Beachcomber is known for seafood, sandwiches, and local beers.]]>
Photograph 1 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Beachcomber Restaurant." October 24, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Beachcomber Restaurant. “Our Story.” https://www.beachcomberstaugustine.com/our-story.

McCoy, Kimeko. “Beachcomber Restaurant Still Stands Tall by the Sea.” The St. Augustine Record, July 11, 2014. https://www.staugustine.com/story/business/2014/07/11/beachcomber-restaurant-still-stands-tall-sea/16110894007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z11xx99e001100v11xx99b00xxxxd11xx65&gca-ft=197&gca-ds=sophi.

]]> Anastasia Island.]]>
Storm and the Mermaid's Knot
St. Augustine Set]]> website.]]> 2 A Street
St. Augustine, FL 32080
https://www.beachcomberstaugustine.com/]]>
The Florida Society of Civil Engineers, in 1972 declared that the Bridge of Lions and the Gandy Bridge over Tampa Bay as the two most significant bridges in the State. During this decade, repair work did occur. The historical significance to the state designation helped pave the way for the 1982 addition of the Bridge of Lions to the National Register of Historic Places. But, in 1997, the National Trust for Historic Preservation featured the Bridge of Lions on its yearly "11 Most Endangered Sites" leading to a multi-year effort from 2005 to 2010 to rebuild the historic bridge because it was structurally unsound and did not meet Coast Guard guidelines for drawbridges. The City had a grand reopening of the Bridge in 2010. 

The original marble lions, placed at the western entrance of the bridge, were donated by Dr. Andrew Anderson II after he commissioned F. Romanelli of Florence, Italy to sculpt a pair of lions similar to those at the Loggia de Lanzi in Florence. Former Flagler College professor, Enzo Torcolletti, assisted with the restoration of the lions both as part of the rebuilding of the bridge, and several years later when two high school students sprayed the lions with graffiti in 2011.

In 2015, additional, but granite, lions were added to the eastern side of the bridge on Anastasia Island. These were commissioned and donated by St. Augustine residents Wolfgang and Miki Schau.

In 2023, access to the bridge from King Street was blocked while the intersection was excavated to remove a 19th century ship found buried near the western onramp to the bridge.]]> John Greiner]]>
Photograph 1 (1926): Bowen, Beth Rogero. Bridge to a Dream: Building the Bridge of Lions and Davis Shores, 1925-27. St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 2010.

Photograph 2 (1927): Bowen, Beth Rogero. Bridge to a Dream: Building the Bridge of Lions and Davis Shores, 1925-27. St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 2010.

Photograph 3 (1936): Bowen, Beth Rogero. Bridge to a Dream: Building the Bridge of Lions and Davis Shores, 1925-27. St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 2010.

Photograph 4 (2013): Owens, Katherine. "Close-Up of Lion." August 20, 2013.

Photograph 5 (2013): Owens, Katherine. "Bridge of Lions." August 20, 2013.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Berglund, Don D. St. Augustine Preservation vs. Makeover: Dynamics of Public Policy in America’s Oldest City. Flagler Beach, FL: Old Kings Road Press, 2015.

Bowen, Beth Rogero. Bridge to a Dream: Building the Bridge of Lions and Davis Shores, 1925-27. St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 2010.

Clark, Jessica. “Plank by Plank, Archaeologists Remove 1800’s Boat from Mud Under a Road in St. Augustine.” First Coast News (On Your Side). October 11, 2023. https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/local/plank-by-plank-archaeologists-remove-1800s-boat/77-6d06a081-f96c-4731-b305-63daa67a9702.

Florida’s Historic Coast. "The History Behind the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine."  March 5, 2019. https://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/blog/the-bridge-of-lions/.

"Graffiti Artist Who Defaced Bridge of Lions Apologizes to City." St. Augustine Record. January 2, 2012. https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/local/2012/01/03/graffiti-artist-who-defaced-bridge-lions-apologizes-city/16186150007/.

Historic City News. "Bridge Reopening Ceremony Takes Shape." 2009. https://historiccity.com/2009/staugustine/news/bridge-reopening-ceremony-taking-shape-1966.

