King Street
Dublin Core
Title
King Street
Alternative Title
San Sebastian River Bridge
Tocoi Railroad/St. John's Railroad
New St. Augustine Road
West King Street
CR 214
Date Modified
1859
1860
1866
1871
1885-1890
1895
1906
Type
This is one of the original streets in St. Augustine.
Description
King Street originally ran from the waterfront to what is today Cordova Street, and based on the British map of the 1770s, continued past the city walls over Lake Maria Sanchez.
The first version of a road/railline from Tocoi Landing to St. Augustine was built in 1859 by Dr. John Westcott. It was upgraded in 1860, but damaged during the Civil Ware. Repairs were made in 1866. Before the 1860s, a regular bridge was built over the San Sebastian River to connect with King Street to create another east-west entry point to St. Augustine (the older one being the Picolata Road/SR-16).
In 1871, the St. John's Railroad under the auspicious of William Astor began operations, but as a mule-drawn streetcar before being upgraded to locomotives. This was in time for President U.S. Grant's visit in 1879, but the depot was on the west side of the San Sebastian and eyewitness accounts of his visit indicate he came into town on a new bridge in a carriage, down tree-lined King Street. Henry Flagler purchased the railline in 1888.
After filling in Maria Sanchez Lake to widen the street and build his hotels, Henry Flagler described King Street as a “broad handsome thoroughfare” that linked the downtown of St. Augustine to St. Augustine’s newer west side and later extended the connection all the way to Anastasia Island. During the construction of the Ponce de Leon Hotel from 1885-1887, American architects Carrere and Hastings decided to widen the once narrow King Street to account for the increased traffic between the Ponce de Leon and Alcazar.
Following the construction of the hotels, existing concerns about health increased, due to waste and the disease-breeding sandy streets prompted action by Henry Flagler himself to improve King Street. In 1886, King Street became the first street in St. Augustine to have a sewer line when Henry Flagler and other property owners installed a twelve-inch sewer pipe at their own personal expense. Henry Flagler continued to improve the health and appearance of King Street by asphalting the section of King Street in front of the Ponce de Leon Hotel, hoping the city would follow this example and pave the rest of St. Augustine’s streets, but the city could not afford more than chords of wood starting in 1889.
Between 1886 and 1890, Flagler convinced his friend, Dr. Andrew Anderson to part with the front of his property along King Street so that Flagler could widen the street from the Hotel Ponce down to the railroad station. For several years, the trees Mrs. Anderson had planned years earlier along the front of the property were an island in the middle of the road. He also tried to have the name of the street changed to Alameda, but the City Council had agreed to change the names of Tolomato and Bronson and therefore refused to change another street name to please Flagler. In the 1895 Standard Guide though, King Street is called Alameda.
In 1895, a wooden bridge called the Matanzas River Bridge was built from King Street to Anastasia Island. Flagler did not want his new street marred by a trolley, but in 1906, a trolley line was installed down the center of King Street.
The first version of a road/railline from Tocoi Landing to St. Augustine was built in 1859 by Dr. John Westcott. It was upgraded in 1860, but damaged during the Civil Ware. Repairs were made in 1866. Before the 1860s, a regular bridge was built over the San Sebastian River to connect with King Street to create another east-west entry point to St. Augustine (the older one being the Picolata Road/SR-16).
In 1871, the St. John's Railroad under the auspicious of William Astor began operations, but as a mule-drawn streetcar before being upgraded to locomotives. This was in time for President U.S. Grant's visit in 1879, but the depot was on the west side of the San Sebastian and eyewitness accounts of his visit indicate he came into town on a new bridge in a carriage, down tree-lined King Street. Henry Flagler purchased the railline in 1888.
After filling in Maria Sanchez Lake to widen the street and build his hotels, Henry Flagler described King Street as a “broad handsome thoroughfare” that linked the downtown of St. Augustine to St. Augustine’s newer west side and later extended the connection all the way to Anastasia Island. During the construction of the Ponce de Leon Hotel from 1885-1887, American architects Carrere and Hastings decided to widen the once narrow King Street to account for the increased traffic between the Ponce de Leon and Alcazar.
Following the construction of the hotels, existing concerns about health increased, due to waste and the disease-breeding sandy streets prompted action by Henry Flagler himself to improve King Street. In 1886, King Street became the first street in St. Augustine to have a sewer line when Henry Flagler and other property owners installed a twelve-inch sewer pipe at their own personal expense. Henry Flagler continued to improve the health and appearance of King Street by asphalting the section of King Street in front of the Ponce de Leon Hotel, hoping the city would follow this example and pave the rest of St. Augustine’s streets, but the city could not afford more than chords of wood starting in 1889.
