Burning Spring Museum
Dublin Core
Creator
Title
Burning Spring Museum
Alternative Title
The South Beach Alligator Farm
Whitney's Alligator Farm
The South Beach Alligator Farm and Burning Spring Museum
South Beach Alligator Farm and Museum of Marine Curiosities
St. Augustine Ostrich-Alligator Farm & Musuem of Marine Curiosities
St. Augustine Alligator Farm
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
Contributor
George Reddington and Felix Fire
W. I. Drysdale and F. Charles Usina
F.B. Meade and Howard McClain
Date
Date Modified
1901
1903-1920s
1909
September 1920 to 1921
1937
1970s
1988
1992
Type
This site, regardless of location, has always been a tourist attraction.
Description
The park was started in 1893 by a man named Everett Whitney with a sulfer spring that he poured gasoline into and ignited to create a blue flaming spring, aptly named the Burning Spring Museum. He had a souvenier shop attached to his attraction.
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 Drydales 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.
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 Drydales 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.
Mediator
The St. Augustine Alligator Farm is open to the public. For visitor information, please refer to their website for current details.
Rights Holder
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
999 Anastasia Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL 32080
904-824-3337
https://alligatorfarm.com/
999 Anastasia Blvd.
St. Augustine, FL 32080
904-824-3337
https://alligatorfarm.com/
Source
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 Co., c.1920.
Photograph 3 (c.1929): Saint Augustine Florida: The Quaintest City in the United States; The Oldest City in the United States. [St. Augustine, FL]: 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.
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/.
Rights
Flagler College’s Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository are neither the original nor current copyright owner for the photographs. Please contact the publisher or source cited for each photograph to obtain a copy and/or permission to reproduce these items.
Is Referenced By
The following St. Augustine Fiction books feature this historic site as a location:
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
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
Date Submitted
This record was last updated on May 28, 2025.
Collection
Citation
Everett C. Whitney, “Burning Spring Museum,” St. Augustine Fiction, accessed June 12, 2025, https://staugustinefiction.omeka.net/items/show/286.