Visit St. Augustine. "Bridge of Lions." December 26, 2023. https://www.visitstaugustine.com/thing-to-do/bridge-lions.

Winsberg, Morton D., compiler. Florida’s History through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places. Institute of Science and Public Affairs/Florida State Univ., 1988.]]> Anastasia Island.]]> The Bridge of Lions intersects with Avenida Menendez.]]> This bridge is at the eastern end of King Street.]]>
Beautiful Dreamer
Body Shop
A Bone in Her Teeth
Breed
The Butterfly Game
The Case of the Deadly Diary
Chuck: A Story of the Florida Pinelands 
Cracker Cop
Deadly Listings
East Coast Toast
First Discoveries
First Gentlemen of America
Florida Snow Party
Golden Blood
I’ll Be Home For Peacemas
Love and Honors
Mystery of the Missing Candlestick
One Summer in the Old Town
Pablo's Search
The Pumpkin Roll
The Relic
Rising Love: A Spiritual Journey
River of Hidden Dreams
Sliding Beneath the Surface
St. Augustine A to Z
St. Augustine Set
St. Augustine's Spirits in Our Midst
Sugar Cage
The Triplets Go South
The Vessel Tinaja
Voices in St. Augustine
Wicked Rich]]> 605 Suwannee Street, MS 57
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450
FDOT]]> Major Charles Wilhelm Bulow from South Carolina bought the property in 1821 from an heir of a Mr. John Russell who had acquired the land as part of a Spanish Land Grant in c.1812. Bulow’s intent was to establish a plantation. He ended up dying two years later when he was 44 and left the plantation to his son, John Joachim Bulow who was a teenager at the time and in school in France.

In 1823, a brief description was given of Bulow Plantation by James Emanuel Ormond III. He states that there were 300-400 slaves, a library, a large fishing boat, tenets, the plantation house with two separate kitchens, 46 slave houses that were built as a semicircle, a sawmill, corn house, sugar mill and other items too numerous to mention here. The plantation was managed by Minorcan, Francisco Pellicer Jr. Another visitor painted part of Bulow Plantation in the background of his Tell-Tale Godwit (snipe), John James Audubon, who also wrote extensively about his time visiting John Bulow and the graciousness of his reception.

Production on the plantation thrived until the start of the Second Seminole War. John Bulow fired a cannon at Major Putnam’s command of State Militia as they entered his property in protest. Mr. Bulow was arrested. He did not join the military, nor did he approve of the plan to forcibly relocate the Seminoles west of the Mississippi. After the Florida Militia briefly using the plantation as a campsite during the war, it was abandoned. Bulow and his slaves soon followed the military to St. Augustine on January 28, 1836, as it was clear the Seminoles did not differentiate between those who approved the government’s removal plans and those who did not. Bulow Plantation was burned by the Seminoles on January 31, 1836. The fires could be seen all the way up in St. Augustine.

In 1945 the State of Florida purchased the land around the Bulow ruins from a private party. In 1957, the ruins became a state park. On September 29, 1970, the ruins were upgraded to and added to the National Register of Historic Places which is affiliated with the National Park Service.

]]> Major Charles Wilhelm Bulow]]> The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:

Photograph 1 (1831): Audubon, John James. The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon for the Birds of America. Introduction by Marshall B. Davidson. American Heritage/Bonanza Books, 1966.

Photograph 2 (c. 1970s): Bockelman, Charles W. The King's Road to Florida. Published by the author, 1975.

Photograph 3 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "Bulow Sugar Factory." April 1, 2023.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Florida State Parks: The Real Florida. “History of Bulowville.” 2024. https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/history-bulowville.

Ryan, Bill. “Bulow Plantation Ruins.” Flagler County Historical Society: Holden House & Research Library Annex. October 16, 2019. https://flaglercountyhistoricalsociety.com/bulow-plantation-ruins/.

Ryan, Bill. “Notes from the Author on Bulow Plantation.” Flagler County Historical Society: Holden House & Research Library Annex. October 16, 2019. https://flaglercountyhistoricalsociety.com/notes-from-the-author-on-bulow-plantation/.

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The Land Where the Sun Dies]]> Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park.]]> Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park
3501 Old Kings Road
Flagler Beach, FL 32136
Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park]]>