Between 1886 and 1890, Flagler convinced his friend, Dr. Andrew Anderson to part with the front of his property along King Street so that Flagler could widen the street from the Hotel Ponce down to the railroad station. For several years, the trees Mrs. Anderson had planned years earlier along the front of the property were an island in the middle of the road. He also tried to have the name of the street changed to Alameda, but the City Council had agreed to change the names of Tolomato and Bronson and therefore refused to change another street name to please Flagler. In the 1895 Standard Guide though, King Street is called Alameda.
In 1895, a wooden bridge called the Matanzas River Bridge was built from King Street to Anastasia Island. Flagler did not want his new street marred by a trolley, but in 1906, a trolley line was installed down the center of King Street.
Rights Holder
City of St. Augustine
Relation
The former A1A Aleworks is on this street.
Anderson Cottage is located on this street.
The Bridge of Lions is at the end of this street.
The Casa Monica Hotel is on the corner of King Street and Cordova Street.
The Governor's House is located on this street.
The Lightner Museum is located on this street.
Markland House is located on this street.
The Plaza de la Constitucion is on the north side of St. George Street between St. George Street and Charlotte Street.
Both Ponce Hall for Flagler College and the FEC Dorms are located on this street.
The St. Augustine Police Headquarters is located on this street.
Trininty Episcopal is located on this street.
Source
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.
Photograph 1 (1870s): Van Campen, J.T. St. Augustine: Florida’ Colonial Capital. 3rd printing. St. Augustine, FL: St. Augustine Historical Society, 1971.
Photograph 2 (2025): Owens, Katherine. "Tocoi Landing Today." September 6, 2025.
Photograph 3 (1878): Tellier, Mark. St. Augustine’s Pictures of the Past: The Second Discovery. 1st edition. Published by the author, 1979.
Photograph 4 (1891): Biestadt, Edward. Sunlight Pictures: Saint Augustine. New York: The Artotype Publishing, 1891.
Photograph 5 (1906): Pollack, Deborah C. Felix F. de Crano: Forgotten Artist of the Flagler Colony. Lightner Museum, 2014.
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 (1870s): Van Campen, J.T. St. Augustine: Florida’ Colonial Capital. 3rd printing. St. Augustine, FL: St. Augustine Historical Society, 1971.
Photograph 2 (2025): Owens, Katherine. "Tocoi Landing Today." September 6, 2025.
Photograph 3 (1878): Tellier, Mark. St. Augustine’s Pictures of the Past: The Second Discovery. 1st edition. Published by the author, 1979.
Photograph 4 (1891): Biestadt, Edward. Sunlight Pictures: Saint Augustine. New York: The Artotype Publishing, 1891.
Photograph 5 (1906): Pollack, Deborah C. Felix F. de Crano: Forgotten Artist of the Flagler Colony. Lightner Museum, 2014.
Photograph 6 (1907): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Acadia Publishing, 2008.
Photograph 7 (1940s): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the 1930s and 1940s. Acadia Publishing, 2019.
Photograph 8 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Photograph of King Street." June 10, 2025.
The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:
Graham, Thomas. The Awakening of St. Augustine: The Anderson Family and the Oldest City, 1821-1924. St. Augustine, FL: Saint Augustine Historical Society, 1978.
Graham, Thomas. “Flagler’s Magnificent Hotel Ponce de Leon.” Florida Historical Quarterly 54 (July 1975).
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.
Reynolds, Charles B. The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth. St. Augustine, FL: C.B. Reynolds, 1895.
Van Campen, J.T. St. Augustine: Florida’ Colonial Capital. 3rd printing. St. Augustine, FL: St. Augustine Historical Society, 1971.
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:
Always the Vampire
The Belle of Camden County
Blinding Tide
Body Shop
The Devil's Own Dear Son
Eustis: A Novel
A Florida Enchantment
Florida Is Closed Today
Ghosts: Another Summer in the Old Town
Horace Chase
The Ladies' Juggernaut
Matanzas Bay
One Summer in the Old Town
The Picolata Road
The Reaper of St. George Street
Salt Run
St. Augustine A to Z
Tales of St. Augustine
There Were Two Pirates
The Two Salomes
Yella Gal: Queen of the Montclair
The Vampirate of Matanzas Inlet
Wicked Rich
Always the Vampire
The Belle of Camden County
Blinding Tide
Body Shop
The Devil's Own Dear Son
Eustis: A Novel
A Florida Enchantment
Florida Is Closed Today
Ghosts: Another Summer in the Old Town
Horace Chase
The Ladies' Juggernaut
Matanzas Bay
One Summer in the Old Town
The Picolata Road
The Reaper of St. George Street
Salt Run
St. Augustine A to Z
Tales of St. Augustine
There Were Two Pirates
The Two Salomes
Yella Gal: Queen of the Montclair
The Vampirate of Matanzas Inlet
Wicked Rich
Date Submitted
This record was last updated on July 15, 2025.
Collection
Citation
“King Street,” St. Augustine Fiction, accessed February 17, 2026, https://staugustinefiction.omeka.net/items/show/342.